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Adulting is hard. You’d think with my many years of experience, I’d be a little better at it. I do have my moments: I file my own taxes. I have a great credit score. I own a house. But then I’ll do something totally stupid like forget to pay the water bill.
I’d much rather spend my time making cute stuff. But piles of receipts, bills and random pieces of mail sometimes take over my desk. I’d love a paperless office, but you can’t get rid of everything. Like all of those craft store receipts? One of the best parts of my job is calling craft supplies a business expense. Business expenses mean hanging onto receipts. I had a brief flirtation with receipt scanning, but I found the whole process far too glitchy. Instead, I enter all of my income and expenses in a Google spreadsheet. The random bits of paper I do have to keep? I’m keeping them at bay with a tax and bill station I made from a hanging wall file.
Of course hanging a boring wall file in my office wouldn’t be me. A washi tape makeover, however? Totally me.
You’ll need:
- a hanging wall file (Ikea Kvissle shown)
- washi tape
- decoupage medium
- acrylic spray sealer
- file folders
- a DYMO LabelWriter® 450
I followed the lines of wall file to cover everything in washi tape.
Based on the design of the wall file I was using, I knew the very bottom of all but the last file wouldn’t be visible. I only covered one all the way to the bottom, the rest I covered just enough to hide any visible areas.
I have a pretty big stash of washi tape, but there’s no reason you couldn’t accomplish the same results with just a few different designs. Heck, yours will probably be prettier since it won’t be so crazy and busy. (But, you know…I like crazy and busy…)
I gave everything a single coat of gloss decoupage medium to help keep the tape from lifting. Once that was dry, it got a good coat of a spray gloss acrylic sealer outside. (On a piece of cardboard that I swear didn’t look that dingy when I was using it.)
Once the sealer was dry, I assembled everything and placed it on the wall. Super cute, right?
Of course, what is fashion without function? While visiting Staples, I picked up the DYMO LabelWriter® 450 Value Pack with appointment card, file folder, shipping and multi-purpose labels; along with some colorful file folders. Originally I played around with the idea of covering the folders in more washi tape, but it was too much. See? I do know when to stop. Sometimes.
I used the DYMO Label™ software to create labels for all of my folders. I’ll be honest, I’m sort of guessing at what files I need right now. The LabelWriter will make it easy to make more labels when I figure out exactly what files I do need. For the moment, I created folders to hold the receipts that need to be filed and folders to hold the receipts after they’ve been entered into my spreadsheet. I keep receipts sorted by month in legal sized envelopes, then those envelopes will go in their appropriate file. All of this organization means no possible excuse for procrastination, right?
Although I don’t enjoy tax time, I’m totally ready. And I can talk to you for hours about how that specific glue runner, on that one receipt, was a totally legitimate business expense…
I also created folders for medical and dental bills, travel documents, contracts, invoices and more. I figure at around the middle of the year, I’ll realize one folder is bulging and one folder is empty. Or there will be something sitting on my desk with no logical home. That will be my sign that it’s time to modify my files. 
That’s what’s so great bout the LabelWriter: I’m never more than a few seconds away from new file labels. And of course I can also print out address labels or postage, too. No more wasting a whole sheet of labels when you only need a few things. And no more forgetting to pay that water bill because you didn’t have a stamp… 
Of course-because adulting is hard-in the middle of your tax prepping and water bill paying you might discover that the endless styles and layouts mean you can print logo stickers that you really don’t need. Thermal printing technology means no worries about wasting ink or toner. So go ahead. Print away.
Visit Staples to find select stores carrying the DYMO LabelWriter 450 in special packaging. The solution for your labeling, filing and mailing needs, the LabelWriter® 450 saves you time and money since it’s now free when you purchase 4 LabelWriter label rolls!