I have a "photos" folder & then within that I have a whole bunch of different folders.

I have years folders & within those I have folders for each date that has photos so today the folder would be called 2009-12-18. I do it backwards so that way they will be in month then day order. If it's just hanging around the house there is no description, but if it's something specific there is (eg 2009-12-16 Preschool Concert) so I can find specific events quickly.

I have my pregnancy photos separate so I have a 2004-2005 Pregnancy & a 2007-2008 Pregnancy folder. Within those are folders for ultrasounds, IVF things, belly photos & misc (room decorating, purchases etc). Then photos within those are sorted into date folders like the others.

Then I have a scanned photos folder & that's just chaos at the moment! One day I might organised it by dates etc, but for the time being I only scan things when I want to use them then never look at them again!

I then have a professionals folder but you don't need that craziness



We also have photos burned to DVD every 6 months & we keep a copy in the house & a copy at PIL's house JIC.