How long do I need to keep these items (paperwork)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Im trying to go thru boxes of "stuff" thats just been sitting in the closets and work on organizing all this paperwork....

I have "failed" business attempts : petra fashions did for a few months back in 04, Watkins did for a year 05-06, Now Jewelry stuff it came out to be just a hobby when figuring taxes - do I need to hold onto all those reciepts?? **none brought in enuff to even claim lol**

Bank Statements have a ton - I can shred these right?

Household bill - statements - shred?? or do you hold onto just a couple months worth?

paystubs- how far back do you keep?

majority of it is paystubs, bank statements and bill statements ... I wanna try out my shredder but dont want to get too excited and shred something Im not suppose to lol

there were a couple of threads from a while back with huge lists of how long to keep things, but i don't remember the forum even. i never know the answers to these questions. good luck, though!

I figure that if I can get it from someone else if I need it, I'll chuck it. Like paystubs, you're employer has to keep records. Bank statements, everything's computerized now and they can look up old stuff if necessary. Same as bills and utilities. Honestly, I would probably keep the business stuff in one folder for another couple of years, then chuck that too. Everything else I'd toss. But I'm pretty ruthless and don't keep anything unless it's for tax purposes.

Kerri

Paystubs ~ Keep until you file that years taxes. Then get rid of them.

Monthly bills ~ Sometimes it is smart to keep it for a month to make sure just to make sure the person got the check or if it is a new bill to make sure the payment was placed on the correct account. Established acounts? If you pay them off completely, get rid of them the second you pay them off....

Bank statements ~ Treated the same as paystubs, once you have a tax file for that year, shred them.

Tax statements ~ You keep 7 years worth of these. Once you have 7 years you get rid of all the years previous, and each year toss the one from 8 years ago.

Failed buisness attempts are kept like tax records. You keep the main tax files for 7 years, the rest is up to you. If you didn't ever get enough to claim, get rid of them.

That is the paperwork lowdown. Sounds like you are doing some good clearing out! Good luck!

Val

thanks :) its widdling away thats forsure! appreciate the input!