Message Boards

So I was in my home office last night while watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, sorting through the paper clutter.

I've done some online billing to reduce the amount of mail but I need direction as to what to keep and what not too.

It's ridiculous the amount of paper that we think we need to keep.

So what do you guys do? How much do you keep and what do you chunk out?

Since we are retired we don't have as much paper clutter as younger people (no mortgage, car payments etc) and we don't earn enough to file income taxes so don't need to keep those kind of records.

We charge almost everything so I keep all those receipts by the month. But have decided I don't need the actual receipt only the total amount spent each month (say for groceries or entertainment or car maintenance) This I can do on a accounting page. It is helpful to know exactly where your money is going. . . for instance too much on car repairs might want to get a new car!

So you need paper records to support your income tax statements. Need to keep those for maybe 7 years. Need to keep papers to do with insurance and mortgages and other taxes. All car repair and appliance repair, furnace etc. Also we keep the instruction manuals and all data applying to whatever appliances we own. . then toss the files when we get rid of whatever it is.

We have a four drawer metal file cabinet and use only one drawer for all our "business life" I also keep mine and my DD's college records in that drawer.

A good guideline: http://www.clarkhoward.com/new...record-keeping/nFbS/

Thank you guys!! I appreciate the tips..

Thanks for the link...good info there.

My husband scans the instructions for everything we buy that needs one.
Every appliance etc. is scanned into the computer and put in a PDF file.

Then when I needed info. on my 10+yr old fridge.--I went to my PDF files and there was the manual! ALSO they are on flash drive with label on it. AND I keep a file on computer with contents listed.

Whenever I buy an appliance, I write the date of purchase on the cover so I have it--was amazed how old our refrigerater/freezer is!!