A Value of Going Paperless

In my journey I’m already seeing the value of going paperless even though this is a huge transition.  The first question was what to do with the papers I’ve scanned, secondly what is my “back-up” plan, and finally how do I organized it all within my computer.  Even after all of those questions I can already see the value of going paperless.

A few years ago I had created a filing system that I was sticking to and it was working like a charm.  Our farm business had a file, our concrete business was organized by job, and the household bills & receipts were filed by month.  It was working but now that I’m scanning everything what am I going to do with all of it.  Do I continue to organize it for a back-up or do I just lump it all into one file?

Speaking of back-up will the papers be the back-up or do I back them up digitally?  At this point I’ve decided to lump each category into it’s own file (household ~farm~ concrete) as well as get an external hard drive.  Nope I’m not comfortable yet shredding the papers, but I’m sure once I’m completely transitioned I’ll have My Farmer burn them in the burning barrel.

I’m anal when it comes to filing, but Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap.com says not to create and elaborate filing system because everything that you scan should be searchable document.  Hum we’ll see about that.  I plan to organized my digital documents anyway, at least at this point.

So far I’m already seeing the value of going paperless and I just started!

• Paperwork clutter is already starting to dwindle.
• The file names of my bills are including the monthly payment, which will save me time during tax season next year.
• Important school information can now be found without having to rummage through a stack of papers.

I know the value is going to continue to grow!  Ah what a release!  I don’t feel pressured to funnel the paperwork of my household corporation into the right place so I can find it later.  It’s all at the touch of a button!  Love it!

Have you gone paperless yet?