General Chat

my older sis has never paid a bill all her married life. my younger sis has our mothers old rent books plus our dads brew tin, loose tea was put in one end sugar in the other end. cant blame her for keeping that. last year she loaned me mums and dads old pics to aid with the family tree. i found lots of things, old letters from w.w.1 written in pencil.yes i will get rid of old bills, but treasured items will be kept.

Haven't a clue ........Hubby's in charge.......I have never paid a bill in all my married life !!

I know some bills & receipts for household etc... are under the bed on an old fashion Spike... :-S and that gives me the pip as hubby will not replace the bed skirt back the way he found it .....grrrrr.

i have kept my mums old rent books 25 of them
and she never missed her rent once :-D

Am on 3rd shredder!! They don't last long once you get going!!

Most surprisingly, last week we got £40 for my dad's old 78's (they hadn't been properly stored or looked after since about 1960!) :-S
Now then, anyone want about a million black 'n white photos, various scenes.

I know what you mean, Joy. Hubby and I have been sorting out all my Dad's old stuff, days and days of shredding!

How sad future generations will be when they look back at the way their ancestors lived and find that there is no documentary evidence that they ever used electricity/gas/telephone/etc because we'd all thrown away all the bills!!

How fascinating it is to be able to go to the County records or archives and find copies of my gt gt gt grandfather's grocer's bill, or the sale particulars of his property when he moved from Cork back to London. It brings to life the way they lived and makes them all more real.

But, I agree, how much to keep and what to shred. It's a difficult question - and there's only so much space in the house!

when my hubbys auntie died in her 60s
she had kept every bill she ever had
took us months to go through her paper work :-(

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

It's odd what people collect.

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

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.

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!! :-(

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

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

Jules x

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

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

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. :-(

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

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

6 years for tax/pay and 3 for bills.

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

Vera