A graphic of a room with a sofa in the centre and a book shelf to the left side. The sofa is covered in files and piles of paperwork
Episode 188 – Tackle Your Piles of Papers Today

Episode 395 – Don’t Fade by February – Keep Your Decluttering Momentum High
Episode 394 – The Hidden Story Behind a Hoarded Home with guest Eileen Stukane
The one thing we all have way too much of in our homes is paper. Half of it we haven’t even asked for but it builds and grows in piles dotted around our home and adds to the clutter. In this podcast we are going to discuss 10 things you can declutter to keep your paper piles down.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
[00:00:00] Ingrid: The one thing we all have too much of in our homes is paper. Half of it we haven't even asked for, but it builds and it grows in little piles dotted around our home. And it adds to the clutter in today's podcast. We are going to discuss. 10 things you can declutter to keep your paper piles down. 

[00:00:21] Today we are talking about the 10, it's a 10 things podcast. Lesley, we love it. 10 things. Our listeners notice. I think that we love it. 10 things. I think because It's a list. I like a list. I like a list. 

[00:00:34] Lesley: Yes. And today's list is all about paper. It's been a while since we've talked about paper, hasn't it?

[00:00:39] Now, paperwork in itself is a huge momentous task. And so we cannot delve into the ins and outs of what you keep and what you don't keep. So what we thought is let's go for some standard no brainers. That's what we love in our 10 things. And the light bulbs go on and people are like. Yeah, that's me. Why have I got that?

[00:00:58] And it definitely spurs people into action. So 10 things you can declutter to keep your paper piles down. We need to keep that paper under control. So first things first, Ingrid, paper comes in to one of two ways. We either proactively bring it into our house or it kind of comes in without us even wanting it there.

[00:01:18] And so before we talk about the things that we actively bring into our house, let's talk about the things that are just. Arrive. Yeah, 

[00:01:26] Ingrid: I know. It's like you open your door or you open your postbox. It's like, Oh, what's all this stuff? Why, why, why do you put it in there? So yes, let's kick off this session with the things that come in that we haven't even asked for.

[00:01:42] And of course a no brainer is. Terms and conditions that come with other bits of paper that are important. 

[00:01:51] Lesley: Yeah, so terms and conditions. Now they typically come with financial documentation and they come because they have to send them because they have a legal obligation to send terms and conditions and all those details that you need, you know, like what the kind of rates of.

[00:02:07] I don't know, APR is and all that kind of jazz, all that comes with those terms and conditions. And often we never read them. We never look at them, but we feel as if we ought to keep them because we might look at them at some point. But have you ever looked at them Ingrid? 

[00:02:24] Ingrid: Ever? No, unless I'm like. Okay, what's important?

[00:02:28] Yeah, yeah, I need to keep that and the rest Go straight into the shredding or the recycling Lesley because it's always like frequently asked questions And I'm like you'll be sending these to me every month You know probably once way way way back when I read them once but now it's like oh this it did It's the same old same old all the time.

[00:02:46] It's these standard forms in different languages, and I'm like I'm doing just fine. I don't need to have to form in 12 different languages that I read the same text. It is all the things you need to fill in or the contract they want you to take out for some maintenance. And I'm like, don't want that. If I would have wanted it, I will ask you for it.

[00:03:08] Straight into the recycling and the shredder. 

[00:03:11] Lesley: Yeah, should we just call it blurb then? I think it's kind of blurb, isn't it? That comes with stuff. And so now I'm not saying that these things are never useful. Because sometimes they are. But if you did want to read Terms and Conditions and blurb, then there's a good chance that A, it's going to come again next month.

[00:03:27] Or B, you can find that on a website. And it's a lot, it's a lot of stuff, isn't it Ingrid? So number one on our list, really identify and think about that blurb that comes with mainly financial and utility based documentation. 

