It is easy for me to let my mail get out of control. For a while there we were in a good habit of sorting the junk from the bills and other miscellany as soon as we walked through the door but even when we were doing that we ended up with piles of mail on the entry table, piles of mail on the file cabinet, and piles of mail by the computer. We need a home for the mail. I’m thinking about buying two of these magazine holders. One can be for the bills and the other can be for other mail. I like them because they are simple and sleek and I can attach them to the wall in a discreet place by the computer.
Does anyone have a good mail system?
Beulah Sorensen
October 24, 2007
No, I have the same problem that you have. So frustrating, all the clutter! Keep us updated on the new filing system.
hyb
October 24, 2007
My mail finally got in control when I found the right type of basket for it. The folders you have shown are too thin for the amount of mail we get (but are supercute). I have a dark color basket, which is a larger version of this. It sits on a chair near the door. Because of its size, I can put everything standing up, instead of stacked on top of one another, so the mail is easy to flip through if I need something during the week. And I don’t bother with sorting before I put things in the basket. I just dump everything in there and empty out once a week. We had major paper clutter issues before, and this has kept our mail system going and our dining room surfaces paper free for 2 years now.
love.boxes
October 24, 2007
I wish I did. Between mail and paper from church and school. Ahhh!!
Jen (Pink) Williams
October 24, 2007
My husband and I have the same problem. No matter what we do we have piles of mail. But I like the idea of hiding the piles in sleek wall-mounted folders. But I LOVE the mail caddy that hyb posted a link to. That might be the better solution for us, given the quanity of junk we receive. It’s overwhelming!
Jamie Meares
October 24, 2007
we have a bureau/dresser thing that’s right by the front door. the top drawer is for recycling. most everythign gets ripped up and put in there, and taken out on wednesdays with the recyling. we pay all of our bills online, and don’t get the paper version to save on ick that we have to throw away.
Julie
October 24, 2007
That is so pretty & tempting.
e
October 24, 2007
i have this black wire basket that fits file folders (6x8x11″) and can be nailed to the wall. i used to toss my mail in there to deal with later. the basket mail caddy also looks very promising.
now i have a toast holder (not available online) from the museum of useful things (www.themut.com), which is great for sorting mail.
Anonymous
October 24, 2007
The trash immediately goes in the trash, the magazines in their basket, and the bills to pay in their spot in the desk. Fun mail gets looked at right away. Do it right when I walk in the door. How easy is that?!
Anonymous
October 25, 2007
My mail is a mess too! For some reason I thght I was the only one. I still have not yet found a system BUT I have been “eyeing” these amazing wall organization shelves from Pottery Barn, if you are not yet familiar with them (which I doubt) I think you should check them out. It’s like the Ferrari of wall organization, and very pricey. I am hesitant because I don’t want to get it, put it up and then not have it work out for the mail. But it is quite tempting overall, I’ve been drooling over them for months!
Oh and sorry I’m posting anonymously, no reason just don’t feel like filling in other info. I’m a regular reader=)
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p3170/index.cfm?pkey=caccstrstr
mara
October 25, 2007
We just purchased this mail/key holder and love it. I can put up the mail plus hang up my purse and keys too. Only thing is you can’t pile up magazines or else they’ll fall.
http://www.threebythree.com/hookupstrip.php
AJ
October 25, 2007
I got a really simple magazine holder from Ikea for like 2 bucks and it works great. A little plain but I am sure you could craft it up. I could not find the exact one but it was just the metal frame with out the swirls.http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70083501
robin k
October 25, 2007
This is the worst chore in the house – taking care of the bills and paper in general. I still don’t have a perfect system!
amanda
October 25, 2007
While I love the discreetness (discretion?) of your posted folder, I have to say that I own two of them, and they serve as kind of a hiding place where mail goes to die, since you can’t actually SEE the mail that inside without digging it out weeks later. I’ve recently begun keeping bummer mail (bills, bills, more bills) in a basket on the kitchen counter by my calender, where I remember to put them when I walk in. Fun mail (packages, mags, cards) goes on the coffee table, where it sits looking happy until I need happiness. Everything else goes in the trash the MOMENT I walk in the door (I acutally have to sort it out as I walk from the mail box to the front door).
Anonymous
October 25, 2007
My husband is ready for our life to go completely paper-less. I’m not quite as keen to commit, but for our mail, bills & filing cabinet, here’s what we’ve been doing for a couple of months now. We bought an auto-feed scanner that will feed up to 25 sheets of paper at a time & scan. Once a month (or when the “scan” basket gets full-ish) I scan and burn to a CD (one CD for each month, labelled accordingly). Then I shred the paper and recycle. Important reoccuring stuff (like life insurance papers, serial numbers for things we own) go in their own folder and when there’s a substantial amount they get their own CD. Is it working? For now…ask me in 6 more months. My husband thinks that would be a great stay-at-home mom job (go into people’s homes once a month and scan, shred, & burn to a CD for a fee).
michelle
October 25, 2007
I like Rachel’s system:
http://rachelcaldwell.blogspot.com/2007/02/paper-piles-be-gone-part-one.html