Reducing clutter and lost documents by digitizing everything

The amount of paperwork I am in contact with on a daily basis continues to rise and is infuriating. I just don't like the idea of having to put it somewhere when I can put it on the computer and have it taking up no physical space. When I need to find papers it's a pain and I'd rather go digital with a scanner than implement a paper filing system which needs to be replaced yearly when the new tax year starts.

The financial benefit to me is that I can organize everything for bills/taxes - I can name the files, then search for it - instead of flipping through a stack of papers, I can type in "joe blow check payment" and see everything that I've named that, and once I scan it in it can go into the shred pile. It will then be backed up to Amazon S3 and the papers taken to a free shredding event or I'll do it at home if I'm bored.

With that said, how have you done this? The NeatDesktop seems like a good solution. At $380 it's pricey but I think I'll get more than $380 of benefit from it. The reviews were OK, I think it'll be OK for my needs though.

Any other thoughts/suggestions?

I use neatreceipts (neatworks), and I more or less love it. I primarially right now use it for all my receipts (3 full time jobs)..I couldn't survive without it. I also use it to scan in "special" personal documents..things like my mortgage papers..etc..And for all of my software cd keys..now i'll never lose them!

The OCR ability and electronic tags and descriptions are great and it's easy to search for exactly what you are looking for. Overall, the interface is however a little klunky, but i can live with it.

I have not yet worked up to digitizing all of my other documents..I've been meaning to, but i never have enough time. The little scanner is great because it's so small and is powered by usb only. I've talked 3 other people into buying it and all of them also love it.

..however, me being an obsesive-compulsive pack-rat..i still do NOT throw away the original receipts and documents. I toss them all into a big box for the year....just in case...

I think there are two parts to it- (1) Scanning (2) Organizing scanned documents.

I think you can use any scanner to do the scanning part. I use a $40 refurb Brother MFC5460 for scanning. It gets the job done. It can scan legal and letter paper and has a automatic document feeder. The scanning software is capable of making pdf files. You can also use Cutepdf to create pdf files, pdfsam to split, merge and reorder pdf files. Both these tools are free to use. Unfortunately, my scanner can not scan both sides of a paper, so I have to reverse the paper stack if I want both sides scanned. Even after that I have to merge and reorder the pages to get a good digital copy of the statement.

The trick is to minimize the scanning. So, I have signed up for online statements for just about everything (except one utility and one bank statement- might need it as proof for Drv Lics etc). Most financial institutions keep statements online for over a year (esp if you signed up for online statements). I visit my financial institutions once every 3 to 6 months and download all the statements. I have a separate folder for each institution. Statements for current year are saved as ABC_Bank_MMYYYY.pdf (where MM is month and YYYY is year). At the end of the calendar year, I merge all the monthly pdf statements into a single file as ABC_Bank_YYYY.pdf. this limits the number of files on my computer.

I also backup all my documents via a free Mozy account (2GB limit). This way, not only do I have a backup but also I can have access to my documents remotely as long as I have web access.

Just my $0.02.

I feel more comfortable with the idea of it being somewhere else, if my house burns down/flooded/drives are stolen I have the data elsewhere.

The next step to this project is TrueCrypt to protect the scanned documents.

OP, I moved to a digital system about 18 months ago and I love it. I have a newer Photosmart printer that has an ADF with a duplex scanner - it was worth every penny of what I got it for on Craigslist (a steal).

I keep small receipts until CC statements come in, then shred them. More important receipts get scanned to PDF files and filed until the warranty is up. Electonic statments get downloaded directly. Most paper and bills get scanned and shredded the day they arrive. I organize via folders by topic and company. I can put my hands on a document SO much quicker this way. Everything gets stored on my network storage which is a RAID 1 config - nothing gets stored on my laptop (less chance of physical loss).

I would say find a scanner with ADF. Duplex is a VERY nice feature as well and worth paying a little extra for IMHO.

Digitizing is one of the best moves I've ever made. Highly recommended. Next steps for me are investigating off-site storage (maybe Mozy?) for backup/access and encryption as well ...

the hardest part is organizing the data is some sort of manner that you can retreive it later. i don't think putting everything in my documents folder by folder and file name and backing up online is the best way. you just end up with something like Bank Statements\Bank\2009\01-12.pdf's, etc. I don't think it's descriptive enough, especially when you add in word documents and spreadsheets. i've been playing with google desktop search, but I don't like that it doesn't index network drives by default. windows desktop search is even worse, however.

