The end of the 3rd quarter of this year is over. The calendar shows it yet I’m in disbelief. Halloween is Wednesday and that means October 31st! Scary thought, isn’t it! Many of us just filed our 2006 tax returns two weeks ago. Now another year has almost passed and many of us have disorganized financial records. Frightening!

The importance of record keeping has been a topic of conversation lately. We all know staying on top of our financial records saves us time and money. We just don’t always do it.

Take some time to get yourself out of the cycle of being behind! Over the next few weeks I’ll walk you through a simple way to organize your 2007 financial data and be on track. Imagine how great it will feel to start 2008 with a fresh, clean slate. Come January you can work on your resolutions–not organizing old money stuff.

Let’s start easy! When you start to get stressed, imagine tossing that stressor into a fire! Let it vanish. You’re not dealing with anything painful today’”you’re simply gathering information!

1. Gather your bank statements for the year. Pull them out of your shoe boxes or print them from your banks website. Make sure to include your credit card statements and any loan statement you may have also.

2. Sort your statements by account. One pile for each account. Then stack the statements with the oldest on top. Have the most current statement at the bottom of your stack.

3. Get some “expandy files”, file folders with multiple section dividers. (I’ve mentioned them in a previous article about organizing.) Make sure you have one section for each account. Punch a couple holes in the tops of your statements and secure them in place.

This is as far as we’ll go this week. Keep the tasks small and manageable, not looming and daunting. Be patient. It may take some time to pull these 2007 statements together. Remember, for most of us, this is the hardest part. Congratulate yourself for taking this first step.

Until next week, consider the importance of recording your financial transactions as they occur. It is too difficult to recall what you spent in the past. Try this to see how crucial it really is!

Take a few minutes and think back real hard to 4 days ago. What were you wearing? Did you have an important meeting so you wore your favorite suit? Perhaps you were gardening and wearing old shorts and running shoes. Can you remember? I can’t.

Now think about what you wore yesterday. Were you looking fabulous or having a lazy pajama-Sunday? Easier than remembering last week, isn’t it? Here’s my point. If you can’t recall what you wore 4 days ago, it’s not likely you can remember where you spent your money 4 days ago.

Share your financial organizing tips with Queercents readers below! And check back daily for more helpful personal finance articles.