Actually, it was not too bad this year. I’m very pleased to say that, for once, we were very well organized. On top of that I won free tax software in a blog contest over on VoucherCodes.ca! Yay! That was incredibly nice; I rarely win anything (is there anyone out there that does win things regularly? Ha ha.) so scoring some free tax software made an annoying chore less annoying.

Last year I tried really hard to keep on top of my tax documents, and for the most part I succeeded. I only had to go hunting for one form of my husband’s, and it turned out to be sitting on ePost (Canada Post’s electronic mail delivery system) so it wasn’t misplaced after all (it just hadn’t been printed out yet).
It wasn’t the most creative organizing system, it was just two manila folders labelled “2009 Taxes – Caitlin” and “2009 Taxes – Josh”, plus a folder courtesy of Home Depot containing our Home Renovation Tax Credit receipts (all two of them – we built a fence and put insulation in the garage). Not as pretty as this cute tax organizer, but it worked. Everything I needed to file my 2009 taxes went into that envelope over the year, including our Netfile access codes and other info from last year that we’d need to file this year.

For once, tax filing went smoothly for me. No hunting around for days looking for something important, it was (nearly) all together when I needed it! Slowly but surely, I am working my way toward my decluttered goal. These small victories are really getting me motivated for a big Spring Cleaning push!

Have you filed your taxes yet this year? Were you organized, or do you still need some help?

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Tax Time Organization

He was fed up with his cluttered apartment, and declared war on the clutter Saturday night.

Here’s what his home office looked like before:
The main room (before)

Office decluttering 001, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

The bookshelf (before)

Office decluttering 002, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

The floor (before)

Office decluttering 003, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

The desk top (before)

Office decluttering 004, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

I encourage you to click the photos to visit the Flickr pages – Dan has left some interesting (and humorous) notes on the photos about what all that stuff is!

After some hard work (and, hopefully, a good night’s sleep), here’s how the office looks now:
The main room (after)

Office decluttering 001a, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

The bookshelf (after)

Office decluttering 002a, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

The floor (after)

Office decluttering 003a, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

The desk top (after)

Office decluttering 004a, originally uploaded by DanLynch222.

Wow, such a difference, isn’t it? Looks like Dan can get some actual work done in there now, not to mention being able to locate important documents when he needs them!
He could probably tame those tangles of cables with some black binder clips, though!

Thank you for sharing this with us, Dan!

If you’d like to share your own decluttering progress, feel free to let me know. I can’t promise to publish every single one (I have no idea what kind of response, if any, this will receive), but I’ll do my best! Perhaps this could become a regular feature in the blog.

As always, you can also add your own photos to the ClutterCubed Flickr pool! I’d love to see them!

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Reader Declutter: Office Space

My last Filing with Flair post showed one set of very pretty file folders. Here are some more that I’ve found!

filex_emma1

I love the woodgrain, both the dark background and the pale bird and flowers! So cute!
Set of 6 printed file folders with 3 tab locations. Includes 12 adhesive tab labels.

etsyWhiskerGraphics

I love the idea of printing out images onto folders I already own, and these are just so cute! Before I started looking for cute folders to post here (and snag for myself!) it hadn’t occurred to me that a DIY option was available unless I felt like cutting my own folders from cardstock. I really like the idea of getting a pretty .pdf and skipping the scissors.

file-folders

ikeaLingo

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More Filing with Flair

I have won and lost some battles on that front. The main entryway took a long time to sort out, and now stays mainly clear, but I still need to implement some sort of landing strip.
The living room is staying clean, though! It’s even getting vacuumed regularly. This is so much easier now that we have a central vacuum system, instead of an old broken upright. I am enjoying having at least one area of the house where guests can sit without feeling embarrassed. The rest of the house… still needs work.

Today, however, I’ve been inspired! I saw this amazing home office makeover appear in my Ikea Hacker feed!
It’s originally from the Ramblings of a Renovating Couple, an awesome decorating duo from Toronto.
They have several posts on their office re-do, and the photos are great and helpful.
I love the colour of the walls, and I’m always up for a room full of the IKEA Expedit!

I think I might have to totally swipe some of their ideas for my sewing room. Their office is neat and organized, and yet still lovely and functional. I could definitely see myself sewing in a room like that! All that desk space would be great for cutting fabric, too!

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Long Time No See!

Pretty file folders' align=

It’s getting close to nearly being almost tax season, or at least people are talking about it already.

Tax season always means digging through old files, receipts spilling out of too-small envelopes, and cursing yourself for not having your files in better order again, despite promising yourself that after last year’s scramble you’d get them organized for sure!

Perhaps you just need a more attractive method of filing to encourage yourself to put some effort into it?

I can’t pretend to have any tax advice, but I can say with certainty that the file folders and file totes over at Galison.com are the most adorable ones I’ve seen!

While pretty colours and patterns on file folders can’t help directly with the piles of paper all over your desk (and spilling out of your filing cabinet…) they can certainly make it much more attractive to properly file your records!

Maybe some adorable supplies can encourage you to be organized for tax season… next year?

Image from Galison.com.

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File with Flair