I'll be doing a pile of scanning and tossing today. Can't wait!

I am going to do alot of scanning over the next few weeks on to an external hard-drive so that I can bring alot of it with me while I am traveling this summer.

Spent probably a total of 8 hours over the past 2 days scanning about 7 years worth of stuff. I shredded a lot but gave up and DH is going to burn the rest in the fireplace later. Bags and bags of papers. It's awesome, I'm so pleased it's done.

Chef, I'm glad for you - I can imagine the sense of relief you feel. I assume what you scanned what just things you thought you might need. I'd hate to spend 8 hours scanning if I could just put papers in a file.

At the town electronics recycling yesterday, I noticed a large truck, which I'd not seen on previous recycling days. It offered free shredding! Do they have anything like that in your area?

That's the whole point. I don't want the papers in the file, I don't want the papers in my life. I emptied two HUGE bins of papers I'll never have to touch again. It's very important to me that they're gone. Being in a box in the garage or attic means they're still in my life. Out of sight doesn't equal out of mind for me.

I like the idea of scanning regular paperwork but would appreciate more direction on how to organize and label data to feel secure about finding it if needed 7 years in the future. Will we still be using CDs or will they be over taken by new technology?

Other than legal contracts, I can't think of paperwork 2003-2004 I have needed or wished was available. I'm still dumping most paper at the end of the year except for those few pages of financial summary. Help, what trouble will I face?
Chef Sam, can you outline the steps you would take to locate a long term file? thanks

Having my own business, I need to make sure I have all tax documents just in case. Everything to substantiate the deductions I've taken.

The Stuff pre-2005 mainly related to houses we've bought and sold. That paperwork (closing escrow statements etc) I feel more comfortable keeping.

I'm not sure what you mean about locating the files. I have them scanned to my hard drive (which is then on satellite backup) and are under Tax files, broken down by year, then medical, etc.

I seriously doubt I will ever need any of this stuff but safer to scan it and have it before tossing the papers.

I have no fears whatsoever about getting rid of the paper documents. Our world simply doesn't revolve around paper anymore.

I understand what you mean about what to keep and what to toss. As my other progress moves along in the office, my mind keeps lingering out to the laundry/storage room which is behind the garage. I have probably at least a dozen boxes of old work related paperwork that I will almost never use again that I have been thinking about scanning and tossing.

They are old real estate files-old transactions from when I was an agent. Freeing up one entire shelving unit would be cool for the space it would provide. The time will come and when other more pressing things are done, it will happen.

Cyd, I believe the trick is naming the files and folders in a way that makes sense to you. And it doesn't have to be complicated. For example, pictures from my digital camera are named with the code from the camera - but those numbers keep the pics in chonological order and then I have year folders in 'My Pictures' and I have our wedding pictures in a separte folder. It doesn't take long to find anything, especially with thumbnails.

So you can use a naming convention similar for new files you scan. I'm not sure if my new scanner does it, but on my old scanner, if I didn't change the filename from the last scan, it would use the same name with a number after it. filename, filename1, filename2, etc. That's good when you have a bunch of stuff the same.

As for how they are stored, think about it this way: not too long ago, we used the small floppy disks. my new computer doesn't have a floppy drive, but my parents' computer still does and I COULD buy and external one for about $50. And for a long time the computers being sold had both floppy and cd-rom drives. So you could easily transfer data.

I'm pretty sure the trend will continue, when something becomes less popular it fades out and you'll be able to transfer the files over.

I could not believe how many papers accumulated and how much space they take up with files and folders. I've scanned and destroyed nearly all papers little by little. My question is how do you handle your tax papers like your returns and the supporting documents like 1099s etc. Do you scan these and destroy? Do you keep a hard copy of at least the return?

PS. I store a backup of the files on a offline storage like dropbox. I also keep a copy on a USB and one other place just as a precaution.