[00:03:41] Ingrid: Yes. So let's move on to number two yet, Lesley. And I know this is. You know, a bugbear, I think of both of us, to be honest, envelopes, when something arrives in the post, the first thing I do is I open the envelope and I discard the envelope into recycling.

[00:03:59] I do not want to keep a paper in an envelope because, but I can see it all the time. People open the thing, they read whatever it is, they put it back into the envelope and then it goes. Onto a pile somewhere, onto a desk, in a plastic bag, randomly put down somewhere. But that envelope, you know, it's another barrier against, you know, what is this paperwork and do I need to action it, or file it, or shred it, or recycle it, whatever.

[00:04:28] It's a barrier. Now 

[00:04:30] Lesley: it's fair to say, Ingrid, that Some people use envelopes as kind of like almost like a folder, like a mini folder to containerize something and jot kind of useful information on the front of that. Now the problem that we've really got with envelopes because that would be useful and it's certainly something I think generationally that people have done so before we had lots of nice pop wallets and file folders and L folders that we could file into perhaps an envelope was a useful way to keep the right kind of information together when we needed to keep more paper.

[00:05:01] Okay. But the problem that we've got now that we get so much paper on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, is that every bit of that envelope is another two pieces of paper, two kind of sheets of paper that bulk out that paper, isn't it? So if we're talking about keeping those piles down, it's really something that you can use.

[00:05:20] We much prefer you to use L folders, so you can, they're see through, they're transparent. Transparent, you can put stickers on them with useful information. You can see exactly what's there. You can staple your information together as well, which we're big fans of. Get that stapler out and staple that paper together.

[00:05:36] You don't need an envelope because it's messy. It's ripped open. It doesn't look great. All of these things are little barriers that are stopping you from getting the job done. Now we have to wrench envelopes from people who have used envelopes for this purpose. Well, we have to. They're kicking and screaming I want to get my envelopes.

[00:05:55] But what we're saying is we're not there to change your processes but what we're talking about is, think about the bulk that that brings think about whether that's necessary and whether that's serving you well in your current life. Envelopes. Yes. 

[00:06:10] Ingrid: Yes. Yes. Definitely. Lesley. And I would love to add one more thing to that.

[00:06:15] All the envelopes are normally either an A3 or an A4 and they're all white. So you can't see what paperwork it is. That's I think a big problem as well as it can, that visibility. And that's, I think why we're also a big fan of open it up, staple it together. Throw away the envelope and you can see what it is and where it needs to go.

[00:06:35] What action it deserves. So yes, envelopes need to go. Number two done. Let's move on to number three, which is takeaway menus, drawers and drawers full we find Lesley. 

[00:06:49] Lesley: I know because we're sort of tempted. There's a psychological thing, isn't there? You're like, oh gosh, I might like her new piece. Oh, there's a new Thai place opening in town.

[00:06:57] I might order from there. Oh, there's a new Chinese. Let's keep that. Let's put it in the drawer. Let's put it in my junk drawer. Let's put it underneath my cutlery drawer. Let's put it in my entree. Let's stick it on a pile of paper by the front door. Because we might fancy that. Because there's something very tempting about marketing material about food.

[00:07:14] I mean, I, I... as well. I'm like, yes, I would totally like that. Like, why not? But what we typically do then, and Ingrid, I'm not even going to include Ingrid in this conversation because honestly, I would have more takeaways, takeaways in a, in a week than she would have in a year. Um, if she has any or probably the only takeaway she's ever had is when she's been at my house, to be fair, she's not a takeaway gal.

[00:07:40] So she can't even contribute. You don't even contribute And so, but everyone was with me like, yeah, that looks so nice. I totally want that. Um, and so you keep those takeaway menus because you think you might fancy it because you've fallen for the marketing and the bottom line. But do you need to keep that?

[00:07:56] Because actually what you typically do is think about where you want to go. You've probably got the number in the. phone, you probably order the same thing every time you order anyway. Do you know what I mean? So we've got this standard kind of what we want to do and what we actually do do. So those takeaway menus kind of clutter things up.

