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What to Shred and What Not to Shred
by Kiera Rain, Bay Area Professional Organizer
Eat everything on your plate. Don't throw away any paperwork. Don't get rid of that--you might need it one day! You never know when something might come back to haunt you.
I think most of us can relate to the above. Most of us were, dare I say it....Brainwashed....into this chain link thinking.
The up and coming generation has a new approach to the Depression-Era Dog Days. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Oh, wait. That's not such a new concept afterall.....We no longer want to be a shopaholic generation or throw-away society. Or from the Depression-Era Hoarder Generation. We want to be more practical, minimalist, less emotional about THINGS and put higher value on experiences and freedom from clutter weighing us down.
And with that being said, what SHOULD we keep these days when it comes to paperwork?
Follow this mantra: Keep it if it is for Taxes, part of an Unresolved Dispute, or Memorabilia. If it doesn't fall into those 3 categories, recycle!
What do you need to shred now? If it has your social security number, medical history, financial statements, some membership privvy information, business related confidential items, shred it!
If it has your name, address, phone number--who cares! That no longer needs to be shredded. Everyone's contact info is easily grabbed off the internet these days. It's gonna take more than that for a hacker to crack security these days.
All those utility bills? If they aren't a tax write-off and you aren't disputing the company on the amount owed, you don't need them at all! Nor do you need to shred them. RECYCLE. FREEDOM! Wahoo!!!
Receipts? Are you gonna return it or sell it? Keep it. Does it reflect a tax write-off? Keep it. Is it for fast food, groceries, gas that isn't a tax write-off, etc? Don't even accept the receipt in the first place--just tell the cashier they can trash it. Even better, don't print one at all if you have the choice. Receipts aren't recyclable. :-(
DO SHRED: preapproved credit offers, expired credit cards.
DO tear out old notes from your notebooks and out-dated misc slips of paper floating around that no longer serve you. Suggestion: just keep ONE notebook for notes. And let go of the sticky notes.
