Every home has a collection of warranties and manuals which are less that delightful to store, but absolutely essential to retrieve when the time comes.
Knowing the how’s and where’s of these highly specific and necessary items is essential. At Get Organised, this is how we do it:
Consider the extent of your warranties collection in advance, if you can, and be prepared. Plastic see-through tubs are readily available and ALWAYS useful, so don’t be shy to get a few, especially the deeper A4 size.
Arm yourself with about 20-40 clear envelopes with a press-clip (bought at Stationers – Marbig have a great range), a few folder-sized zipper display bags that you’ll find in an office outlet, some labels and a marker (or, in a perfect GO world, a labelling machine) and several smaller/medium plastic tubs.
Begin by weeding out the old transistor radio and 15 year old food processor manuals that ended up in the Council Tip 10 years ago. If the trannie still works and you love it, hold onto the instructions – they may be worth something one day!
Now, sit on the floor or at a cleared table, and sort through what you have left. Get rid of the useless bits of advertising diagrams or anything else in a language you don’t speak, and try to ‘group’ lost articles with their mates. This is where the plastic bags come in.
Slide the instructions and warranties into the bags in such a way that they can be readily identified at-a-glance, and put the hardware behind the paperwork. Squeeze any excess air out and zip the bag closed.
Choose a standard label (we like ‘standard’) and a marker or labeller, select a corner for the label (we like ‘consistent’) identify the product on the label, stick onto place on the bag, eh voila! Done! Almost….
Finally, group the product bags by room, and select a clear plastic tub which suits its contents, stand the relevant bags upright within (organised alphabetically) and label the box (in one corner, all the same) with the relevant room.
Leave space for the ridiculous quantity of ‘stuff’ that will come with the flat screen, so you don’t have to upgrade boxes every 2 months. Most modern appliance info comes in ziplock bags anyway, but be sure to group it all into one larger one.
There you have it! Done! – We make things so simple, don’t we?
Well, if you find the concept useful, but the task unreachable, give us a call on 1300 881 384 and we can come and do it for you, along with the myriad of other clever organising tasks that will make your life so much easier!