Shredding documents question

[puppymommo]

I am going through years of financial documents and am having trouble deciding what needs to be shredded and what can simply be recycled.

You hear a lot about identity theft and my identity was stolen and someone filed their taxes using my SS number. My tax payment was used to pay their taxes! I'm still straightening it out.

So... I have credit card and bank statements from a decade ago, 2003, 2004. I no longer have those cards or bank accounts. I don't see how these could link back to me. My same address though.

Is it safe to just recycle these or should I shred them?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SueDonJ]

I shred everything and then put the pieces in the recycle bin.

 

[silentg]

Shredding is better than crumpling!

 

[wackymother]

Shred, definitely.

It's easier if you take a whole bunch at once to a community shredding event.

 

[puppymommo]

Shred, definitely.

It's easier if you take a whole bunch at once to a community shredding event.

This is true and a really great idea. I have a small shredder and I am already shredding tons. I will see if there is a community shredding event coming up.

Thanks.

 

[SMHarman]

Shred, definitely.

It's easier if you take a whole bunch at once to a community shredding event.

Or have a relative or someone with a big confidential shredding service at their office.

 

[MULTIZ321]

This is true and a really great idea. I have a small shredder and I am already shredding tons. I will see if there is a community shredding event coming up.

Thanks.

There are shredders and there are shredders. If the documents are sensitive, make sure you are using a Micro-Cut Shredder, not a Cross-Cut Shredder.


Richard

 

[wackymother]

This is true and a really great idea. I have a small shredder and I am already shredding tons. I will see if there is a community shredding event coming up.

Thanks.

These are amazingly rewarding! It's so great to see your stuff being disintegrated so you don't have to worry about it any more. Have fun!

 

[csxjohn]

We use a small shredder but for real sensitive stuff we burn it in our fire pit.

 

[pedro47]

There are shredders and there are shredders. If the documents are sensitive, make sure you are using a Micro-Cut Shredder, not a Cross-Cut Shredder.


Richard

I agree with the above statement and I also try to destroy my documents by burning.

 

[MRSFUSSY]

mrsfussy

Loved the burning thought, recently had our fireplace converted to gas.

 

[Passepartout]

We are going through the process of clearing out all the long-term document storage from about 35 years of DW's law practice. She goes through each file to make sure no original client's documents are in the file, then we pack 'em in wheeled bins. The document destroyers show up and they are reduced to miniscule confetti in moments. I've piggybacked on the process and ran a couple dozen years' old checks (remember when they sent them back to you?) and registers and tax returns. I've kept stuff newer than about 7-10 years, but odds are that is just a matter of time when it will all go to 'Shredsville' too.

Jim

 

[WinniWoman]

We use a small shredder but for real sensitive stuff we burn it in our fire pit.

We do the same. I have a small desk-top shredder we got in Walmart (works great); sometimes I just use my hands to tear up things that aren't a big deal and throw them in the garbage, but for the important things we burn them in our fireplace.

I would not recycle anything sensitive for sure. Sometimes, but rarely, I might bring some stuff to my employers shredding bins as they have a company that comes in to take it.

 

[Phydeaux]

I have a fire pit.

 

[AnnaS]

We also burn most of our papers.

My problem is how long to keep certain documents. I keep them for years and years.

 

[dwojo]

shred everything just to be safe

 

[x3 skier]

My info has been compromised so many times, the latest being the OPM Breach of Security Clearance info, I think I have credit protection until the year 3000 and everybody from the Ukraine to China has everything about me. Still I shred stuff or take it to a community event.

Cheers

 

[wackymother]

We also burn most of our papers.

My problem is how long to keep certain documents. I keep them for years and years.

Here's a helpful link from Consumer Reports.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2010/03/conquer-the-paper-piles/index.htm