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How to be Paperless at Home

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Lots of offices and small business around the world have discovered the joys of being paperless. Perhaps you would like to learn how to be paperless at home.

Most of the data in this lens was lost by Squidoo in early March. I am slowly trying to recreate that data.

Your Documents are Safer Fire, Flood, Hurricane, Earthquake, Theft. It's so much easier to make copies of digital documents and keep them in multiple locations for safety.
Easy Access No more climbing into the attic to get your dusty, cobweb ridden box for 2002's tax return. Just search, find, print.
Less Clutter Filing cabinets, hanging folders, lots of bits of paper just clutter a house and mind. Keeping things digitally makes for a more organized life.

Software to help you become paperless

Paperport 10: Grade: C Paperport controls your scanner and creates PDF documents in a heirarchy you create. Version 10 has been out for over a year, but still is a little clunky. It's also a memory hog.
PaperPort 9: Grade: B+ Paperport 9 is much more reliable and faster than 10. It's currently the most highly recommended system for home filing.
Papermaster Pro: Grade: C- Papermaster is similar to Paperport, but it saves documents in a database (instead of file folders) and in a different format (.efx). It can save documents in PDF format, but cannot preview them within the application (this is a critical flaw). Ultimately, a good solution does not require a proprietary "viewer" to look at your scanned documents.
eDrawer: Grade: D A higher end system for small businesses. More similar to Papermaster than PaperPort. It's major flaw is the price ($500).
PageManager 7.0 Deluxe: Grade: C Similar in appearance to PaperPort, but hasn't been updated in a while. The company seems to have lost interest in it.
PaperValet Pro: Grade: B+ An inexpensive and easy to use document scanner/filing solution. Recently updated as well. A newcomer to the home paperless solution world.
NeatReceipts Scanalizer: Grade: B+ A software/hardware bundle that includes a portable USB-powered scanner for receipts, business cards and documents. Recently mentioned on Martha Stewart's TV show. Martha loves being paperless. Can do amazing things with receipts and expense reports, but seems heavy handed for home use.

PaperLess Zone Blog

A little blog about being paperless.

Scanners for Becoming Paperless

In order to save as much time as possible. You really need to look at getting a document scanner with a sheet feeder. Flatbed scanners can work, but they are slower and you have to flip the pages over to get both sides.

Other Points of Interest

Want a Paperless Home or Office? Try This Technique to Come Closer to the Reality - Associated Content: Check out want a paperless home or office? try this technique to come closer to the reality: Basic equipment can take you from papers everywhere to knowing exactly where a document is at any time - Submitted by Kate J. Chase at Associated Content
Subtraction: The Paperless Home Office: A blog entry about being paperless.
6 tips for a 'paperless' office: Overwhelmed by scraps of paper, clunky file folders and envelopes? Here are six ways to cut down on paper at your home office or business.
PaperLess Yahoo Group: A Yahoo group for people interested in being paperless.