Breaking "Strategery" Down to Tactics

Does the picture to the left look like your home filing system, or lack thereof? If so, my prior post about financial strategy is going to be difficult to implement. I know the new age philosophy is that "some people are filers; others are pilers", but I don't buy it when dealing with your financial house. Having a filing system in place to easily store and access important documents is a relatively easy tactic to check off your list, so take a hour to create a system that will save you hours of time going forward.

I recommend personalizing it, so that the system makes sense to you. If you're uber computer savvy, perhaps you've scanned everything in including documents, receipts, etc. and created computer files. If you're a spreadsheet jockey, then set up an xls to track your expenses with a corresponding file folder to keep track of your receipts. And if you're still living in a paper-filled world, then have a separate envelope for receipts within the folder makes sense. Either way, you'll need to set aside a file cabinet or part of one to get organized financially.

Below are the general categories for your folders -- you may have more or less depending on your particular situation:

1. Home - mortgage or rental docs, insurance, warranties and repairs, etc.

2. Health - insurance docs, will and living will, prescriptions, receipts for co-pays, etc.

3. Car/Transportation - car loan or title docs, toll card agreement, car insurance, copy of your license and registration

4. Banking - copies of your credit cards, statements for checking and savings, etc.

5. Investments - separate folders for each account (i.e., 401k, IRA, Roth, trading account), associated statements, prospectus materials (I don't keep 'em, but you might!)

6. Donations - these are often tax deductible, so it behooves you to keep track of them; remember high school, university, charitable, goods, etc.

7. Memberships - gym, boat club, store card, you name it!

8. Warranties and instruction manuals - I like to keep all these sorts of items in one place as you never know when you might need them

9. Uncle Sam - former tax returns and back up (you are supposed to keep these for 5 years -- it will make your life A LOT easier if you get audited!)

Once you get a home filing system in place, use it. Instead of piling receipts in a corner or tossing them onto your desk, take the moment to place them in the correct space. You'll gain piece of mind from the new control you're exerting over your documents house!

A word to the wise: BACK UP. If you have a computer-based system, be sure to back it up with an online file folder or separate hard drive. The former is available through a number of retailers include Xdrive and IBackUp. The hard drives are at Walmart and the like -- I use one I bought from Target for $80. For your paper files, I recommend a fire proof safe; Walmart has many options ranging between $100-$400 depending on how much space you need.

Whew! For those of you who aren't into organizing (and don't thrive on it like I do), that may have been painful. In this case, I propose a nice red Châteauneuf-duPape, a blend of up to 15 different grapes from France's Southern Rhône region! The blend is predominantly Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, with grapes like Cinsault, Muscardin and Cunoise as vinus seasoning. They're full of red and black fruit, herbal notes, spice and pepper and they're darned good with summer BBQ!