slo’s WEDNESDAY 1/3 poll - Billing Statements 📄

[slo]

As we start a new year, many of us try to get, or stay, organized with our financials. I’ve talked to several of my friends about this and have been given many different opinions…..

Do you keep your billing statements?
If yes….how long do you keep them?
Are they paper statements or emailed statements?
(multiple choice)


For Me…..I like paper statements best. I do get some statements emailed to me, but it’s very few. My DH likes to keep statements for 7 years. Personally….I don’t think that’s necessary, but if it makes him happy then so be it. I just put them in a box and stick them up in the attic. In fact….i forgot to take the oldest box down when we put the Christmas decorations away - I need to get that so I can shred everything this winter. I guess I’ll do that when I box up 2023.

 

[Meriweather]

I get some paper billing. Some are on auto pay.
I keep everything until the end of the year and then clean them out and keep the ones I think we will need for taxes.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DH handles the electronic bills, and I tend to do the paper ones. I do file those for a while (at least a year, but some are older, as I'm lazy about going through the file cabinet.)

 

[Skywalker3]

I spent most of New Year's day shredding, shredding, shredding.....feel like a barely made a dent. I was mostly getting rid of blue cross statements through 2021ish. I had them back for over 10 years. .
I tend to keep utlity bills about 2-3 months. Taxes we have back to 2000, no good reason really to keep them that long. Credit card statements, I have well over 10 years, but really and truly, it's mostly just for memories. Like we can look at the credit card statements and see all the restaurants we ate at Disney, or whatever. I also have Hotel receipts back to 2000, again, just for nostalgia. DH and I were discussing a trip to Legoland from 2012, and how many nights we stayed at a certain hotel, and I had the receipt, ha.
BUT I am going to work on getting rid of a LOT more paper. No need for all of that clutter!

 

[Kitty 34]

We keep a few statement but only for a few months.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I only get email statements and I don’t keep them.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

All of my statements are stored with their respective financial institutions so if I need them, I know where to find them. Most other statements get scanned in and then tossed into the wood stove (instead of shredding).

 

[WDWEPCOT]

We only keep things that pertain to my taxes and you have to keep them for as long as they pertain to your taxes it’s a rule most people don’t get quite right it’s not seven years it’s as long as they pertain to your taxes
So here’s one for you I took a medication that caused me a medical issue and I am now part of the lawsuit against the manufacturer and one thing I needed was on my medical paperwork for this medication that I had been on for well over 10 years one thing I keep is all my medical records because they pertain to my taxes For me that I had all my medical receipts so that I could submit them to the attorney for my lawsuit my attorney stated I’m one of the few clients that had all their medical records going back to the beginning of taking this medication
So one of the only things I do keep in regards to my bills or just record that pertain to my taxes each month as I pay bills I shred the previous month if I don’t need it again for my taxes and then the current month that I just paid and that is my process otherwise I’d be drowning in paper
I do like to get a paper statement I also like receiving an email notice in case the paper one doesn’t arrive even though you pay it every month sometimes you just forget about it so I thought it’s nice to be reminded hey this needs to be paid and then you can go oh yeah I don’t recall receiving it! Our postmaster has a horrible habit I’m giving everybody somebody else’s mail. Most online portals only go back so far for you to reprint things
As for medical I’ve had to go for a doctor once to obtain all my old records in regards to another medical issue - most doctors and hospitals don’t keep things for very long shockingly so - something that was over 10 years old and normally they wouldn’t have had it but I got lucky and the hospital still had my records the woman stated they didn’t think they would because she said they normally destroy it so I felt real lucky that I could at least get the doctors notes couldn’t get the images but at least get the doctors notes! Lucky for me I had the images already at my house as I had requested a copy years ago

 

[Wood Nymph]

We get both paper and emailed statements, but prefer paper. I keep them at least 7 years. I box up the old statements at the beginning of the year. It is one of my New Years tasks. There are shredding events periodically in our area and I will take the old documents there to be shredded.

 

[ronandannette]

For many years we got paper statements, which I never even looked at because DH handled those bills. We never felt any need to keep them because the account history was always available on-line. Now all of our utilities are included in our condo fees so our only monthly bills are cable and cell service. They are both paperless and on auto-pay.

 

[MIGrandma]

We get paper statements, keep them 7+ years. We keep everything for our taxes, even receipts from stores if they have deductible items on them. Never know if the IRS will audit our returns. We farm, our taxes have to be filed by March 1.

 

[Praying Colonel]

The only ones I keep are from a serious accident I had in 2018. There were so many and I don't want to have to deal with phantom collectors coming at me for something I've already paid. I have them in a big file but I'm going to digitize them this winter.

 

[mjkacmom]

I get some paper, some email, lots on autopay, I save nothing.

 

[tvguy]

I keep paper statements for a year and then shred them. My first of the month routine is to shred bills from the same month a year ago, (and to clean the HVAC filter). I do need to clean out my e-mail receipts, my wife noticed I have over 1,000 in my e-mail! A running debate between my wife and I for 41+ years has been over paying bills. She wants NOTHING to do with them, even though she knows I may not always be here to pay them. "I'll figure out if I have to take that over" is her response. However over Christmas, she needed to get cash out of an ATM to buy my Christmas gifts and she didn't think she had an ATM card since her card only says Debit Card. It does both. Normally we have enough cash on hand but we didn't this year. So she decided she wanted to pay the bills this month just to refresh her memory. She paid the credit card bill, the electric bill and the car payment yesterday without issue. She says that was all the refreshing her memory needed, but I told her she will be making next month's car payment since it is her car, and it will be the final payment.

 

[mumto3girls]

My DH handles the bills. He keeps and files the statements he needs for our taxes.

 

[GAN]

I keep 3-months worth and then shred the oldest month -I see no purpose going beyond that period. All statements are available on line if you *must* have them for some reason.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I used to keep paper billing records, but as my work world has evolved to digital records, so do I. I also hate having to shred and devote space to old records. I've also seen several clients have their physical document stashes stolen during home invasions. While some argue that digital records are also vulnerable to hacks, your records these days all have some form of digital backup regardless of what you do in your home, so it seems more secure to cut the paper records altogether. Most industries also have record keeping mandates, so the length of time some people keep their paper records typically aligns with the digital records held by companies (financial, medical, etc.). I much prefer logging into an app or online account (that usually has more robust security than personal device options) to see those long-term records vs. having something in home or in a personal digital archive.

 

[bobbiwoz]

DH keeps the bills, probably for the 7 years. I am learning to pay the bills on line. I was content to let him to almost everything, but with his recent health scare, I need to do more.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I still receive paper bills as a fail safe procedure. Something about the online and physical paperwork agreeing gives me “joy”. My billing records are kept automatically for however long the Tax Man wants them for; don’t remember if it’s seven years or not.
Once the reminder is issued records are dumped physically and deleted via computer and once again I’ve foiled the IRS/DOF-NYS/NYC (lotta Caesars around here). Or not.

I pay a service to track and organise my medical bills; too cumbersome and difficult to keep up. The service is worth every penny IMO.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

All of my statements are stored with their respective financial institutions so if I need them, I know where to find them. Most other statements get scanned in and then tossed into the wood stove (instead of shredding).

Just curious, have you EVER needed them?


Personally, I keep all my medical statements until they are paid in full. anything pertaining to our taxes ( should be starting any day/week now) and that's it! My husband teases that only I could wear out another shred machine!