How long to hold onto receipts, bills etc?

stargirl73

Hi all

Doing a bit of sorting out of cupboards - a very daunting task but we're trying to declutter. Apparently!

We seem to be drowning under the volume of paperwork involved in running a home.

How long should I be holding on to stuff? Gas/electric/water/council tax bills, insurance policies, bank statements, receipts and the like.

I'm fairly sure I don't need to keep repair bills for cars I no longer own! But I save and file EVERYTHING just in case - but what do you think is reasonable?

We're thinking of moving so I imagine I'll need some documents to prove income and such things but it would be great to have a couple of cupboards a bit clearer.

Thanks in advance

Welsh_Totster

I keep 3 months of bank statements and a years worth of utility bills. Receipts tend to be kept for as long as whatver has been boughts warranty is for, just in case. Once the warranty has run out then I get rid.

latecomer

I would keep utility bills for a couple of years - most people get them quarterly so its only 4 a year, receipts I keep for a couple of years too unless its something thats got a longer warranty/guarantee.

House_owner

Bank statements for a year, ultility bills for a year, the council tax bill - only for the current year. Insurance polices only for the time when they are valid.

LeeSouthEast

Personally, I keep physical records for 3 years. After this bills/official documents get digitised into searchable PDF files, and then get shredded along with the receipts. Unless it needs keeping for something specific (i.e. I keep physical P60's, P11D's, wage slips etc) as you never know....

stargirl73

Thanks everyone - scanning them sounds like a great, but arduous, idea! But that would free up loads of space.

LeeSouthEast

Just dedicate a day a year to doing it. It doesn't take that long, and dedicating the whole day allows you to do loads of other boring but otherwise necessary 'housekeeping' exercises at the same time. One day out of 365 isn't all that bad!

mchale

For legal docs tax etc, its 6 years

Hitch

Did this very task today, i wondered the same. I decided to keep payslips for 2009 to now, bank statements, bills from 2009-now. Insurance stuff, only the current years policies.

Having less stuff to sort through makes it far easier to find when you need something:D

The o/h keeps all her paperwork, including the envelopes. Ditch all them and save 25% of the space straight away :cool:

Holeypockets

There must be something in the air - I did mine today too. It's one year for everything for me except tax accounts where it's 6 years.

Holeypockets

Make sure you shred anything relevant too. I had 3 bags full of shredded paper.