A recent survey carried out by newly launched web service, allfiled.com revealed the most common amusing blunders made by disorganised Brits.  Allfiled.com launched a competition on Twitter which asked followers to reveal and nominate themselves as the UK’s most disorganised person.
 
Stephen Bennett, founder of newly launched web service, allfiled.com comments: “We had some fun judging the nominations, but at the same time realised how costly some of these mistakes were.  Parents in particular are trying to juggle so many balls such as managing diaries, ensuring their children eat well and stay healthy and keeping on top of household bills that it’s not surprising they make errors like these.”
 
Stephen reveals the top five blunders made by those who entered the competition:
 
1.Winning entry - “I went to a kids’ party where my child ran off with the kids there and the party girl opened her present. I then found out that I was at the wrong party and was two hours too early.” (Julie Kenny, mother of 3 to Charlotte, Isobel and Thomas)
 
2.“I spent all morning getting my daughter ready for a party only to arrive at 2pm as it was just finishing.  Tears galore!”
 
3.“Going to a meeting in Cheltenham.  Got there, phoned for directions to the office. 135 miles in five miles?  Should have been in Chelmsford!”
 
4.“I realised during online check-in for a flight to the UK that my passport had expired the week before and that I only had two days to obtain a new one.”
 
5.“I managed once to renew my car insurance for the most expensive, rather than the least!  £2,300 for a year hurts!”
 
Bennett continues: “Many of these blunders, such as the lady who forgot to renew her passport, and the man who didn’t properly review options for his car insurance, could have been prevented, if only they’d kept on top of their household paperwork, but sometimes that is easier said than done.”
 
Allfiled.com offers the following advice for keeping on top of your household paperwork:
 
Decide which documents you need to keep hold of.....
There are some documents which need to be kept indefinitely – for example birth certificates, marriage certificates etc.... and then there are others such as utility bills and insurance documents which can be disposed of after a number of years. Work out what is essential and what is not, this can help cut your paperwork in half!
 
Keep all receipts safe.....
Make sure you keep all your receipts together in a safe place as they may be needed for refunds or product faults.
 
Keep contact details and reference numbers together.......
Very few people take the time to collect the details of new suppliers, reference numbers and warranty agreements and keep them together in a safe place. By doing this it will save time if any problems arise and you need to get hold of details immediately.
 
Set up reminders online......
Or use a secure web service like allfiled.com that helps busy families to keep on top of all of their household paperwork. The reminder-based system with over 5,000 UK supplier details and 100 file types helps you manage every aspect of your family’s administration; from insurance policies, appliance warranties, vehicle MOTs, mobile phones, utility contracts, passport renewals and even your annual pet reminders.