Spring Clean Your Home Office: Fellowes P-12C Shredder {Review & Giveaway}

Spring is here! I live in central Florida, and I have been enjoying this warm weather we are having. For those of you who are still getting snow, hopefully that will end for you soon. Spring is not only a time for warmer weather, but also a time for "Spring Cleaning". It is always nice to open the windows, air out your house and give everything a real good cleaning. That goes for your home office too. It's time to go through those stacks of papers and either file them away, or get rid of them.

With identity theft being a big problem in recent years, you don't want to just throw out any documents that have your personal information on them. You need to protect your information by destroying those documents. Fellowes Inc., the leading shredder manufacturer, and the Identity Theft Resource Center have teamed up this spring to offer tips to spring clean your home office:

• Begin with the Basics: Sort through the piles of paperwork on your desk and in your office drawers. Place them into two categories: ‘save’ and ‘shred.’  
• Proper Storage: Organize the “save” pile into labeled folders and be sure to put anything confidential into a fire-proof lock box. The “shred” pile should be properly disposed of with a Cross-Cut shredder, such as a Fellowes P-12C. Cross-Cut technology is an important feature for a shredder because it provides high security, destroying confidential information into unidentifiable pieces. Equally important are enhanced safety features, such as Fellowes’ SafeSense technology, which shuts the machine down when hands come too close to the paper opening.  
• Get a Digital Makeover: Refresh your home office computer by deleting files you no longer use and backing-up important data onto an external hard drive. Clean out your inbox and change all passwords. Refreshing your computer is a good practice to follow throughout the year as well.  
• Make Life Easier: Plan ahead by purchasing organizational tools for your desk, such as computer risers or file folder holders. This will help clear clutter from your desk top while keeping things within arms reach.  
• Freshen Up: Get rid of dust and germs that easily build up on office equipment such as keyboards, telephones and cabinets. You’ll feel instantly more productive with a clean workspace.

My home office definitely needs an overhaul some spring cleaning, so I was more than happy to try out the Fellowes P-12C Shredder.

This shredder can shred 12 sheets of paper per pass, into cross-cut 5/32 in. x 2 in. pieces. It can also shred paper, small paper clips, credit cards and staples. It features patented SafeSense technology, which automatically shuts off the shredder when hands come too close.

The shredder came fully assembled. I was impressed at first glance, and I could tell this was a great piece of home office equipment. It is sturdy and put together very well. We started off by shredding a pile of paper that has been sitting in the middle of my workspace for weeks now, and it quickly cut the paper down into tiny pieces. The shredder that we had been using before this one couldn't handle more than four sheets at a time, and would tend to overheat and shut off if you used it too long. The P-12C shredder did not have those issues, which we were happy about. My husband had a stack of expired credit cards that needed to be properly disposed of, so we tried those next. The P-12C shredder easily destroyed those too!

My favorite feature of this shredder is the SafeSense technology. With curious little hands always inspecting stuff they shouldn't be around here, that is a great feature to have. The kids are not usually in our office area, but kids are quick and curious, so safety features like this are a HUGE plus! Of course we tested this technology and I'm happy to say that my husband still has all of his fingers!

The Fellowes P12-C Shredder can be purchased at Target for $89.99. If you are looking to spring clean your home office, I highly recommend this shredder!

~*~One of my readers is going to win a Fellowes P-12C Shredder!~*~

Mandatory entry: (This must be done in order for any optional entries to count) Check out all of the great products Fellowes has to offer, and let me know another one that you would like to try.

Optional entries: After you make the mandatory first entry above, you can get one extra entry (unless stated otherwise) for each of the following (please leave a separate comment for each):

* Like Fellowes on Facebook (please tell them that The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! sent you)
* Follow my blog publicly with Google Friend Connect (sidebar)
* Subscribe to my blog by email and confirm your subscription (sidebar)
* Like The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! on Facebook (leave your first name and last initial)
* Share this post on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the bottom of this post
* Follow @thelifeofrylie on Twitter (leave your user name)
* Tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting this tweet and leaving me the link to your tweet (you can tweet daily for an extra entry each day):

Spring clean your home office! Enter to #win a Fellowes P-12C Shredder from @thelifeofrylie! http://bit.ly/edHqE1 #giveaway

* Post my button on your sidebar or your blog roll for TWO extra entries (leave me two comments with a link to where I can find it)
* Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post for THREE extra entries (leave a link to your post in three separate comments)

Giveaway will end on April 14th at 9:00pm EST. The winner will be chosen by random.org. I will notify the winner by email within 24 hours, and you will have 48 hours to respond. If no response is received within that time frame, I will pick another winner. Please leave your email address or make sure it is in your profile so I will have a way to contact you. I will announce the winner once they have been confirmed. This giveaway is open to residents of the US only.

Disclosure: This is my honest opinion. I received the Fellowes P-12C Shredder at no cost for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. A big Thank You to Fellowes for providing the giveaway prize!