I have made an effort to be paperless for years. I pay bills online and keep a PDF copy of receipt for payments. I scan all my bills, contracts, medical documents etc. I keep one paper copy of important documents, mortgage, title for car, medical test results - so I only have need for one 2-drawer file cabinet - and actually only use one drawer. Not only is it cleaner and less storage needed but I can find my documents quicker. I love it! Clean space, clean mind!

Paying online? So simple-----until your account is compromised. Never again-there is no online security that is safe.

If business websites were designed better, with easier access to your account information I'd probably be closer to all paperless, but many times it's hard to find past information. I'd rather see my statements on paper for some of my accounts, but others I have paperless. I'd rather have a paper copy of bank & credit card statements, but don't care about utilities & that type.

Now if I could get the junk mail & piles of ads in the newspaper to stop... I actually started sending back all the credit card offers by 'free return postage' with REMOVE ME FROM YOUR LIST on the offer card & it helped a little to get less junk mail, but there's still too much of it.

I've gone paperless to a great extent and really enjoy not having all the paper to clutter things up and to keep track of. However, there are pros and cons either way. The extent of the problem with data hacking is troublesome, but I guess it's just a risk we all have to live with these days since companies and the government have gone to electronic records so all your information is being saved electronically anyway and can be hacked whether you go paperless or not.

Slave

Tried to but how do you wipe your butt. And what do all those scumbags that fill my mail with advertising have to say? Plastic or paper, fossil fuels or trees? Does anybody have better solutions?

I voted that I've gone paperless, but I STILL print out the documents, scan them (if they're for taxes) and shred. Probably not the best thing for the environment, but I hate the thought of someone getting into our mailbox. And the bank WILL NOT do paperless for our business checking accounts. Drives me NUTS!

I tried and it was just too much trouble. And I just am not trusting of the paperless way.

Business, Houzz, library/e-book, Pinterest all yes to paper-lessen. For more than 10 years I've published family photo albums (hobby, not sale). Birthdays, some visits, events
, annual synopsis, etc. I do it on computer, send it off to Mypublisher, iPhoto, etc that sends me a finished book. I've used both computer platform since late 70's and know electronics change and reading the discs change over the years. How many videos were transferred to computer? I started printing small booklets with retail program at home. Then larger less often with another program. Abt 10 yrs ago I switched to the others because they were less fussy styles and better product. My paper photo albums in sizes 5x7, or 8x10 in later years will survive in improved paper. Fire and flood will take out computers, and possibly photos. I can reorder my albums, if needed. At least print a representative sample every so often.

Mostly paperless. Some important documents/documentation is still on paper, and bill are paperless. We have to stop receiving our twice weekly local newspaper though.

I feel fortunate that nearly every photo I have of my children is digital. That said, my iPhoto library seems corrupted and I can't seem to fix it.....the downside of digital! Though I haven't lost any photos (yet), I fear I'm going to have to manually rebuild my entire library.

@shellsimm--instead of printing on paper and scanning, you can print to a .pdf file and save it directly to your hard drive or wherever--and even print it later. I rarely print anything anymore unless absolutely necessary. It costs a ton in paper and in ink

I once had a friend get angry for sending a paper Christmas card. I'm now afraid to send them to anyone anymore! I think that is a bit overboard. But I disagree that we should view it as a problem that mail workers' jobs are being jeopardized by sending less mail. Postal service as we know it will forever change. As with any new invention (email, internet), there will be a shift in needed jobs and skills.

I remove myself from any extraneous catalog mailings and receive only the few I enjoy reading. Would love to get more digitally too.....some are available online, but again, one would have to retrieve it. Seems mortgage companies sell your information the second you close on a property! As far as junk mail and credit card applications....you can get removed from those lists (and telemarketer calls) through the following websites:

https://www.dmachoice.org

https://www.optoutprescreen.com

https://www.donotcall.gov

Though I have gone paperless with many statements, I agree with sandimacd52....it is a tremendous amount of work to login and retrieve statements from so many vendors. How helpful is going paperless when we have to spend hours a week at a computer electronically filing what used to be mountains of paper? And with digitalization, companies have shifted what was once THEIR administrative burden to their customers! We are now responsible for retrieving our statements so we can pay for their services? And printing them on our own paper with our own ink if we want a printed copy? I still have major credit card statements mailed to me so I can attach my receipts and put away. All of the information is downloaded into QB and I have no intention of scanning every register receipt, or having it emailed to me. The downside is the space that it takes to store the statements and receipts.

I rarely write a check anymore or go to the bank, and many of my bills are automatically paid and I review and record them at my convenience so I never forget to pay a bill. But managing emailed bills is tricky business....I have set-up rules to automatically file my emails (but they often don't save), into a bills folder with sub-folders and they remain unread so it is easy for me to spot new mail either in the bills or unread folder. I file as follows: to be scheduled (amounts vary and they can't be scheduled to be automatically paid) , scheduled to be recorded (automatically paid, but vary such as utility and phone bills), and to be filed (bills automatically paid and automatically recorded). Then I can periodically, annually or bi-annually (since most online statements are available for 12-18 months) go to my to be filed folder and download statements at year-end.

Seems like it has become more complicated to be paperless than paper. With computers, we thought we'd use less paper, but in fact we use more. If I were hit by a bus, my husband would have no idea how to login and pay our bills. You need to know what is filed away in email, vs. hard drive, vs. must be scanned, how long to keep it....and still, I find it easier to file away the receipts in boxes and purge every five or so years. I'm hoping to get there before I move into my new home, but for now, I'm a "stacker"! (I hate filing!)

I dislike filing, But i need a new computer mine is getting older so i want to wait till i have a new one.

