What papers to keep?
Question:I'm trying to get rid of paper clutter in my house and want to know how long you are supposed to keep paid bills if we need to keep them at all. I usually pay online but have about 5 years worth of paid utility, medical bills, etc. Any tips to clearing my mess would be appreciated.
Answers:
If you claim medical on your taxes, you need to keep tax papers for 7 years. Taxes include: w-2's bank records, anything you claim as a deduction. Personal property receipts should be kept that long also. I keep my utility and credit card bills for one month until I have the bank statement that shows the check or payment has cleared. I shred just about everything else, especially if it has an account # on it. All my Owner's manuals and licensing papers are kept also. I keep everything in a 2-drawer file cabinet and clean out at tax time every year.
My suggestion is if you are not sure whether or not you need it...hold on to it. Tax related files should be held for 7 years, the statute of limitations for IRS lookback provisions. Others are more discresionary. You may want to scan all of the files electronically and store them on CDs or DVDs. This way you can avoid the clutter. If you don't have a scanner you can go someplace like Kinko's. Good Luck with the cleaning.
once I get a bill showing my LAST payment was made and my utilities are on...toss'm....my mom even keeps junk-mail and every envelope...with notes about what it was
and when It came and filed...crazy. I keep tax papers
receipts for house payment, insur. stuff like that. I guess if you have the space.keep it....it won't hurt anyone else. But there is no use keeping anything if you can't retrieve it or find it quickly, later, if needed. I'm 62. I have about 40 files.
The world has not ended. I think of it this way...If your house
burns down, it is all gone anyway......Of course my mom
copies everything and keeps those copies in a second location.
Just throw them away and just keep the past 6 months or less only.
U will feel better once u throw them out.
Anything related to taxes, I clip with the completed tax forms and file for the 7 year requirement. I keep all medical info but utility and other bills, I keep for one year, once that month comes around again, I shred the old bill from that month a year ago. Essentially, I have a cycling filing system with a one year back date.
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