How long do you keep Credit Card/Bank Statements/Bills, etc.

[TechBoyJK]

I've pretty much been keeping every credit card statement, bank statement, bill, car insurance statement, etc. for the past 10 years. I'm thinking it's time to toss/shred a lot of it.

Non Business Credit Card Statementss - Do I never need to keep these more than 3 months?
Bank Statements - I can always get a statement from the bank if I need one. Should I toss anything over a year old?
Car Insurance Payments/Statements -Toss after 3 months?
Random Bills (utilities, rent, etc)

How long do you guys keep the paper stuff?

 

[nageov3t]

I'll keep the statements for roughly the 30 seconds it takes me to walk from my mailbox to the trash can.

 

[Doppel]

I'll keep the statements for roughly the 30 seconds it takes me to walk from my mailbox to the trash can.

Yeah. I'm about 30-60 seconds also. I do not keep any financial records whatsoever other than my annual tax returns. Absolutely nothing else. Most of my bills are digital now and I delete those immediately also.

 

[NoReMoRsE]

I keep things for 7 years or more.

 

[FoBoT]

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/personal-finance-credit/record-keeping/nFbS/

The amount of records and paperwork you should keep is actually more limited than you might think. Here is advice from Money Adviser (a publication of Consumer Reports) on what to keep and for how long, and what to get rid of...

Which paperwork to keep:
Tax returns, keep forever
Tax return documentation, for seven years
Contracts, forever
Real estate records, forever
Last pay stub of a job if you leave that job
Last pay stub of the year until you reconcile it with your W-2
All mortgage payment checks (statements), until mortgage is paid off
All student loan payments, until loan is paid off
Car loan payment stubs, until the car is paid off
Cancelled checks, for 7 years
Bank deposit slips, until you reconcile your statements
Bank statements, until a calendar year; store with tax returns if they will be used to prove deductions
Home improvement records, ownership period plus 7 years
Investment records, shred monthly and quarterly statements as new ones arrive; hold on to annual statements until you sell the investments

Which 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

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/Edit/News/Stories/news_071900a.asp
Records the IRS says to keep - and for how long

 

[JEDI]

fobot:

i keep my credit card statements 3yrs also but only because the drawer i keep them in gets too full, and i need to shred the 4th yr to get them to fit


Op,
get electronic bank statements.

i also do electronic bill pay so i look at my bank ammount multiple times a month.
so far for the past few years i''ve had e-statements, i've never had a discrepency.

note: do not get electronic credit card statements. pain in the ass to prove to a merchant (ie: doctor/hospital) that u paid when they send you a bill 1 1/2 yrs later

 

[velillen]

Pretty much all my bills come electronically now.

internet (wave broadband)
Electric
Gas
Garbage

All those are electronic and have autopay. I basically just get the emails saying i paid them and thats all i worry about. Do check my bank to make sure it actually got paid.

Mortgage

Only get electronic statements. I manually pay this one though just since its a large chunk and i want to make sure i have the money in the account first lol

With everything being digital anymore i dont keep much. I do keep copies of receipts for anything major i buy, like the riding lawn mower, guns, tv, ect. Basically anything that cost me over 500 bucks i keep a copy of the receipt in the safe.

Other than that its just more records keeping. All the paperwork for stuff done to my septic tank for example. Then i can go back and see when i last had it pumped.

 

[amdhunter]

I make enough that I don't have to keep track of such things. Keeping records are for poor people that can't afford to lose a nickel.