OFFENDING HOME OFFICE: PART 11

Okay, when I started this last few posts I said I’d tell you how organizing all your paper clutter on the computer will save you money.  So here goes.

If you are a true S.H.E (Sidetracked Home Executive) like me then you know how easy it is to not get things put exactly where they should be when you first lay your hands on it.  While the whole idea of the Princess Plan is to avoid such situations life still happens and I am realistic about it. 

However, once you file that information electronically it’s there, it doesn’t matter if you print it out and lay the printout down somewhere, or sister Susie spills her juice on the print out you can always print it again.  So you have not lost the instructions to an intricate knitting pattern forever and ever amen.  You don’t have to go buy a new copy, you just print it.

Many a warranty goes unclaimed because people either don’t know where the warranty paperwork is, don’t know when they purchased the item, what the warranty covers, or don’t know how long the warranty is for.  A prime example of this recently for us was a photo printer we had purchased for the business.  It got fried by lightening and because we could immediately lay our hands on an electronic warranty copy we had we found that lightening damage was covered and that our warranty had less than a month left on it.  It also told us where we had purchased it and our purchase price.  

We were able to bundle up our fried printer, take it back to the original purchase store present them with all the information they needed for the exchange and left with a much newer and upgraded model for free.  

Recalls, sometimes require proof you purchased an item between certain dates.  If you have your receipts scanned and properly electronically filed this is not a problem.  You print out the copy and get your recall repair or replacement.

Same goes for refunds/rebates.

Avoiding duplications.  I have previously touched on this.  On some things like embossing folders the amount may seem small, but on larger items it can add up quickly.  Take cartridges for Cricut machines.  There are numerous ones that have similar names, like Art Deco and Art Nouveau.  Both deal with art deco type die cuts, but they are truly two different cartridges, so if you aren’t careful you could pick up a duplicate without realizing it.  Considering those run from $20-200 that can get costly quickly. 

I cannot tell you how many times in the past I have started a card or scrapbook project to discover that I don’t have enough cardstock of a particular color.  An up to date inventory of such things saves me from either not being able to do a project, or worse needing to do one in a hurry and having to make an emergency run 20 or miles away to a craft store to get the materials needed. That 40 mile round trip costs 1-3 gallons of gas depending on what vehicle I am driving and that can add up quickly in the dollars and cents column.

It has also kept me from buying more of a certain color when I already have numerous sheets of said color.  

Home owners insurance is another HUGE consideration.  Many homeowners, like myself, opt for having full replacement value insurance.  However, the insurance company is NOT going to take your word that you had 300 different Cricut cartridges, two different Cricut machines and a Cameo, plus x amount of dies, 100 embossing folders you are going to need some documentation of said items to gain that full replacement value.

Having an inventory, preferably with photos, serial numbers and such will not only give you the proof that you did in fact own those items, but also when you purchased them. 

Not to mention it will help you remember what all you did own and make filing the claim much simpler.

Of course this only works if you do as I have previously suggested and you have kept a complete back-up of your files off property.  

While I pray none of us ever suffer such loss it is better to have safely stored electronic files off property, just in case.  It’s kind of like carrying an umbrella and it not raining, but the minute you leave that bumbershoot at home you are going to drown like a rat!

One other thing I would suggest you file with all this paperwork.  Up to date photos of the entire household, room by room, section by section.  So even if you haven’t entered you had 25 different containers of glitter and 300 ink pads you will have a photos of those items to show the insurance company as proof you did have them.

Another good point about taking these photos is to help all of us show more self restraint when in craft stores. 

“Huh?” you say.  Have you ever noticed that when you are taking photos of something you don’t notice that bit of trash on the floor, or the dust on the mirror or what have you until you take the photo and are looking at it? 

Well taking a photo of each room also lets you see when you are maybe getting too much of a good thing.  Take those 300 ink pads—seriously?  Do you really need to buy another one?  Are you turning into an inky hoarder?  Photos are very good to give us all a reality check and when they do, we save money. 

Taxes, if you file using deductions how many times have you either been not able to find a receipt to where you donated to charity, purchased a car tag or something similar and ended up not claiming the deduction?  Do you really want to give Uncle Sam any more than you legally have to? 

I was recently asked if the IRS will take the electronic files.  I cannot say for certain, I was told yes by one IRS representative, but anyone who has called them before will know that you don’t always get the same answer when you call.  

It would make sense that they would because no one gets their checks back from a bank any more, the banks destroy the originals, if they ever existed in this day and age of electronic checks and debit cards.  Reservations and payments of various accounts are all computer generated.  I know I do a pdf of every payment I make on a bill and file that “receipt” electronically.  

However, if you have doubt about taxes, then still scan them in, just in case of a fire, tornado, hurricane etc and neatly file those scraps of paper in one small file.  It will make your tax filing simpler next year if your receipts are all scanned into one file labeled “taxes” then looking through stacks and stacks of paper clutter.

These are but a few of the ways using our computers, tablets, cell phones can save us money.  I bet once you start thinking about it you will come up with more and more ways that being organized with your computer in your craft room/home office will save you a ton of money.

One reminder, once you have scanned everything and made triple certain you have a good quality copy of each and every receipt, statement, photo etc.  be certain you shred or burn any paperwork you are doing away with.  Don’t give identity thieves any help in ruining your life what so ever.

Jan who prefers to burn rather than shred in OK

OFFENDING HOME OFFICE: PART 7

Working in my clean-up thing for the day was a little more challenging than other days of the week, it was payday and that has a different set of chores I must do than other days of the week.

