General Chat

old bills, water, gas, bank statements and all that. i cant believe the amount of papers i have had filed away. some paperwork was dated 2006. i have kept the last 2yrs. would you have kept the last 3 or maybe 5yrs? the lovely sunshine today went to my head today. 3 bags of clothes for the charity shop, if its nice tomorrow i will sort out my books....

Tax returns for 7 years, but everything else for 2. Its a lovely feeling to shred the old ones, isn't it! :-D

Well done on your sorting out - spring has sprung in your household!

Mine go in the drawer, then into a carrier bag and under the bed!!!
I kept meaning to clear them out, then when I eventually did, realised I could claim PPI, as I had statements for 7 years ago :-D

If I hadn't gone out today, I would have definitely hung the washing on the line and spring cleaned.
I opened my bedroom window today, and saw cobwebs behind the blind :-0 :-(

great shredding the old ones. the worms in my compost bin are going to be as busy as me.

6 years for tax and pay related and 2 years for everything else

Roy

maggie, good luck with your ppi claim. i had all all the windows open today. bedding on the line, then my sort out...it must be spring madness.

roy, i got rid of loads of my pay slips 2yrs after i retired. didnt shred them, i burnt them...after many years of hard graft.

6 years for tax correspondence. 6 months for bills and bank statements.

Vera

6 years for tax/pay and 3 for bills.

What a sensible lot you all are. I've still got bank statements from 1958. They are almost historic documents now.

All our utility credit card and banks statements are paperless now so I wonder how that affects things.

OH keeps everything!

Bills that arrive by email are printed and filed!

Up to five years is kept in the filing cabinet, anything older is boxed up, sealed and stored.

We've got passports that are nearly 40 years old!!!

And he says I'm a hoarder. :-(

We have kept all out bank statements but bills and the such like get shredded after two years.

Funnily enough I am at present trawling through the backlog of old bills - bank statement and payslips (all since joining Royal Mail in 1980!!). As you can imagine it is a huge task.

I luckily pay my utility bills online so they are stored there forever!!

My shredding gets bagged up and with some newspaper also shredded in is donated to the local RSPCA to be used as either bedding or in litter trays.

Am now about half way through and am leaving it for a week or so as I was losing the will to live!!! :-D

I keep mine for about a year then shred them.. :-D

Jules x

Jean,
I managed to get my PPI last year, just by sending a few statements.
Not a lot, but enough to give my daughters an amount and for me to have a 'splurge' :-D

How long do you keep old bills etc, well, I keep utility bills for a couple of years, bank statements, tax records etc for about 10 yrs. I think it is recommended that you keep financial stuff for 7 yrs.

Clearing out my parents house recently I came across ancient paperwork and other assorted stuff...bank statements from the 60's, utility bills from 20+ yrs ago, 1939 National ID cards, passports, pay slips, letters of appointment for every job my dad ever had etc. They never threw a thing away and the house was jam packed full of stuff.

I could have a real moan about the time it is taking me to sort through it all (still haven't finished) but I won't, because in amongst it is some real treasure....Mum's first passport issued 1947, I can trace her tours of Europe through the stamps inside it; Swedish work permits from when both my parents lived in Stockholm; YHA cards detailing their trips; diaries; receipts for every car they ever bought etc , the list is endless. I could write a book detailing every day of their lives together!!

I've got boxes and boxes of 'treasure', but it's nothing compared to the amount of paper which goes to the re-cycling every week!! :-(

karen, you have reminded me that i have a folder for all things related to my car. old tax dics, old m.o.t. certs. what on earth i saved them for, god knows.i aslo found another folder with instruction booklets in... for the fridge, washer etc. when i sort all that out, they are going in my main file. so all paper work will be in one place.

maggie, glad you sorted your PPI. its better in your pocket than the robbing bankers.

Jean - Old MOT & Tax discs are collectible you may be able to sell them!!!

It's odd what people collect.