Shredding checks?

[minniecarousel]

So we discovered cancelled checks that are 25 years old! We no longer have this particular bank account and don't live at the address printed on the checks. Should we still shred them? We'll probably burn out the shredder if we have to shred all these!

WWYD?

 

[tvguy]

About 10 years ago my mom decided to shred all her old canceled checks.
She had them back to 1950 when she and my dad got married.
The bank didn't exist anymore, and the shredder did overhead, but she shredded them all.

 

[FireDancer]

If you get together with friends for bonfires on occasion save them to use as a starter for the wood.

 

[Sadie22]

So we discovered cancelled checks that are 25 years old! We no longer have this particular bank account and don't live at the address printed on the checks. Should we still shred them? We'll probably burn out the shredder if we have to shred all these!

WWYD?

Since back then you may not have been as security conscious and may have written entire credit account numbers and social security numbers on the checks, I would shred them.

To avoid burning out your shredder, shred a few at a time.

 

[dislaney]

Please shred them. I had someone write checks on an account that I no longer had open and it was a huge mess. I didn't find out about it until they showed up as a collection on my credit report.

 

[mamacatnv]

I would rip them in half then add them to the bag that has the cat box clumps, the guinea pig litter pans or even the neighbors dog poop.

 

[golfgal]

When my mom passed away we were going through her stuff and found checks she wrote when we were little kids. It was interesting to go through the-see how much she paid babysitters, how much a trip to the grocery store cost, etc. Save a few of those for posterity and then burn the rest(a lot easier then shredding).

 

[Disney Doll]

Shred or burn but don't just toss.

When I have a large volume of stuff to shred, I leave it in a pile near the shredder and every time I walk by, I throw a few in. Gives the shredder a chance to "cool" in between and it's usually done within a day or so.

 

[rapriebe]

Same opinion as others - shred or burn but do not just toss them in the trash.

 

[pls5286]

When I had to change bank accts due to a divorce, I had my son take the old checks to the driveway and burn them. It took him maybe 15 min.

 

[Lintasare]

You might be able to take them to your current bank and have them shred them.

I used to work for a bank and we would shred old checks and financial documents all the time for customers. We had large, locked bins that would be picked up once a week and sent for shredding.

I would call your branch and ask if you could bring them in.

 

[momrek06]

So we discovered cancelled checks that are 25 years old! We no longer have this particular bank account and don't live at the address printed on the checks. Should we still shred them? We'll probably burn out the shredder if we have to shred all these!

WWYD?

Oh OP, we use the shredder all the time but one day my DS stopped by and had all these checks and important papers (he wanted to use our shredder). Well instead of shredding everything for hours we decided to put all his papers in double garbage bags and pour bleach all over the papers with the bleach! The bleach is so cheap (store brand). Then we took the garbage bag right out to the trash. All the ink on the paperwork all just ran and of course the bag smelled so off bleach! So that was our solution instead of spending hours shredding paperwork!!!!