I have gone paperless as far as bills are concerned, but I will never go paperless when it comes to books, glorious books, and creative magazines like Art Doll Quarterly, and Sew Beautiful, and Birds & Blooms, and. . . I love the feel of paper and looking at and reading books. I love creating with paper and cardboard, mat board and foam board - cards, boxes, little houses, doll furniture, templates and shelving for my craft supplies. I love paper.

.qZa

7.,**>*>Hey Girl... It's your sister Stephanie!!! I was wondering if you had a few minutes to chat with me at about 12:00 or later this afternoon. I really need to find a good paying job and know the city is the only place that

Mono

am I the only one who loves the smell, look, and feel of paper? especially old slightly yellowed, crisp books. perhaps i am the most old-fashioned youth around... :P

I'd like to go completely paperless but it is just too hard to do EOY taxes when you have an old fashioned accountant. Trying to keep and search online bank statements - I always seem to lose a month, and generally have to print it all out at the end of the year anyway.

I download my bank statements monthly and save to a dedicated folder on my hard drive and reconcile my accounts in quick books. They are the only statements I download monthly. I do keep original tax documents, but my mortgage co even wants me to download vs. mailing me a hard copy of tax docs.

And then your computer gets full of junk, because every company has subsidiaries and friends and relatives they sell you to. So then the system has problems, so then the hubby comes along and backs the system up by so many months or years, Kaboom, all those things you saved gone in one shot. Gotta love this new "fool proof" system we have here. By the way, up until a few years ago, I worked for the feds, our computer guy said that within the next 10 years the internet should crash, it was never designed for all the stuff it has and it has no trash basket. Now a 1000 houzz readers just began to panic. What if the internet hubby comes and resets the internet to the factory standard of what 30 years ago?! just thinking lol

Paperless bills and photos, but I still prefer to get physical copies of magazines. And like so many others, I wish there was a way to truly stop all the junk mail from arriving, particularly retailer magazines that I've never asked for. I was quite upset to receive about 5 pounds of magazines from Restoration Hardware one afternoon. Their latest collection! Maybe their price point would be lower if they didn't have to send 5 pounds to every person who is ever ordered from them.

From these comments some peoples lives look so complicated. Other than documents needed to do taxes why are you saving or even retrieving your digital bills? I had kept all types of statements for years before figuring out that it had no purpose. No one cares about past utility, grocery, gas or shopping bills. Keep receipts only for big purchases and things you might need for warrantee purposes.

We do love books and we have way too many, and beautiful magazines that we recycle through our children and grandchildren who share common interests in design and art. Books are also given away to coworkers and children, but I keep books who are my old friends.

Oh yes I hated getting the mail I shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it. Paperless and automatic bill pay are my friends!

i knew a man, and he did this for home and his business, every day emptied receipts, anything involved with money in a large ziplock, marked with month. End of month, balanced the checkbook, threw away all small receipts. Kept utils, warranty items, mortgage, anything to do with taxes, end of year, did taxes. Then threw away all except that which was vital to prove to tax man, any gov receipts and warranty items. One large ziplock for the year. Started doing mine that way and never looked back. Reused monthly ziplocks.

PS - Having lived through this twice save all payment proof to gov. or if you move to utils. They always say they went to court and you have to dig through 11 years to prove that you payed them or pay a few hundred or more. My husband had problems with a newspaper and state taxes, we had the problem resolved, popped back up years later. A ticket in VA too(I paid immediately), did not find out for 8 years, when move to md and they said no license til he paid hundreds. FL and our insurance co. and his employer where he drove daily either did not know or did not believe in the VA system. Life can be a nuisance. lol

Definitely not! Reason: Going paperless means putting more people out of jobs -and-potential of all of your information being hacked.

cezany, sweety, i agree with you, but no one has posted here for a month.

I'm here.

well, often 3 is a crowd, but let me tell you cezany, if you got both chook and me with you, we are talking party!!!

(Runs up), did someone say party?

oh yeah, whos got the wine? whos got the corn? lol

I was going to bring nougat, but that's wrapped in rice paper. With paper not allowed....

Is there a bidet at this paperless party, and what will we use for streamers? Grandmas collection of old holey stockings?

My idea of fortune cookies won't work either.

nah, we will eat the rice paper, they will never know. we don't need no stinkin' streamers, we will use corn and rice. get a carafe of wine and drink straight from the bottle.

No paper plates and napkins!

bring the cookies we will make up the fortunes. "chooks and rice should never mix" hehehe

What will we print the fortunes on, cause USBs break your teeth. What will we predict on the fortunes?

well i like the chook and rice one, but lets see. "Liberian attys and nigerian accts don't make for healthy company" We don't want to share our fortunes, we will keep them between us. "people who read fortune together have much luck and happy future"

Perhaps we can write them on plaques made of icing/frosting.

No paper tablecloth, piñata, or no smoking signs.

No paper party bags or exploding poppers.

No paper grocery bags.

no prob US has many plastic bags, don't use poppers, will miss the pinata, don't need no smoking signs, cigarettes involve paper, could smoke cigars though. those little cherry ones. yummm to the frosting fortunes, on overgrown cookies!

Since the library will be permanently closed and derelict, we could have a rave in there. No paper posters though.

we will just paint the posters on the wall. night!

If we get caught, the police can't write us a paper ticket.

well at least they can't throw the book at us.

Ha ha! Havingfun, did you see my post about a Yearbook for Houzzers on the Crossroads Club thread? I'd love your help.

@Emily Hurley, I left you a comment on your ideabook. Can you contact me please?

child do you ever sleep?

Cor blimey luvaduck. How old are you? ;)