Do you retain paper bills, pay stubs, etc?

JEKKI

JEKKI

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yo! I'm cleaning my room!

I found a crazy stash from last year of all my water, electric, cable, etc bills, and old pay stubs...

everything is going straight to the shred bin!!

But the question is, why did I keep this stuff, and why for so long?!?!

I know my father retains such papers like a villain, and I have no doubt it's a habit I too have adapted.

But now I live with my parents again and dont pay that many bills anymore, not that much comes to me in the mail these days but my pay stubs clutter my floor and car a bit at the moment (hence why I'm cleaning my room!!!)

retaining paperwork has never saved my ass from anything. So what's the word, do you ever keep these records? For how long? Or do you dispose of them once they're paid or cashed?
 
Aren't you supposed to keep that shit for like 5 years in case you're audited? I keep all my receipts and bills unless I paid cash.
 
Shred it, Shred it all I tell you!!
People pay bills online. maybe you should start doing that.... Save the Tree's !!!!
 
I keep all paper bills for 3 years in case of being audited. I keep pay stubs until I receive my W2 or 1099 the following year. I keep receipts for a while, depending on the purchase price and what the item was.
 
[quote name='AIRCOOL']Shred it, Shred it all I tell you!!
People pay bills online. maybe you should start doing that.... Save the Tree's !!!![/QUOTE]

I pay bills online and still have them send me the paper bill. Just to kill some trees and have something in writing to hold on to for a while. No real time limit, just until I get sick of looking at the mess and trash the oldest dated ones.
 
Keep it all. So it takes up a drawer in the filing cabinet. Better safe than sorry.

EDIT: And if you do get rid of it, burn it, don't shred it.
 
I usually keep them. Especially pay stubs and paper bills. I don't keep all my receipts. Except maybe if it's a large purchase.

Then I shred all my pre approved credit offers and any other papers that I KNOW I won't need. Then I take the bag to my parents house where the shreds get burned in a barrel. I know it's overkill, but I'm a paranoid person.
 
Scan it and burn multiple copies to CD/DVD each quarter. If you have a safe deposit box or some other offsite storage place, keep a copy there.

This keeps you safe and keeps the bulk at bay.
 
As a freelancer I have to keep everything. Every single thing because I have to present it all to pay taxes.
 
dang u guys are crazy!

but oh shyt we get audited now?? that's crazy too!

I hope that doesnt happen to me btw... here's a story:

I got a live check when I quit my last job earlier this year for all the hours I worked that week.

a week later when we would usually get paid, I got a direct deposit of the hours that I was already paid for!

I sat on it for like a month and a half wondering when they were gonna take it back but they never did...

so then I called payroll, I called HR, nobody ever wanted to answer the phone for me.

so whatever... BAM! free money!

AIRCOOL>> my bills from last year, some of them werent payable online. As for the ones that were, I STILL got paper statements! I still do... cell phone bills + student loans + credit card, it's like musha666 said
 
i scan everything, then all my "probably not important" stuff I shred and keep the "tax related" stuff that i would need to care about.
 
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