But I persevered to maintain my forward movement toward the goal of a completely clean and organized craft room/office. I choose a project that would not require a lot of thought, although it did take some time to do. The cleaning up of scrap paper.

Anyone who does papercrafting finds themselves with the dilemma whether or not to keep their scraps and if they do, how do they store them?  After consulting with numerous people on the web I decided to combine a few ideas to what I think will be a workable solution for our space.

I had a decent size box of scraps I had been gathering as we cleared the main bulk, so I sat down with my paper cutter and proceeded to cut it into the largest usable pieces possible.  Trimming off all those dangling bits that get bent or cause the paper to hang up when you are trying to get it out of your storage to the point you don’t want to mess with it.  

I cut rectangles and squares of all the usable spaces and placing all that was cut off in a paper recycling bin.  I also sorted by main color groups as I went, white, blue, green, pink, brown, red, purple you get the idea.  While this was time consuming it allowed me to mull through other thoughts so it went fairly fast.

Once it was all trimmed and sorted I faced the task of storage.  First I created magazine holders of sorts out of heavy cardboard boxes from bulk purchases of things like cereals purchased at Sam’s Club.  

I did so by taping both ends of the box closed then cutting the box in half sideways, more or less. I left a lip on the front edge of each box to help keep the pages from sliding out.

 If you work it just right you can get two holders out of one box.  While these holders were not big enough for full sheets of 12 x 12 paper they were perfect for most of the scraps I had.  

I want to put a special note here about sources for boxes.  When I originally posted the photos of my cereal box holder a lively discussion ensued over the flat rate shipping boxes from the post office for larger size paper.  

I would like to say right now that I do not get these “free” boxes from the post office to make the larger holders.  It is my belief that those boxes are not free because they cost the post office money and as everyone knows the post office is in financial difficulties.

I will, however, re-use one that I’ve received in the mail from purchasing an item.  Far better to repurpose a used box than simply destroy it.  By waiting for bigger boxes to come my way it may take me longer to get the ideal paper sorting bookshelf made, but it will be worth the wait and the adventure of keeping my eye open for other boxes I can use for this purpose in the future.

Off my soapbox now.  Back to the discussion of creating the box.  

No measurements, just eyeballing it because what measurements would be good for one box would not be good for another.  You can easily look at the photo below and see basically how you need to cut one.  To cut 2 you use a taller box and do the lip cut from both the top and bottom. 

Be careful when you are doing such cutting, after all there is no savings in a free holder if you end up in ER getting stitches.

Once the thick cardboard was properly cut to the size and shape you can cover it with any type of paper you want.  I will probably eventually cover mine with a patchwork quilt of small scraps of paper and cardstock, but I haven’t decided yet.  So for now you can definitely tell what it is made out of.

The largest of my scraps that would not fit securely in these holders I put in a hard plastic storage envelope I already had on hand.  In fact it was one of the envelopes I had emptied the day before of ephemera. 

The smallest of the squares and rectangles that wouldn’t do well in the homemade holders because of their size I put in legal sized envelopes that I labeled what the color was on the outside and then put the envelope with other papers of the same color in the homemade holder.

The envelopes had the effect of also being a divider for each color as well.  That will aid in future filing or shopping for colors. You could also put a bit of color on the envelope to indicate what color was inside if you are more of a visual person.

Oh and the envelopes, by the way, were free.  They are from a printer that did a misprint of several cases of envelopes for a company I worked for years ago.  So I was given the envelopes and have been slowly using them up for just such projects.  They are heavier than your normal legal size envelope, so that is even better.

Once I had merciless trimmed my paper down to a true usable size I found I had extra space in the box.  Never one to let a space go unused I dug around until I found several small pads of cardstock that were of scrap paper size and added those to the box.  They fit perfectly and now all my small papers are together for one easy shopping experience whenever I’m pulling a project together. 

This had the action of nearly emptying another small drawer that I am certain I will find an excellent use for in the future.

I have some very old versions of this type of holder that my husband made out of chipboard years ago to hold magazines.  They are a bit flimsier than these corrugated boxes, but will also work.  

When he constructed those he made them as a long narrow box with one side completely open and you slide the paper/magazines in from the side. These you could make from any size cardstock or chip board if you didn’t want to wait to find the perfect box.

Of course in all my cleaning and culling I had uncovered some actual purchased holders of the same type to hold 8 ½ x 11 paper/cardstock so those are on the shelf with the papers as well. These purchased folders varied from the old fashioned out of popularity bright yellow ones, to Cropper Hopper versions of it.  So my shelves with paper on them are a bit eclectic in nature, but it works and I'm happy.

If creating the holders yourself is too much work you can always do as I did.  Just make dividers out of used poster board until you get the exact holders you want. 

Craft stores run organizational materials on sale several times a year.  So if all else fails you can purchase those.  Whatever your choice is a selection of paper that is easy to see and pick out colors of is a must in any paper crafting room.

By time I was finished another box was now empty and could be removed from the room, ahhh more square footage to work with for certain.  Gotta love it.

While today’s clean-up was simple to achieve it did take a little bit of time to do because I had such a backlog of paper.  In the future my plan is to trim up all the leftover bits after each project so it will only take a few minutes each time. 

By “shopping” my scrap paper holders with the beginning of each project and using any bit that the cut out will work on I should save a lot of money on scrapbooking products and after all as Granny always said “Mind your pennies and your dollars will mind themselves.”

Jan who loves the fact her room is slowly coming together the way she wants it in OK