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How to be Paperless at Home

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 6 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Ranked #5882 in DIY, #161042 overall

Rated G. (Control what you see)

 

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.

Top 3 Reasons to be Paperless 

  1. 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.
  2. Easy Access No more climbing into the attic to get your dusty, cobweb ridden box for 2002's tax return. Just search, find, print.
  3. 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.

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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.

Visioneer Strobe XP 100 Sheetfed scanner (Windows)

Amazon Price: $179.99 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $199.99

NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional 2.5 Mobile Scanner and Software

Martha Stewart likes this scanner/software combo.

Amazon Price: $169.99 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $209.95

Visioneer Strobe XP 200 Sheetfed scanner (Windows)

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $299.99

Visioneer Strobe XP 300 Sheetfed scanner (Windows)

Amazon Price: $310.16 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $593.60

Canon DR-2080C Color Document Scanner

This is an awesome scanner. Fast, small, scans boths sides of your documents at once. A real workhorse.

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $799.99

Xerox DocuMate 250

Amazon Price: $700.99 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $799.99

HP ScanJet 7650 Flatbed Scanner with Auto Document Feeder (L1940A#B1H)

Amazon Price: Too low to display (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $793.99

HP ScanJet 8250 Document Scanner

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $1,003.00

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.

You're going to need a shredder too 

Fellowes P-55C Shredder

Amazon Price: $34.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

Fellowes PS80C-2 Shredder

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

Royal 85X Paper Shredder

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

Fellowes 30110 Powershred DS-1 Shredder

Amazon Price: $109.24 (as of 07/25/2008)

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Paperless at home for 3 years and counting.

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