Mail buildup

I've noticed that many families have a mail pile. They let their mail sit in a pile and rarely get around to it. First of all, this is a bad idea because bills can become lost and overdue, and important mail may never get opened. Second, there's no need for more clutter caused by mail.

My solution for this is to get a bucket, basket, mountable mail/magazine organizer, or an actual mail filing system and place it in an appropriate spot where you can walk in the door and plop the mail in its spot. If you go this route, at the end of the week it is important to go through all of the mail and deal with it by reading your magazines and putting them away or recycling them when you're done, putting your bills in your bill pay organization system, filing your bank statements, shredding confidential documents, and addressing all other mail you receive.

What to do with junk mail and excessive credit card offers? Recycle them immediately (after shredding or ripping up). These should never even touch your mail bucket. Never ever.

I like to use a "three slot mail holder" to sort my mail - one slot for his stuff, one slot for my stuff and one slot for our mutual bills. This helps all of my mail to remain in one area and I can easily track it down and get my bills paid on time. It also eliminates a huge stack of unread mail on the front table.