{In case you missed it here is Part 1: Organizing Important Documents and Part 2: Organizing Handbooks and Manuals}
I’ll admit it.. I can be a bit of a paper “collector”. You just never know when you might have to prove what you paid was correct. However, with all the electronic files these days I decided that if I needed a particular record it was most likely only a phone call away. So into the shred pile went several months worth of bills.
Here’s a list of how long it is recommended you keep certain papers:
Utility, Phone, Internet, etc. Bills: 1 or 2 months
Medical/Dental/Insurance Bills: 1 or 2 years (The billing can take forever!)
Tax Documents: At least 7 years
Pay Stubs: 1 year until you get your W-2 and everything is correct
Bank Statements: 7 years if you need them for tax purposes, otherwise 1 year is plenty. I get electronic statements and that certainly saves some paper clutter!
Other things that I threw out included some correspondence, papers from college, and old check stubs that I found. I’ve been able to condense most of our files into one drawer in our file cabinet! Now, the next challenge will be keeping the paper clutter under control.
What would you add to this list? How long do you hang on to these kinds of files?
I’m so glad you posted this! I never know what to keep and what not to keep.
You know, I always complain to my husband that he keeps EVERYTHING – and then, when we got in a child support situation with his exwife, it suddenly became really, really, great that he had saved a lot of the receipts he had. Not a common occurrence, but sometimes you never know!