Tidying Up or Why Do I feel Attached to Tax Returns?
Woman in the Middle | August 24, 2015I am continuing to follow the suggested sorting and tossing guidelines in Marie Kondo’s book, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” First it was clothes, and I got rid of six 13 gallon bags of clothes. That wasn’t too tough, actually.
Next she wants you to work on books. That one was harder. I got rid of about a dozen books. I had purged books relatively recently and over half the books on bookshelves in my house aren’t mine. A certain Hubby likes to keep all the books he buys. Ahem….
Having done books, I eagerly went to her book to see that the next category of cleaning out was to be. Oh no…papers! Yuk! She thinks you can get your papers down to one or two file folders. Maybe a single woman living in Japan in a small rented apartment can have one or two file folders of papers, but that is not going to happen to the married couple with two children who live in a mortgaged home in the U.S. That being said, I was deeply distressed to realized how much paper we moved with us five years ago that we should have just gotten rid of.
I discovered we have every tax return we have filed since we got married 29 years ago. I know we only need to keep seven years worth (take that, Ms. Kondo and your one file folder!) but 29 years??? The worst part is I haven’t been able to make myself throw them away yet. I feel weirdly sentimental about those tax returns. They are a record of most of my adult life. Every job Hubby and I have had, when children joined us, the record of adult things like mortgages, charity donations, and such.
I fully admit that I am probably the ONLY person who feels sentimental about tax returns. But then I thought about going though them and adding up how much we have paid in taxes over the years…..suddenly I felt motivated to get rid of them! Some things just should not be revisited!
The good news is that I completely emptied one file drawer (out of six), another is almost empty, and all of them are no longer packed with paper, are easier to get into, etc….There is something to this tidying up magic!
Next on the list are the flotsam and jetsam of life such as CDs, kitchen things, and all that junk that is on my closet floor. And I thought paper was hard….
I think I want to get this book! Kudos for all your colossal efforts and for discovering an organized file drawer. I wish!
You should get the book. IT is small, and even at full price is only $16! It is very motivating! I may not follow her edicts to the letter, but it sure is helping me get rid of stuff!