I've been scanning documents for 3 years now and a folder structure as squeezer99 indicates above. It works for me. Sometimes I look for something in the wrong place (e.g. there's an Insurance folder and a "Real Estate" folder)

I had never thought of using OCR for a true full text search. I would think it is a bit too slow. Those documents that I get from the business partner as a PDF already, frequently they are text PDFs (not just JPEGs) and they are already searchable.

I create an encrypted backup every month and ftp it to a remote site. (of course, I use 'scp' not 'ftp').

-Peter

I've always wanted to setup a USB stick scanner that feeds right into a cheap Staples shredder so that I can do two things at once.

BTW, if you are planning on doing this, don't forget about the tons of "warranty and manuals" that come with every little appliance. This currently eats up an entire drawer of a filing cabinet in my garage as I don't have the patience to scan in an entire book.

Squeezer99 said: you just end up with something like Bank StatementsBank2009�1-12.pdf's, etc. I don't think it's descriptive enough, especially when you add in word documents and spreadsheets.
I do:
/Banking/Savings/My Bank Name/2009-11-09 - My Bank Name - Statement.pdf
/Credit Cards/American Express Blue/2009-11-09 - American Express Blue - Statement.pdf

and then for less frequent things something like:
/Insurance/2009-11-09 - Geico - Remove Car Request.pdf

This way each file individually has a descriptive name and you can copy/attach them without a need to rename. Also, they sort in chronological order.

I download what can be downloaded and scan what cannot be and what arrives or I send out on paper. I keep a spreadsheet where I keep track of eStatement downloads and once in a few weeks I go and download statements from all accounts.

i've been playing with google desktop search, but I don't like that it doesn't index network drives by default. windows desktop search is even worse, however.

Yep, I'm still not satisfied with searching myself. I used to use copernic Desktop Search but they stopped indexing network drives in latest "free" version as well. I'm considering using a local drive under Windows 7 and just syncing to network share.

For offsite backups there are many options (especially since the size of these documents isn't large). Dropbox and CrashPlan support Linux so I can run them on my server directly.

I have a Canon MX850 printer/scanner and it works reasonably well. You definitely want both a sheet feeder. Flatbed also helps for small items such as receipts or postcard-size bills. I can also put a document into it and press a "scan to computer" button and all .PDFs will accumulate in a folder on my desktop - then I go to my computer and rename/sort through them all in one shot.

lampy2k4 said: ...words... Wow, bro... you have a disease.

Is there a possibility you are overestimating the value of these documents? I used to scan everything, but have since stopped... I check for errors every month and call it good. The effort was just not worth it, unless you are aroused by file structure and needless organization.

All correspondence and I keep in a box for a few years so I can find anything I need... After 3-6 years I just burn it.

The only thing I scan now are legal documents, titles and other things I find important and/or deal with a lot of money.

As a few have suggested, the issue breaks down into two separate categories
although many software solutions address both.

First is simply scanning the documents. You want a scanner with a document feeder
that isn't prone to misfeeds and can also handle even small receipts.

The second issue is organization/storage. Many go with a software based solution that
employs OCR and a database. Personally, I don't want a solution that requires a
special license to search/access my records.

Therefore I use two little known features of windows. Folder structures can be 8 levels
(and more) deep and file names can be up to 255 characters. I use very detailed file
and folder names so I can use Windows search function to find files if needed, but I rarely
have to search as I use a very detailed folder structure that is very intuitive to find
anything I need. For example, a bank statement may get stored something like this
\\COMPUTER\File Cabinet\Banking\Deposit Accounts\My Banks Name\Statements\2009_11_09.pdf
and a letter may get stored like this
\\COMPUTER\File Cabinet\Employment\My Employers Name\Correspondence\2009_11_09 - Job Offer with Details.pdf

Years ago I started out with a simpler structure, but now I scan everything. Once you get in
the habit, with a good scanner, it only takes a few minutes at the end of everyday to scan
everything and discard anything that you don't need an original for.

