Preparing Your File Folders

You are going to need both hanging folders and vanilla folders to put in your filing cabinet. The hanging folders are going to hold your broad categories, and your vanilla folders are going to hold your sub-categories. The sub-categories usually break down the broad categories into years or months. The sub-categories can also represent actual sub-categories. One example would be the broad category of “utilities” and the sub-categories would be “power”, “water”, “cable”, and “rent”.

The labeling of the folders needs to be done neatly. I suggest that you invest in either a label maker or buy sheets of labels that you can print on with your printer. If you keep your filing cabinet neat and well labeled, you will be more likely to use it on a daily basis.

The broad categories should be broad enough that there are few of them. I would say that if you have more than twenty broad categories, then you have too many. The broad categories should also not contain dates or years that should be left to the sub-categories.

The sub-categories should not only contain the name of their sub-category but all the name of their broad category. An example would be “Utilities – Water” or “Utilites – 2006 – Water” with “2006 – Water” being the sub-category. This will allow easy archiving of your files, and if a file is misplaced, it will be very apparent where it goes.

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