[00:08:11] And actually we don't know whether they're good takeaways. The good takeaways probably don't need to send takeaway menus through the post and silly unsolicited mail. They've probably got enough business. So there's all kinds of. things, but do yourself a favor and declutter some of those takeaway menus.

[00:08:27] If it's something that you use all the time, then there's a good reason to keep it because it's quite nice to look through the menu in a different way, but it's something to really, really think about because we find them everywhere. Don't we Ingrid? And they're definitely adding to our piles of paper clutter.

[00:08:42] Ingrid: You know what? I'm like crying, laughing at Lesley. I'm trying really hard not to laugh. Like I'm like, I can, I'm like nearly tearful because I'm laughing so hard because you're right. I have. One takeaway menu in my house. What? And I think there's like two takeaway places we use and the other one I use order online and the other one I'm like, oh yeah, let me have a look and I always order the same thing as well.

[00:09:05] It's like crazy. So I'm like laughing so hard here. But indeed, I do find them at my clients houses, stacks and stacks of them, and it's such a nice, easy win. You know, let's declutter all the stuff of places that we've never used before, we're not going to order. I mean, maybe you're going to leave it from a sushi place, but actually you realize, I actually don't like sushi, why have I got a takeaway menu from a sushi place?

[00:09:29] Let it go, thin it out. And let's be realistic about the things you do want to order and are actually going to eat But you're right. Maybe i'm not the right person to ask you because Like I said, one day coming back, you're in this house. 

[00:09:44] Lesley: I mean, actually, to be fair, I'm not sure what we should talk to you about, because you don't really like stuff.

[00:09:49] You don't really have much stuff at all. You know, thankfully, I'm here with an abundance of things, an abundance of things coming to my house, so I can actually talk about de clutching, because I actually do it. You know what I mean? So, but yeah, remember, I came to your house and they were like, Lesley's coming.

[00:10:04] We need to order a takeaway as a treat and I'm like, it's not, but it's not a treat because I literally have a takeaway every week in my house. But anyway, we, we digress. And so, and I very much look forward to the next takeaway that I have at your house when I come and visit Ingrid. No, no, I'm 

[00:10:20] Ingrid: going to cook now for you next time.

[00:10:25] Lesley: Yeah. When you come to our house, we always go out, but anyway, right. Number four is, and this is, this is one that's actually on the decline already, Ingrid. Yeah. But we do see them hanging around, don't we? 

[00:10:37] Ingrid: Yes. It is yellow pages and phone directories and things like that. Thank goodness. They're not really coming in anymore.

[00:10:47] Just now. Suddenly, suddenly. Every. A couple of years ago, there's one, but we indeed find them in like the most random places. They're like in cupboards in living rooms or suddenly in a cupboard under the stairs. So they come from under some things like, Oh, there's one, but they are super bulky. I mean, in the past, they were like hundreds and hundreds of pages.

[00:11:11] They are getting thinner. They're getting smaller, which is good. But still, when was the last time you used a phone directory? To find a telephone number, even if you still have them from previous years, you're not going to use that. You're going to ask recommendations. You're going to look online. You're going to maybe post a question in, in, on your Facebook page to say, hi, I'm looking for such and such company.

[00:11:35] Does anybody have a recommendation? And then you can just Google everything. I can't even remember the time I used a phone directory, Lesley, to find out anything. Well, that's because you haven't got one. Yeah, that's what I mean. But even when I, you know, back in the day, when we still got one every year, I'm like, oh gosh, it's time again.

[00:11:56] They've put one through my mailbox. Okay, it can be decluttered. Because I never ever use it. 

[00:12:01] Lesley: Yeah, I, I can't remember actually getting one in the last five years here. So I think they're on the decline, but what we want, what we're talking about really is if you've got them still hanging around in your house from the olden days, the olden days, um, think about whether or not that's something that you actually use, cause that's a lot of paper.

