There's more to managing your money than the shoebox filled with crumpled receipts under your bed. Organizing paperwork and keeping track of financial and legal documents is imperative to your financial well-being, according to Patrice C. Washington.

"It is hard to stay on top of your finances if documents are scattered about," notes Washington, a regular guest on the Steve Harvey Morning Show and author of Real Money Answers for Every Woman. "On top of that, many people don't know which types of documents they need or even where to start."

To put your financial house in order, Washington suggests you start by organizing documents into seven key categories. Start with seven file folders and work from this checklist: 

Photo by Sal Falko, Flickr, via CC license