The next paper pile perpetrators we’re going to take down are the owner’s manuals and warranties. You know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen many a drawer and file cabinet full of these multi-page manuals that might have one or two pages of useful information in them. I’ve seen them in kitchen drawers, file cabinets, boxes, baskets you name it. Most of the time there is no rhyme or reason to the organization and there is always a huge frustration when you actually need the thing and can’t find it.
So what can we do about it? Here are a few options…
1. Take the 10 pages that are in your native tongue and rip them out and throw the other 150 pages away. Keep these 10 pages in a binder or file.
2. If the product is 10 years old and you know darn well how to use it by now toss the manual.
3. When you buy something knew keep the owner’s manual, warranty and receipt together until the warranty expires.
4. Take the time to set up a system for these manuals. You will thank yourself when you really need to reference them. I currently have each manual labeled and filed away in a file box. Each time I put a new one in I do a clean sweep and take out the old ones.
5. Look online. You can find most manuals online either on the manufacturer’s website or by going to a site like Diplodocs (previously Safe Manuals), Users Manual Guide, Online Owners Manual I found my Sony Cyber-shot on Diplodcos. I will be going through the rest of our manuals to see how many more I can get rid of.
As you can see there are several ways you can tame the manual mess. I would digitize as much as you can and set up a filing system for the rest to easily access the information when needed.
As for those warranty cards, think twice before filling them out. It may not be necessary for the warranty to be valid. Warranty cards can be used to get marketing information from you. Laws in states may vary on this topic so I won’t go into great detail. You can do a little research on your own. Jeri wrote an informative post on warranties and it will be a good place to start.
For the full series click here… Paper Less Living: Simple Solutions For Downsizing Your Paper Pile Up
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