Now another key benefit to my method of sticking just to windows, is I do all my backups with
the free Microsoft SyncToy. It's easy to use, easy to setup, and I have it scheduled to run
nightly. When it runs, it backs up all my electronic records to a second computer in my office
AND to a third computer in my detached garage. God forbid my house ever burns down, but it
would be extremely unlikely for both my house and garage to both burn down given the distance between
the two.

As for security, both backup computers use a simple Firewall to block the gateway router
IP address so they can't talk to the internet directly. They also block access to the IP
address of the wireless router so they can't be accessed via that either.

Also for the record, I think this topic comes up on FW Finance every 6 months or so in which
everyone talks about their preferred method for scanning/storing/accessing/searching/protecting
their electronic records. I have noticed over the years that every time it comes up, more
people are open to the idea of scanning and discarding the original. I remember that 8 years
ago, many were adamently against it. It's nice to see that the attitude is changing.

BUT let me say this.

If you do go all electronic, put very serious thought into

1. Security, your electronic records can be a treasure trove. Think real hard about how you protect
your records from unauthorized access. Don't store them on a laptop or your main computer for surfing pron.
2. Backup, don't leave it to chance. Back them up daily if you can either to another computer or an external
drive. Make sure your backup medium is in good working order on a regular basis. Don't wait until your primary
storage fails to find out that your backup external hard drive is full of bad sectors.

Also, don't trust others to care as much about your records as you do. Don't rely on your
bank/broker/gmail/etc... to store your statements. Just because they store 18 months now,
when they have a glitch and lose them all, they may charge you to request those statements later.
When Netbank went under, there was only about a 30 day window to download and store all bank
statements if you weren't downloading them on a regular basis. ING Direct never made those
statements available electronically so anyone who wasn't vigilant and needed a statement later,
needed to pay ING Direct to generate a statement for them.

Hope I helped someone.

Been using paperport for years and love it. This is an expensive solution, but it does most everything. Sounds like Neatreceipts would be nice b/c of OCR.

Maybe we should start a thread on hard drive or file encryption. It seems that digitization creates an unintended consequence of identity theft vulnerability.

If someone steals your home computer or laptop, they could, in theory, have your entire life in their hands.

Encryption is a topic unto itself.

christoj879 said: My choices have been narrowed down:

Fujitsu SnapScan - I installed one of these last year for someone and thought it was pretty cool/fast, plus it has a document feeder and flat glass
NeatDesktop - reviews are still in the middle of this
HP ScanJet 8250 - old and cheap, but with a duplex feeder and flat glass - this plus descriptive filenames would probably be my FW way of doing it

One thing to realize about the ScanJet is that receipts are near impossible on that system if they are longer than the flat-bed. Sheet feeders in that format have difficulty with receipts. The "fax-style" scanners like the NeatDesktop work far better for thin weirdly shaped folded up papers like receipts.

vstrt said: Maybe we should start a thread on hard drive or file encryption. It seems that digitization creates an unintended consequence of identity theft vulnerability.

If someone steals your home computer or laptop, they could, in theory, have your entire life in their hands.

Encryption is a topic unto itself.

Truecrypt is the answer - free, and easy to use.

Truecrypt file on a USB keychain (5+ years of data is less than 1gig). Scan to PDF, OCR on occasion (Scanner is a work scanner). I keep the truecrypt container backed up to 3+ locations daily (offsite and onsite).
I pilfered a system from someone else on here, called the Big Stack method. Rather than separating all documents, I put items I want to save but don't care about separating them out into a big stack and scan them at the end of a week, month or quarter (whenever I get around to it). Most of these items are bank statements, general account notifications, loan statements, check stubs. Again, items I want to save, but don't necessarily need to be filed and cataloged. Remaining items that I want as a separate file get scanned and filed every week or so.

For the ScanSnap users, which model are you using?

There've been several FW threads on this very topic in the last 2 years. I realize you've had a lot of content-rich responses to this thread, but it might give you more info if you check out the older ones as well.

I would use the scanner at your office if you have one. My office has a $15,000 scanner that works amazing and is super fast and will scan color. Just box up all that paperwork you want to throw out, come into the office on the weekend or at night and be done in a few minutes. This is if you have the opportunity available to you.

I couldn't imagine using any home scanner unless you have all your paperwork up to date and are just keeping up.

captainwho said:
I converted my GF to a JPG, saves lots on cost of dates.

you converted your GirlFriend to JPG. can you share the pix