[00:12:19] I mean, it's kind of a book, kind of a reference thing, but it is something that's unsolicited mail. And who knows Ingrid in other parts of the world, they might still come through those doors. You know, you've made me a little bit nostalgic that I'm thinking about the kind of yellow pages and going through the phone, but I can still remember my childhood phone number.

[00:12:36] Can you? 632. 9. Yeah, because you just remember it. Don't you? But actually there's only two mobile phone numbers that I can physically remember. And that's my husband and my best friend. And that's because they've had the same mobile phone number since the beginning of time. And somehow they must've been the two people that I rang back in the day.

[00:12:57] But other than that, I don't know my kids phone numbers off by heart. I don't know your phone number off by heart, even though I'm ringing you all the time. I know my own as well, actually, which is useful, I suppose. But yeah, do you know your old childhood phone number? Yeah. 

[00:13:11] Ingrid: What is it? Uh, 0299 320532. Oh, I can't say that in English.

[00:13:19] I have to do that in Dutch because I can't, you know what I mean? It's like... So, yeah, that's still my mom's phone number. So, that's the one I can remember. Yeah. So, please, don't do this slowly and I'll start ringing my mom, because she's going to be really confused. Is it still her number? Yeah. Is it still her number?

[00:13:33] Is it? 

[00:13:34] Lesley: Yeah. Oh, I didn't realize it was still her number. She's going to get loads of random calls from all over. Hi, 

[00:13:41] Ingrid: I know English. Yeah. 

[00:13:43] Lesley: Anyway, tell us if you remember your childhood phone number, I mean 63249 might still be a valid number, but it's definitely not my number, that's for sure. Yeah, 

[00:13:54] Ingrid: so you're now going to have somebody else like who crank calls 

[00:13:56] Lesley: to your house then.

[00:13:57] Yeah, exactly. Right, okay. We digress, of course, as always. But now we need to go to number five. 

[00:14:04] Ingrid: Yeah. Ingrid, number five. Yes. Receipts, receipts, I know. Ah, we find piles and stacks and they're everywhere. In purses, in bags, in handbags. Stuffed somewhere into a corner. And these receipts are just like no brainers.

[00:14:25] You can recycle them or you can let them go, throw them away, put them in shredders, do something with them. You do not need to keep a receipt of a coffee that you've bought with your friend this morning in your local coffee shop. Honestly. Yes. 

[00:14:39] Lesley: Oh, you sound quite fierce with that Ingrid. You sound quite determined to get your point across.

[00:14:44] There are of course some receipts that you do need to keep and you will know what they are. But what we're saying is be more discerning with the receipts that you keep because if you then, uh, you know, reduce the number of receipts you've got, the ones that you've got are a little bit more meaningful and useful.

[00:14:57] Meaningful is like the wrong word with a receipt, but useful then. And so really think that through. We get in the habit, we've got in the habit of the second generational thing again, isn't it Ingrid, where we're like, Oh, we need to keep the receipt. We need to check it against our bank. But are we doing that?

[00:15:12] If you do do that, great. But once you've checked that everything is in order, discard the receipt. Now, there used to be a time where you couldn't recycle, um, receipts because it was, it was on thermal paper, but now that's all changing and you can recycle, um, standard. Thermal receipt paper, you know the ones that come out of those machines as well.

[00:15:31] So that's good news as well. Because you didn't use to be able to, they all have to get kind of thrown away, didn't they? Yeah, yeah. Receipts are definitely not firing line because we see so many of them and they are there for years and years and years. Now. I do have a box of receipts. I have like a box file of receipts that I've kept, some of them I've had for 20, 30 years, which are things that, you know, big high value items that I, you know, that I know might be useful for insurance purposes and things like that.

[00:15:56] So we're not saying discard every receipt, but as Ingrid says, when you've done your weekly shopping, when you've been to Costa coffee, you know, you don't need to keep that receipt necessary. Yeah. Do yourself a favor and decrease those receipts. Yeah. 

