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I have way too many “too

good to throw out”

papers. Help!

I am a lover of words: advice, poetry, tips and shortcuts, ideas on marriage, family, homeschool, etc. So, consequently, they are everywhere. I'm not a slob, I do have some order. But still, I have way too many too-good-to-throw-out papers. HELP!!! --Jocelyne, from the Upper Peninsula, Michigan Response from Maria Gracia Dear Jocelyn, It’s wonderful that you are starved for information, both practical and sentimental. That proves. right off the bat, that you have a ton of heart. Unfortunately, you also have a ton of paper. I highly recommend you keep whatever you can keep virtually, rather than physically. Using a program like Evernote, you can clip whole pieces or sections of anything you find online that you’d like to keep, and store those digitally. Plus, a program like this helps you “tag” what you’re keeping with keywords, so you can actually access what you’re looking for later. Yes, you can save printed articles too. You just have to get yourself a scanner, turn those articles into digital “files”, and again, save them in Evernote. If you absolutely, positively want to go the paper route, I suggest colorful binders...one for each subject. You can then 3-hole punch the articles you want to save. If they are small pieces of paper, you can tape those to regular-sized paper before inserting them in your binder. This is key though…when your binder gets stuffed to the max, you have a a decision to make. Either begin binder #2 for that subject or weed out what you have in binder #1. Also, keep in mind that collecting all of these tid-bits and ideas is only useful, if you actually use, enjoy, and apply them to your life. Otherwise, you’re just collecting piles of paper. Thank you for your letter, Maria Back to Ask Maria Index