Hello.
Most experts seem to suggest that if you're going to take tax
deductions for the expenses, keep all relevant paperwork. If not, it's
probably okay to throw your bills away soon after they are paid. A few
more cautious folks advise people to keep certain bills for up to
three years.
Here are some opinions on the matter:
"You can throw away credit card statements after you've checked the
bill for accuracy and fraudulent charges. But keep receipts for any
expenses that are deductible (see IRS Publication 17, Your Federal
Income Tax for a list of deductible expenses) and hold them in a file
for preparing your tax return. Also, keep receipts for expenses that
must be submitted for reimbursement from employer-provided health care
and childcare spending accounts.
Throw away utility, phone and cable bills after you've checked for
accuracy and paid them. "
Source: "What to Keep. What to Toss" by Ray Martin of CBSMarketWatch,
courtesy of FirstUnion.com:
http://personalfinance.firstunion.com/pf/fpg/0,2915,632_636_638_828,00.html
"You can throw away utility, phone, cable, and credit card bills once
you've looked them over, paid them and have proof the payment was
received by the company (i.e.: cancelled check). However, if there?s a
dispute or if you're planning on taking a tax deduction, make sure to
keep the bill and any corresponding receipts, if there are any."
Source: "Toss, shred, or save" from KABC
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/features/032102_fs_.html
"Current bills, charge slips: Keep one year for general purposes and
indefinitely if used to provide legal evidence as proof of purchase.
Store with tax return if needed to substantiate a tax-deductible
item."
Source: Advice from Penn State Federal Credit Union:
http://www.psfcu.org/fyi/finances/records.shtml
"Get rid of old utility bills, old credit card receipts, old credit
cards, old insurance policies and even old checks used for such things
as store purchases, and for paying credit card and utility bills.
Unless there is some bearing on your taxes or an investment, these are
a waste to store."
Source: Money Alerts from Alan Mendelson:
http://www.moredeals.com/alerts/trash.htm
". First trash the junk mail. Second, the paid credit card statements
(you may want to shred them) and utility bills. Unless you're writing
them off on your taxes, there is no need to keep them."
Christy Best, professional organizer
http://www.clutterbug.net/articles/20000217/
A slightly more cautious approach is recommeded by consumer advice
guru Clark Howard:
"What records to toss:
-Credit card statements that are more than three years old
-Past insurance statement
- Old utility bills, except the most recent one from your old address
if you?ve moved
- Recently paid bills (statements), once you have something saying
they've been paid "
Source: "Tips on Keeping Records" by Clark Howard
http://clarkhoward.com/topics/record_keeping.html
Onlineorganzing.com takes a similar approach:
"Keep this paperwork for THREE YEARS:
credit card statements
medical bills (in case of insurance disputes)
utility records (for internal use)
expired insurance policies"
Source: "Reducing the Pile," by Ramona Creel:
http://www.onlineorganizing.com/Client_Article_Reducing_The_Piles.htm
search strategy: "you should keep", credit, bills, utility, records
I hope this helps. Good luck with your effort to organize and reduce
clutter! I have a lot of old bills around and should follow some of
this advice myself! |
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