Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

[Kgrammiecaz]

What would you vote for - let me guess lol

Well I had to give in the last two night and this Sunday to do the mounds of mail and paperwork that seem to multiply overnite. I am meeting with my daughter on Sunday to,chat about our budgets and goals and where we want to be next year. I have been hiding from this dang paperwork too long. I even have to file a tax paper to fix an error - one that get s me some money back and I still have not completed it.

How do you all feel about household paperwork. Who runs the paperwork in your house. Do you escape it or just get it done.

I have a tradh bag in my car so I dont bring in the junk mail and all the envelopes, etc into the house. That helps some.

This is the only thing I truly hate bout being single because I would rather someone else do it.

[Midge]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

Funny you mention it. Guess what I spent my day doing. I have been horribly lazy about this and I am in danger of being over-run. Making a big dent in the paperwork is just one of my weekend fall cleaning goals. One good thing is the advertising crap can be put in the recycle bin. Makes me feel so virtuous and organized LOL

[jjkaiser]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I hear you!! But I can honestly say my system works pretty well, only overdue on about 2 bills per year. I take care oh HH bills and DH does the junk mail--which he actually opens in case it's not junk. We keep 2 separate baskets. He goes thru his every Sat a.m. while listening to NPR. He is self employed so we don't have a regular payday around here. When we need money in chkg account I tell him how much and he writes me a check. I open the mail every day and write checks out about every 10 days. When I open a bill I write the due date and amount on the front, put the bill back in the envelope and put it in my bin I keep in a kitchen cabinet. Nothing gets lost and I can tell pretty quickly how much our owe pile is. I have a large velcro clear plastic letter sized clear folder and once I pay a bill I write date paid and chk # on the part of the bill I keep and put it in the velcro folder so at the end of the year the folder is stuffed full, I take the whole years paid bills out and transfer them to a brown mailing envelope, write the year on it, and put it in my box in the attic marked taxes. Then my velcro file is empty and I can start filling it up again starting in feb, cause december bills come in jan of course. And that's my system simple and basic but it works for us.

[Quiltfreestyle]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I found a system that works for us. All the bills, phone, cable, insurance, utilities & charitable donations, gets charged to one credit card. We get the points & I don't have to write a boatload of checks each month, just pay the one credit card online each month. Saves a lot of time & hassle.
Still have to go through the junk mail though. Can't seem to get away from that..

[CarolynK]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

The hubs takes care of all of our paperwork and bills - I just don't get involved. I took them over a few years ago when I wasn't working but it's really not my thing and I'd put it off until it drove him crazy and he took over the bills and paperwork again. I do it all electronically and he does everything old school.

[Sonic]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I have a similar system to some of you and I try to pay as much on line as I can. I have files on my PC (and external hard drive for safe keeping) to save information in, so I can shred the monthly paper bills and compost them. I have a farm and plenty of outside room for this, but my house is small and the paper monster will take over really quickly.
All other junk mail gets recycled or composted.

However, I'm also terrible about always having too much to do.... but want to spend my time doing something I want to do rather than something I have to do. So, working on my quilt has become my carrot on the stick.

[Amy R]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I get the mail every day so I instantly sort it so that he doesn't have to see junk mail or crap that we don't need. It goes directly into the recycling or shredder if we don't need it. Bills are placed on his desk. He does all the bills as much online as possible.

[Bubby]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I'm the paper pusher in our family. We have a company and I do all the paperwork for it plus for us personally. I find that the best way to manage it is to keep up with it once a week. Our company shares a corner of my sewing room, so I can't let things get to out of control or the papers try to take over my cutting mat area.

[Cyndie]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

If given the choice of having a maid or a secretary, I would choose a secretary. I hate dealing with the mail (unless it's something from MSQC). The bills go in one box and the junk mail in the trash, but there is always that mail that you don't quite know whether to hold onto or not,or something that you need to read more carefully, but you're too tired. That's the stuff that stacks up and causes avoidance behavior!

[DeniseSm]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

You'll be astonished that I vote to pay the bills before doing quilting.

Quilting is my passion. I will skimp on household chores like dusting, and I will eat frozen dinners, but I never skimp on paperwork.

I do all the paperwork in our household. My goal is process each piece of paper the day it arrives. That way nothing gets lost or forgotten. I use on line bill pay so I can set a future date for the payment to out, but it gets processed the day it arrives.

[lourixe]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

Paperwork is THE chore I procrastinate all the time. I hate it. I HATE IT! When the mail comes, I check and throw in a box all the bills and accounting papers. Most regular payments (electricity, telephone, insurances) get automatically withdrawn from the bank account, but I have to queep track of the bills in case they charge for things they shouldn't. It's a scandal how big companies cheat on us all the time. I work on my own and must also take account of my expenses and write the bills for my clients, and check I get paid, and then taxes, social security... I wish I could afford a secretary. Junk mail gets shredded for pets or to lit the woodstove.

[Slokarma]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

Remember when they promised that computers will save paper? I pay almost everything on line. Yet, the mail only seems under control the first day after I go thru all of it. I hate the shredder. I've become almost paranoid about tossing anything with my name on it. (I had ID stolen in 1999, BEFORE I even owned my first computer) and now I've been given the job of taking care of my DMIL's mail and bills. I know there will come a day of reckoning with that one.

What is the criteria for shredder or trash???

[Carrie J]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

LOL, one day is set aside for this, usually done in an hour, more time is spent on "junk mail" and shredding labels!!! And with it being Election time, the junk mail has tripled!!! GAH!!!!! Be glad when this is over! Housework doesn't suffer as I have a young lady that comes and deep cleans for me twice a month. The little stuff I can handle. Otherwise, both DH and I team up on it over a cup of coffee and some pastry, that's the incentive to get it done!

[irishrn]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I do all the bills and tax stuff! When I get the mail I open it and place bills on the steps heading upstairs. Then when I go up I place it in the pile in date order. I pay bills every other Wednesday. I also pay any credit card bills twice a month to increase the amount paid! It has helped me stay one month ahead. So when the bill comes in I have already made one or two payments that haven't been accounted for in the balance due! This way if one of us is sick, nothing is overdue!!
It has worked for me over all the years I worked as I got pain every other Wednesday. Just happens to continue to work now that I'm retired!

[easyquilts]

Re: Quilting time vs doing household paperwork

I hate paperwork...of any kind....

I have trained myself to pay bills as soon as they come in.... DH would be proud, because he knew that I am a dyed in the wool lricrepastinatot.... Seriously..... But... There is other paperwork that I keep telling myself I will take card if "tomorrow ". I'm really bad about paperwork....

We are all creative people.... So... I'm going to blame our dislike of mundNe paperwork on that. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Anybody want to join me?