This is such a common idea, to have the right tool for the job, but it is such a useful and relevant one. I often thwart myself with my desire to live a minimalist lifestyle by denying myself the proper tools for what I need to do. I think purchases through carefully and anything I buy has to be justified to myself.
Years ago, I bought a simple, inexpensive 5-page at a time shredder. It never was appropriate for my needs. I shred everything with my name on it and all my receipts as well as personal documents such as notes and lists, which I know is more than some people shred. We live in an area where trash is regularly rifled through several times before it is picked up, and I'm just not willing to have my personal information so available to so many people. I am also doing a massive purge of my husbands files which he accumulated before I was in the picture, so the bottom line is I shred a lot.
My 5-page shredder never did the job. It overheated before I could even do my receipts for a quarter of the year. When I was ready to move to a new quarter, shredding the old stuff took several sessions spread out over days. I often had to abandon a shredding job in the middle and leave boxes and stacks sitting out. This shredder jammed a lot as well since it wasn't designed for heavy use.
About a year ago, I broke down and spent about $100 on a new shredder with a 14-page capacity. I used an Office Depot coupon and got a sizeable discount and then Freecycled the old shredder. This turned out to be one of those purchases where I said "I wish I had done this years ago." I have cut my shredding time by more than half, it never overheats and almost never jams. It is easy to empty and has a large capacity to hold the shreddings. My favorite feature is that I can drop in an entire junk mail envelope without opening it and separating the pages. I cannot believe how much easier this makes the job of shredding.
This is one case where having the right tool really made this job easier, and for years I thwarted myself by denying myself the proper tool. I wish I had prioritized my time and aggravation level more highly and purchased an appropriate shredder sooner.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
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1 comments:
When purchasing a shredder you need to think about a few things: how much paper do you need to shred, how many people will be using it, and what type of things do you want to shred. Most companies such as Fellowes offer a wide range of shredders, so hopefully you will find one that is appropriate for your needs and price range.
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