It's that time of year again...
Feb. 8th, 2013 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1One of the things I've been doing to stay busy during this time of unemployment is to go through and discard old financial records (bills and receipts) from past years. Last week, I went through receipts I had from 2004. This week, I'm doing the same for 2005. Now is a good time to be doing this, as I collect my tax records for the previous year and prepare my annual tax return.
A few weeks ago, I asked on Facebook, "How many years of tax and/or financial records do I need to keep?" Most people answered "7 years, but keep tax forms forever." I've been trying to follow a 5-year rule with most of my stuff at home -- if I haven't looked at it or used it in the last 5 years, I no longer need it and can part with it. There are some exceptions -- high school yearbooks, my old Boy Scout stuff, etc. So I'll keep my financial records for the past 7 years. I won't go through 2006's records until next year.
I had been storing the records in cardboard #10 envelope boxes I obtained from local mailing services and print shops. A couple of years ago, the folks at Really Useful Boxes (US site) came out with a plastic #10 envelope box. I now have several of these boxes, which contain my financial records for the last several years, and will be reused for upcoming years as I get rid of the old records.
So, here's what I've observed while looking through these old receipts.
1) Many of the receipts were printed on thermal paper. These need to be kept at room temperature. If they're in a garage or storage unit without climate control, they will fade to the point of being unreadable. Other types of receipts -- ink, carbon-paper, carbonless (also called NCR forms, after the company who developed that technology) -- do not require such temperature controls. But fewer and fewer cash registers in service use these.
2) Years ago, the entire credit card number would be printed on the receipts. This is now regarded to be a security risk. I will take the time to look at old receipts to see if the full credit card number is printed, or if only the last 4 digits are printed. If the entire card number is on the receipt, it goes to the shredder. Otherwise, it goes to be recycled. (The jury is still out on whether or not thermal paper can be recycled.)
3) Ideally, I should only keep receipts for consumable items (meals, groceries, and gasoline) for one year, unless they pertain to tax deductions. Utility bills and insurance statements are kept for 5 years. I'll keep the receipts for major purchases (computer equipment, appliances, electronics, furniture, or anything over $100) for as long as I still have the item.
4) I'd love to get one of those Neat Desk scanners. It comes with OCR and document management software that I can use to turn the mountains of paper data I have into nuggets of useful information. But that software is not available separately; I can't use it with my existing HP ScanJet scanner. The Neat Desk can do double-sided scanning and multiple pages; the smaller (and less expensive) Neat Receipts only does one side of single sheets.
5) My shredder is one of my best friends this time of year. Anything that has sensitive information on it -- name, date of birth, Social Security number, credit card numbers -- goes through it. I remember the scene from the movie "Sneakers" where the characters did some dumpster-diving to obtain this type of information from the person they were watching. I recommend a good cross-cut shredder that can handle several pages at once, and can handle shredding plastic credit cards. (Just don't mix up the plastic waste with the paper waste, especially if you plan to recycle the shredded paper.)
A few weeks ago, I asked on Facebook, "How many years of tax and/or financial records do I need to keep?" Most people answered "7 years, but keep tax forms forever." I've been trying to follow a 5-year rule with most of my stuff at home -- if I haven't looked at it or used it in the last 5 years, I no longer need it and can part with it. There are some exceptions -- high school yearbooks, my old Boy Scout stuff, etc. So I'll keep my financial records for the past 7 years. I won't go through 2006's records until next year.
I had been storing the records in cardboard #10 envelope boxes I obtained from local mailing services and print shops. A couple of years ago, the folks at Really Useful Boxes (US site) came out with a plastic #10 envelope box. I now have several of these boxes, which contain my financial records for the last several years, and will be reused for upcoming years as I get rid of the old records.
So, here's what I've observed while looking through these old receipts.
1) Many of the receipts were printed on thermal paper. These need to be kept at room temperature. If they're in a garage or storage unit without climate control, they will fade to the point of being unreadable. Other types of receipts -- ink, carbon-paper, carbonless (also called NCR forms, after the company who developed that technology) -- do not require such temperature controls. But fewer and fewer cash registers in service use these.
2) Years ago, the entire credit card number would be printed on the receipts. This is now regarded to be a security risk. I will take the time to look at old receipts to see if the full credit card number is printed, or if only the last 4 digits are printed. If the entire card number is on the receipt, it goes to the shredder. Otherwise, it goes to be recycled. (The jury is still out on whether or not thermal paper can be recycled.)
3) Ideally, I should only keep receipts for consumable items (meals, groceries, and gasoline) for one year, unless they pertain to tax deductions. Utility bills and insurance statements are kept for 5 years. I'll keep the receipts for major purchases (computer equipment, appliances, electronics, furniture, or anything over $100) for as long as I still have the item.
4) I'd love to get one of those Neat Desk scanners. It comes with OCR and document management software that I can use to turn the mountains of paper data I have into nuggets of useful information. But that software is not available separately; I can't use it with my existing HP ScanJet scanner. The Neat Desk can do double-sided scanning and multiple pages; the smaller (and less expensive) Neat Receipts only does one side of single sheets.
5) My shredder is one of my best friends this time of year. Anything that has sensitive information on it -- name, date of birth, Social Security number, credit card numbers -- goes through it. I remember the scene from the movie "Sneakers" where the characters did some dumpster-diving to obtain this type of information from the person they were watching. I recommend a good cross-cut shredder that can handle several pages at once, and can handle shredding plastic credit cards. (Just don't mix up the plastic waste with the paper waste, especially if you plan to recycle the shredded paper.)
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no subject
Date: 2013-02-14 04:01 pm (UTC)Wow. If I pay cash for stuff like that (which I almost always do), the receipt lasts as long as it takes me to throw it away (obviously, not if it's an item for my taxes -- those go into an envelope). If I pay credit or debit card, the receipt last until the statement comes (statements are all electronic these days).
Receipts for other items like computers last long enough for the object to be out of warranty, at which point, out they go.