How long do you keep bills?

[sharon]

You know, the part of the bill that you keep after you pay it. I am trying to do some major cleaning around here and my file cabinet is stuffed. I'd like to clean it out some.

Is it really necessary to keep all the stubs from utilities and credit cards for years on end?

 

[justaboutgeese]

The business related ones need to be kept for seven years, some ae only requried for five years. The rest can go in the trash. If you do not have a business but still itimize your tax refund those must be kept also. But not all of them have to be kept just the ones related to tax returns. No need to keep every feed reciept if your feed company send you a monthly statement. Just the monthly statement You will be amazed at how much useless stuff you have. The ones you need can be kept in a folder or packet in a single file cabinate or drawer (box, bag or whatever).

 

[chandab]

I don't know how many years worth you may have, but I pretty sure for tax purposes you only need to keep bank statements for 7 years, so maybe that would be a good date to go with for other records as well. As far as utility records go (phone, power and such), those companies probably have fairly long records on file with them; so you may not need to keep for as long. If you are a renter, you may wish to keep rent payment records longer, just to be sure the landlord can't come back later and say you didn't pay, if there is ever a dispute.

FYI - At the end of each year, I pull all my bills and statements from my file cabinet and put them into manilla envelops (by category, grouping smaller categories to fill the envelop - financial statements seperate from all other papers) and they go into storage boxes; I have the records, but they don't fill my file cabinet. Just an idea, if you don't wish to toss everything.

 

[Bluerocket]

I am a packrat and keep them forever practically.

My husband shreds his after he has paid them.

With SOME credit cards -- proof you paid for something (receipts and cancelled check and bills) can help you recover items that break or are stolen (e.g. the credit card company guarantees them).

Unless you are writing things off on your taxes -- I don't think you HAVE to keep them at all.

JJay

 

[Pepipony]

Saw a new tax advisor a few weeks ago and she said t keep any receipt that is for upkeep of the house/property untill 2 years after the sale. She says this is to show that not all the 'profits' from the sale are capitol gain. Was suprised about that.

 

[Miniv]

I've always kept receipts and payments stubs for 7 years.

MA

 

[whiskeyranch]

My hubby always insists I file all bills in the appropriate folder, this has driven me crazy for 5 yrs. until yesterday!

We bought a new house last year and we had to pay off a credit card, it was around $14,000!

Yesterday I got a letter from a collection agency saying we need to pay them $10,000 something! Now I have to dig out everything to prove we have already paid this, we pulled a credit report and the bank did not report our payment.

Soooooo, I won't gripe about filing stuff anymore!