Hi everyone, it's Alejandra.
And I'm sitting here next to my filing cabinet, my filing cart and I want to show you guys
the filing system that I use inside my house that's like super easy to set up.
It's fun to use.
Yes, like filing can actually be fun with a system that I'm going to show you guys.
Yeah, it's easy to use and there's like minimum maintenance.
So if you're not a paper person and you like dread filing, let me show you the system I
use and maybe you can change the way you think about your filing cabinet.
OK.
So I'm going to try my best to film this and still be in the view.
OK.
Can you guys see this?
Yeah, I think so.
Maybe I'll back up.
OK.
There, that's perfect.
OK.
So this system right, this is called the FreedomFiler.
And I will post a link below the video so you can check it out if you think it's going
to work for you.
Here is exactly that it looks like.
It's a kit that looks like this, FreedomFiler just like this.
And the reason why I think it's like fun or it's like more fun than like traditional filing
is because the system is color-coded.
So each color like each of these color file symbolizes a different type of document.
I'm just going to move this for a second.
It symbolizes a different type of document.
So like red stands for something, blue stands for something, green stands for something.
So it just makes it a little bit easier to find exactly what you're looking for like
find the folder that you're looking for to stick a paper inside or find a folder to retrieve
a paper.
It's just a little bit easier and the way they do all the labeling in the system requires
less maintenance.
So like a lot of people go through their filing cabinet annually and have to recreate folders
based on like if some kind of bill changes or their car changes.
Like for example, if they label Honda Accord on their label and then when they sell their
car then they had to go create another file with like the new name like Toyota Prius or
whatever.
So using the system, you just create label once and that's it.
You just create the label once.
So that's another reason why I really like this system.
OK.
So the green section up here is all of your financial-related documents.
So like any bank statements, money accounts, retirement account, mortgage statements, credit
cards, savings, all of those like statement-type stuff and financial document related stuff
goes in the green section.
So I like to think of that as like money is green so then your files are green or your
financial files are green.
Does that make sense?
All right.
So that's green.
And then the light blue section is all of your tax documents that you save throughout
the year and then you use to complete your taxes.
So for example, that's like your W-2, your 1099, any interest pain on anything, personal
property tax, all those documents that you get throughout the year that are tax-related
that you're just like, "OK.
Where do I put this?"
That goes in the light blue section.
OK.
So the red section is all of your permanent documents.
So like stuff that you would never throw away.
So that could include like obviously, your birth certificate, your passport, your social
security card, any warranties or manuals that you have, any health records, dental records,
education records, any like records that's permanent, like anything that's permanent
will go in the red section.
So I like to think of it as red is like vital, important, like high priority so anything
that's like in that category I just talked about goes in red.
OK.
So the orange category right here is any kind of document that is continuously updated or
temporary.
So that could mean like your medical insurance policy.
So every year, your health insurance sends you a policy book that's like this thick and
most of us don't even read it but we keep it.
So that policy they give you, they send it to you every single year, right?
And so when they send you the new one, you can take the old one and just recycle it or
shred it, do whatever you need to with it.
And then just take your new one and put it inside the new orange folder.
So orange is stuff that comes in, comes out, comes in, comes out, gets updated.
Purple, do you see the purple?
I don't really have that many purple documents.
The purple is like hobby stuff, extracurricular stuff like I have return labels there and
then there is like some passwords and stuff.
It's pretty much just like hobby, I don't want to say, miscellaneous because you shouldn't
have a miscellaneous folder but it's just like stuff that doesn't fit in any of the
other categories.
It's more like extra stuff.
OK.
And then dark blue, can you see dark blue here?
Dark blue is all of your tax returns.
So you file your taxes and then the IRS send like your return back so all your returns
go in the dark blue section.
And again, that's sorted by year.
There's actually different ways you can set up that category of files.
But pretty much, it's like by year or by decade.
OK.
So that's all the colors here.
So just by color-coding your filing cabinet, like it can make it a lot easier to find what
you're looking for in less time.
I think it makes it more fun.
It's not just like your manila folders which are kind of boring, right?
Like you open up your filing cabinet, it's nice to see like all these pretty colors.
So I just love this system for so many different reasons.
I love the maintenance.
I love how it's color-coded.
I feel like I can find things really fast.
And I also like how all the tabs are like - they're not all in one line.
They're not like zigzagged.
But they're like - well, they're zigzagged but you can see all of them like nothing is
hiding behind another file.
So you can just see everything.
So before I end the video, let me go back to the example of how I told you that there's
like minimum maintenance when it comes to this system like having to recreate the labels
every year.
You don't have to do that.
So for example, this is my auto records folder.
And I have all of my auto records from the car I have now.
So if I sell my car or if I get rid of my car, I can still use this folder because it
says, "auto records" and not the make and the model of the car I have now.
Do you see how the labels kind of vague?
So it just allows you to not have to recreate the label itself.
So another example would be if you label like let's say you label one of your folders with
like Comcast for your internet and TV bill.
So let's say in like two months, you switched to Verizon.
So then you're going to have to go back and like create another folder for Verizon, right?
So you have to create your label again.
So with this system, the label itself will just say "utility bill" or like "cable and
TV bill".
It won't say the exact name which means you won't have to recreate the whole label again,
which saves you a lot of time.
OK.
So I have shown you my filing cabinet.
And again, I will post a link below the video of where you can get this.
This is what it looks like when it's mailed to you.
Let me open this one for you guys.
When you get this system, it doesn't include the folders so you're going to have to buy
the folders separately.
So pretty much, you get a welcome packet and this is like instructions and then you get,
these are all the labels that comes with it.
It's like sheets of labels just like that.
And then you get even more instruction that tells you exactly how to set it up and the
best way to use the system.
Again, it's just awesome.
I have tried different - I've tried maybe like five or six different filing systems
and I've had this one for over three years now and I'm not like dying to switch it.
It's working.
It's easy to use.
My fiancé uses the same system with his filing cabinet and he is not the paper person but
he does well in his filing cabinet.
He like maintains it and he finds what he's looking for and yeah, he just maintains it.
So anyways, that's my tip for today.
And I will see you guys soon.
Bye!
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