How long to keep statements/bills?!?!

[Albies5]

Hi, my file folders are getting way too crowded- and i wanted to know if there is any kind of time frame that one must hold on to certain documents- i dont know if there is a rule or a suggested time frame- and when i may need to pull out a statement years later.(all paid up to date)-- i.e
1. Utility bills
2. Phone Bills
3. Health insurance- E.O.B 'S
4. Bank statements
5. Credit Card statements
6. Car insurance statements
7. anythign else that i cant think of that one would hold on to.

Thanks!!!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Albies5

1. Utility bills
2. Phone Bills
3. Health insurance- E.O.B 'S
4. Bank statements
5. Credit Card statements
6. Car insurance statements
7. anythign else that i cant think of that one would hold on to.

1. and 2. No need to save these once your payment is received. The exceptions would be if you are planning to sell your home soon, potential buyers may want to see utility bills (but not phone).
3. EOBs can be discarded once the claims are settled.
4. I don't know if this is the official answer, but I'd say 7 years.
5. and 6. Can shred after payment posts.
7. The exception to all of the above is that anything related to taxes should be held onto for 7 years.

[sweeps]

Personally I think you should keep all of the above for at least a year, possibly 2 years. There have been various reasons I've needed to go back and look at statements/bills/receipts. One that comes to mind right away is to find medical/dental/health expenses for FSAs and/or HSAs.

For your home and auto insurance bills, I would keep them at least until the current policy period ends.

I'd highly recommend hanging on to receipts at least for like 90 days. There have been numerous times I've needed to return something and without the receipt you're SOL. Many companies are expiring receipts after 90 days (Target is a notable example.).

[tripods68]

The only one i'd keep is health insurance/dental bill statements. The rest you can view it online. I no longer keeps those on hand personally.

[Albies5]

thanks- very helpful- hopefully i can just shred all of that stuff.
i guess there really isnt a time youd need the EOB, or utility bills, phone.

[snafu]

Added to above: anything that has warranty or potential for dispute. When I buy a warranted product, I staple the receipt to the pamplet or info which I store in a binder.

[Pitman]

I have all my statements, bills, and receipts dating back from 4 years ago. Once I started collecting them, it’s sort of turned into a habit, where no matter what I buy, I always keep the receipt.

[irmanator]

I save my utilities for this weird habit of when i get a bill i think is high i look at same month last year to compare and see it maybe something is wrong

[cantretire]

With everything on line now, I shred just about everything after 1-3 months.
Taxes I keep at least 7 years. I print medical reports at the end of the year to keep. Better yet - I keep an electronic file if I can save it, or I print and scan it.

Once a payment on a bill has registered, i shred the statement and any paperwork connected with it. The statement is on line and so is my checking account.

Since I've been unemployed the last 5 weeks, I've shredded about 15 bags worth of paper I don't need anymore.

[swanson719]

The only thing I keep is our mortgage statements, our financing information on the house, and our taxes. We keep the auto policy information for the duration of the policy, but not the statements. I would say the only thing that someone would need otherwise are any pay-off documents for CC's or something like that. If you settle with a company, keep that forever. A buddy of mine had a gym come after him 16 years later asking for $300 with 16 years worth of interest - was like $2500. He had a bank statement showing it paid.

[cptacek]

I thought I read one time that sure, everything is online, but if you cancel your contract with that company it will be very hard to get the information from them if you need it. For instance, if you have cable and then cancel, and then they come after you for an unpaid bill, you have no way to get your information because you don't really have an account with them any more.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cptacek

if you have cable and then cancel, and then they come after you for an unpaid bill, you have no way to get your information because you don't really have an account with them any more.

I wouldn't need to access the cable bill to show that I had paid it. I could show that from my credit card statement (which is how I happen to pay the cable bill) or from my checking account (if I paid from there).

[Like2Plan]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I wouldn't need to access the cable bill to show that I had paid it. I could show that from my credit card statement (which is how I happen to pay the cable bill) or from my checking account (if I paid from there).

...your credit card statement (provided you still had the cc statement) would only show that you paid some amount of money to the cable company, but it would not show what the money went for. The only proof that you were paid in full would be to have a copy of the cable bill showing the dates of service with a zero balance and the account closed out.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I have all bills for the past 5 years electronically. I have an external hard drive that I back it up on. I also keep a copy in our firesafe of our taxes at least.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by Like2Plan

...your credit card statement (provided you still had the cc statement) would only show that you paid some amount of money to the cable company, but it would not show what the money went for. The only proof that you were paid in full would be to have a copy of the cable bill showing the dates of service with a zero balance and the account closed out.

Agreed. Having evidence that an amount was paid a certain month is not nearly enough if there is a future dispute. For example, a company could say that I owed $200 when I really only owed $100. (I'd be able to prove I paid $100 from a CC statement, but that's all.) An even more common scenario is a company may charge you for something in a previous month and then charge you again the next month. If you destroyed the statement how are you going to prove it??

This is why I keep ALL statements and receipts for at least 2 years. I just don't have enough trust in a company to shred my only proof that I am paying what I'm supposed to be paying and no more.

[skylog]

i can only tell you what i do. i save everything, but everything i have is in pdf form on my computer (although i have paper copies of my taxes as well). since i will never fill up the hard drive space i just keep it all. that said, it is very organized and setup in such a way that it is easy to do/maintain. everything is also backed up on several drives, as that would be one of the main concerns using this method.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

I have all bills for the past 5 years electronically. I have an external hard drive that I back it up on.

I think this is the modern answer to the question. If you get your bills electronically, you can store them electronically at little to no cost and they take up no space in your home. Memory is dirt cheap today. I posted a while back that I recently got a 1 terabyte external hard drive for $89. That is enough capacity to store every statement for the rest of my life and then some.

[ksluis62]

I love the electronic storage idea. But I'm thinking its best to use an internet-based backup service in addition to the home computer. That way, if your hard drive crashes or your house burns down, you have a backup. Plus, you can probably view your documents from any computer, not just your home computer.

Is anybody using an internet-based backup service? Some companies I see with a google search are XDrive, FilesAnywhere, and Carbonite.

[ksluis62]

I found this PC Magazine review of online backup services (from April, 2008). Looks like you can get a good, automated backup service for $50 a year.

The Best Online Backup Services - PC Magazine

[sweeps]

Online backup is a great idea, but there are practical issues. The main problem is data upload speed. Most of us have high speed cable or DSL internet access, but that high speed is only on the download side. If you have a lot of data you'll be wanting to backup, you may pull your hair out with how long it takes.

It's fine putting the backup on autopilot so you don't have to monitor it, but keep in mind while the backup is happening all the computers in your house accessing the internet will run noticeably slower. (Even when you think you're just downloading, you're actually uploading some too.)

All this was too much of a pain for me, so for off-site backups, I just write a DVD occasionally (with files encrypted) and give a copy to my mother-in-law so it is off-site.