[00:16:10] Ingrid: I think it's all about the intention, isn't it? Like for example, we're doing some, um, online grocery shopping at the moment.

[00:16:16] So when it arrives, we immediately. Check the paperwork against the stuff. If it's all arrived and if there's anything that we're missing and we need to buy later somewhere else or whatever. So we take that action immediately. But when I go pop across the road to my little Tesco's and I get a pint of milk.

[00:16:35] I don't even get the receipt out because we're so used to, in the past, it came out automatically and now you can, the machine, thank goodness, asks you, do you want a receipt? And I'm like, no, no, no, no, don't want a receipt. And I think it's so helpful because you just create. Jobs and paperwork for yourself.

[00:16:54] If there's an, if you don't do anything with that, of course, I can read agree with you, Lesley. Def course, there are receipts that you need to keep, but the bulk you don't. So even try not to get it in the first place, if you can, to save you another pile of stuff. Somewhere in your house.

[00:17:10] Lesley: , we talked a lot about the things, the paper that comes into our house that we don't even ask for. And now we're going to talk about the things that you do actually kind of ask for that we can actually declutter too.

[00:17:21] So Ingrid, let's jump straight in 

[00:17:23] Ingrid: with number six. Yes, it is magazines and subscriptions. We love a magazine, don't we? We either have subscriptions on them, or when we do our weekly shop, we kind of browse that lovely aisle with all those shiny kind of lovely magazines. We think, Ooh, what do I fancy? And what do I want?

[00:17:44] And we pick up a couple and then we come home and we put them on a pile somewhere or in a reading basket or on the table somewhere, and we think we're going to sit down and have a nice little read of this magazine. And then life gets in the way, other things need to be done first, and all these magazines start to kind of build up.

[00:18:05] Or, they come in through the post, in this beautiful plastic wrapper, to protect it from, from the rain and the wind. And they never get unpacked, because we never get around to reading the magazine. Or we only read two articles, and then it gets kind of put to the side to come back to another time. We 

[00:18:24] Lesley: kind of like the idea of it, don't we?

[00:18:26] We like the idea of relaxing with a nice magazine. It's kind of a habit, isn't it? And it's not necessarily a bad habit. Do you know what I mean? It's a nice habit to read through a magazine, but it's really about evaluating your behaviors when it comes to magazines and making sure they are kind of aligned.

[00:18:41] And so we need to really think about. Are we actually reading the magazine or is it, as Ingrid said, coming in every week in that plastic wrapper and never getting opened? If you're more, you know, if you read the magazines and then declutter them, fantastic. But you know, think about decluttering and not keeping them because that information in magazines gets recycled all the time.

[00:19:01] The recipes get recycled, the article gets recycled. We know because we write those articles for magazines and we get asked to write the same old stuff over and over. For something new and revolutionary about decluttering. We get asked for simple stuff on decluttering. Those articles will come around again.

[00:19:18] You'll be able to read them and be inspired. If you do see, see something amazing in a magazine that you want to keep, just keep, just click that out, but make sure that you're going to do something with it. Really, really important not to just clip things from magazines, just in case. Now, if you are that person who then you've got things on subscription, but you're never quite getting around to them is now the time to actually.
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Helen says:

8 September 2022 at 6:50 PM

I still remember my childhood phone number.

Reply
1. Ingrid Jansen says:
  
  9 September 2022 at 11:37 AM
  
  Me too, but it helps that my mum still has this number.
  
  Reply
Episode 188 – Tackle Your Piles of Papers Today

Episode 390 – 10 changes that make the biggest impact in your home

Episode 387 – Our 2025 year in review – the big Declutter Hub round-up

Episode 380 – Home, Life & You – How NOT to declutter your home

Episode 378 – 10 Freebies That Are Sabotaging Your Home

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