If you haven’t picked up Marie Kondo’s decluttering best-seller, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” it’s worth a read. The KonMari decluttering principals involve keeping the things you love and discarding the rest. It’s easier to choose what you love when it comes to clothing, books, etc., but when it comes to paper? It’s tough to love your Visa card statements – time to toss? How do you do it securely? Here are some tips to help you:

1) Greeting Cards and Children’s Papers
Set these aside and sort them last so you don’t get sidetracked down Memory Lane. Keep a file with the year marked on each folder so you can tuck birthday, holiday and other greeting cards by year for easy access. Color-code your file box for multiple children in your family

2) Coupons
Check expiration dates and set them aside and use an app like AnyList to organize your shopping with coupons so you don’t hold onto them for too long.

3) Filing Cabinet and Financial Documents

• Credit Card receipts? Cell phone bills? You can request your information be stored online and shred the paper documentation. If your personal paper shredder begins overheating, bring your papers to SecurShred – we can do a load of papers for much less than you think.

• Keep home papers, medical bills, and actual bills from doctors for reference. Get rid of old pay stubs, receipts – if it clears the bank, throw it away. Anything w/ statements, shred it.
5) Month-to-Month Shredding
Instead of keeping for a year, month, to month, shred documents in each folder. Take out the previous bill and shred it after it has been paid and cleared the bank. Bill pay online will make this much easier.

6) Warranties and Manuals
Many repair manuals are available online. Keep warranties, installation packets, codes and passwords, use LastPass to store all your passwords securely.

We’re happy to securely shred your personal documents. Stop by our facility and we’ll take care of it for you. For larger jobs, schedule a pick-up and we’ll be happy to help.