I scan them in... that way, I can NEVER lose them. That assumes that MonAnge and Imelda bring them home. Which seems to be a bigger problem that I am contending with.

Do you live at my house? 'Cause this is pretty much word for word what happens here. Except for the microwave part. Ours is mounted over the stove. Other than that...mi casa es su casa.

I'm so glad to hear that we are not the only family with dysfuntional organizational skills. My kitchen counter got so out of hand that I bought a baker's rack and put it in the kitchen for the sole purpose of having another place to spread out the 'portent papers and incoming mail. About once a year my husband and I sort and file for an entire day. The file cabinets are smack full though so I don't think it's happening this year.

Hmm, When did you move into my house? The only difference is THE PILE ends up on my computer whereupon I try to move it to Angelo's computer who seems to have blinders on.
See out of sight, out of mind comment for paying bills.

Best way to pay bills? Have the computer do it.

Please check out the Kitchen Folio by momAgenda! It was designed for Busy Moms and Dads everywhere, to banish the dreaded pile of papers in the kitchen...

Oh yeah, definitely the Single Pile Method. ...except for the small auxiliary piles on the desk and the kitchen table and the coffee table. I actually try to keep certain important items on the top of the Single Pile so they are not oos-oom but then there are too many 'most important' items. Sort-the-pile Day only comes about once a year. At which point, yup, bagged and stored in the bedroom. Because you know I really might need that coupon that expired in 2006.

I do have a basket on my desk for those important papers. But it's already overflowing, and the cat likes to sleep in it, so there are piles, too. And yes, the desk is in the kitchen. Mr B has his own basket--we found a $30 rebate Visa card in there recently. Unfortunately, it had expired over a year ago.

Don subscribes to the same theory as you do. And I have a difficult time with that. He also would like to have a "secondary" desk on the stairs. I just move those things upstairs to his desk -piled high already - and never, never throw anything away.

I don't understand his filing, and I don't want to dispose of anything important.

Cas

I've been trying to use a binder with a pocket folder for each student/activity. It's great for containing the things we're done with but may need to refer back to at some point, but for permission slips and things that need financial attachements it's a total bust.

We have the vertical kitchen pile, then every so often (OH SHIT THAT IS DUE TOMORROW!!) I pull papers out and tape them to the microwave.

I think we could patent our approach. The pretty baskets don't work... it takes too much tape to get them to stick to the microwave.

THIS is damn funny! Gosh we have three piles in the kitchen right now. All crap P needs to go through!!!! (He pays bills and processes mail. I only look at the catalogues.)

I just moved the desk pile to the kitchen bar in the hopes that having it stare at me all day would force to go through it (the desk is, conveniently, a rolltop). No such luck because Mulletman hated looking at it on the bar, so he moved it to the decorative chair that no one ever sits in.

We had company and the chair was needed, so the pile was shuffled over to the space between the floor speaker and the stereo.

Somehow (I can't imagine how) guitar music was deposited on top of it and now none of us see it at all. That's OK though, because desk now houses the beginnings of another fun pile.

I love that I am not the only one with Kitchen Counter Affliction. I will print this for HD to see so he will know and quit giving me the business about it. It did suck when we went to the accountant a few weeks ago for taxes and grabbed the folder with tax stuff in it...except that W-2's weren't there. We had a nice argument about that one.

He loves to tell the story about when we used to live in a very small house and I asked for a kitchen with a built in desk when we moved. "I promise I will keep it all on the desk!" We got it, but we still have the Counter Affliction. I think it is a disease.

We have one largish pile that keeps expanding and it's ALL OVER THE BREAKFAST BAR! (she typed as she looks to the left and right of her home desk and finds that she is surrounded by more piles)

I have to say that when I we moved to a house that had a kitchen desk I thought what a great way to finally get out of the giant pile of papers that had overrun our office desk...I was wrong! Now we just have an ever expanding pile of papers on our kitchen desk where it is even easier to add to when we all get home at night!

Although we do use the multipile pile that then blends into a single pile method. To the outsider it looks like one big mess but there is an organized Chaos to it.

I have found my sisters, and they are you. All of you.
Pilers unite!

Is this MY house you're featuring here? :) Except in my house, the important papers are found on the kitchen counter, or the den, or maybe it's in the bin in the dining room...

Wow, glad to see you (and I) are not alone in this. Perhaps a support group should be started. :)

I do have the pile, but it cost so much money and anguish over lost/forgotten stuff. I finally got some really strong magnetic clips and put them on the fridge. There's one for each of us, and crap pertaining to each person goes in the clip. Bills ALWAYS for in their very own box the minute they are opened because I had 2 months when I paid late fees , not because I didn't have the money, but the bill was out of sight, out of mind. The pile now is basically stuff I want to look at and decide if it needs to be saved. Anything I'm sure needs to be saved goes in one of the clips right away.

Bills we actually have sent to a service that notifies us it is time to pay them - and we do so online.

When the time comes for permission slips and the like we are in trouble. My important paper drawer is already overflowing and doesn't need new additions - especially those that are time sensitive.

I just got an e-mail from the cafeteria manager at school telling me my son has 20 charged lunches. Where's the notice she sent home saying it was time for me to buy more lunch tickets?
Yep. Probably in The Pile. Of course, knowing my son, it could be wadded up in a ball at the bottom of his backpack. That thing is a Pile all its own.

Hi Busy Mom,

I thought you all might like to know about the new National Elementary Honor Society that was launched on Monday! The program is sponsored by the same organization that administers the National Honor Society and the National Junior Honor Society. Schools are free to start chapters now! Be on the lookout or encourage your school to start a chapter.

My name is Elizabeth, and I am a Piler. I have piles on every horizontal surface of this house. Every once in a while I get all of the papers taken care of, but they just come back. I'm hopeless. Oh yeah, and I totally reviewed the DayRunner Organizing System for PBN, too. That lasted about a week :)

If you trademarked that system, I believe I owe you like, oh, maybe $8 billion, cause I taught it to my entire family and we all use it daily all over our house.

I am envious of your pile.

Round here it's always "piles."

By the way, in case I forget on Tuesday. I want to wish Busy D a happy sixth birthday. My Busy "D", DeeDee will be two on that day - can you believe it?

Too darn funny. I'm crying...because you completely described our house!

We too are pilers...main mail pile in dining room. Auxillary piles of work stuff, one on office desk, one on bedroom floor, one (mostly kids permission slips) in kitchen. When it all gets to be too much, we purge and then kick ourselves because that one form we thought we'd never need went out with the trash.