A Slob Comes Clean 132 Paper Clutter Tips with Guest Taylor Flanery Podcast
May 4, 2017
Taylor Flanery, a household organization blogger behind Declutter 365 and Home Storage Solutions 101, shares practical paper-taming strategies. She covers daily 2–5 minute habits, what papers to keep versus toss, smart filing limits and containers, shredding options, and digitizing trade-offs. Short routines and realistic systems are emphasized throughout.
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Treat New Paper Different From Old Paper
- Separate new paper clutter from old; new items (mail, school papers) need different handling than long-stored files.
- Taylor warns a stuffed filing cabinet usually hides old paper clutter that should be recycled or shredded.
Use A Small Container As Your Filing Limit
- Use a limited container (small file box or two-drawer cabinet) as a physical limit; when it's full, purge older items.
- Taylor recommends separate storage for bulky long-term items like older tax returns.
Keep These Three Paper Types Longer
- Keep tax returns at least seven years, credit card statements while a balance exists, and yearly retirement summaries until funds are distributed.
- Taylor provides a one-page cheat sheet on HomeStorageSolutions101 for retention timelines.