I mentioned last week that I'd be getting some organizing done over the holiday break (in between lying on the sofa and watching movies, of course). On Friday we went and bought a shredder for the house so I could finally get rid of some of paperwork that's been piling up.
As a victim of identity theft (which you can read about here, here, here and here), I don't throw anything away that has personal information on it. At the ex-job, I used to bring piles of papers in and keep them in a locked desk drawer until I had enough to make it worth a trip to their industrial strength shredders. The freelance gig where I'm working now doesn't have shredders like that and if they did they'd be out in the open so everyone could see you shredding your financial records. So new home shredder it is.
In the desk drawer where I keep my statements I found useless and unnecessary paperwork dating back to 1993: the adoption receipt for our cat and her health report for a brief yet expensive kitty hospital stay (during which they found nothing wrong!), statements from insurance companies I haven't had coverage with in over 10 years, pay stubs, 15 years worth of canceled checks, tax returns for 1994 through 1997 and credit card statements. Stapled to those credit card statements were receipts for all the stuff I'd bought that month, an organization skill refined during my child-free years and is now just a faint memory.
And the stuff I bought? Most of it I don't remember, probably didn't need, and none of it worth the hole of debt I dug for myself. Earlier this year I finally climbed out of that hole and made the last payments to credit card companies. It took seven+ years to build it up, four and a half years to pay it off and two days of shredding to reclaim drawer space previously occupied by financial records:
Two thirteen gallon recycling bags from just one drawer.
And I still have a few more boxes and drawers to go through. How anyone ever stole my identity if I've kept every last scrap of paper pertaining to my finances is beyond me.
As a victim of identity theft (which you can read about here, here, here and here), I don't throw anything away that has personal information on it. At the ex-job, I used to bring piles of papers in and keep them in a locked desk drawer until I had enough to make it worth a trip to their industrial strength shredders. The freelance gig where I'm working now doesn't have shredders like that and if they did they'd be out in the open so everyone could see you shredding your financial records. So new home shredder it is.
In the desk drawer where I keep my statements I found useless and unnecessary paperwork dating back to 1993: the adoption receipt for our cat and her health report for a brief yet expensive kitty hospital stay (during which they found nothing wrong!), statements from insurance companies I haven't had coverage with in over 10 years, pay stubs, 15 years worth of canceled checks, tax returns for 1994 through 1997 and credit card statements. Stapled to those credit card statements were receipts for all the stuff I'd bought that month, an organization skill refined during my child-free years and is now just a faint memory.
And the stuff I bought? Most of it I don't remember, probably didn't need, and none of it worth the hole of debt I dug for myself. Earlier this year I finally climbed out of that hole and made the last payments to credit card companies. It took seven+ years to build it up, four and a half years to pay it off and two days of shredding to reclaim drawer space previously occupied by financial records:
Two thirteen gallon recycling bags from just one drawer.And I still have a few more boxes and drawers to go through. How anyone ever stole my identity if I've kept every last scrap of paper pertaining to my finances is beyond me.
4 Comments:
Good Morning,
I would like to get a shredder too., because I have tons of stuff that should be shredded. By the way, what ever happened with that stolen identity case? I remember you told me the person was arrested, but was that the last of it? Talk to you,
Love, Mom
The DA was going to prosecute her.
YAY! Glad she's getting prosecuted!!
I SHRED EVERYTHING!!
I have a shredder and usually shred everything. I sometimes get lazy and don't. But then I cut everything up in little piecea.
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