How far back do you keep your bills?
 

I was wondering for how long you hang on to your paid bills (statements) for.

Do you pay it, and throw out the statement?
Do you pay it, and file it? If so, for how long? A few months/years?

Just curious to see what you do, and if there are suggested periods of time that one should wait before throwing stuff out.

Thanks!!

-Larry

My wife keeps every financial record forever. Lately she has taken to scanning them (now that we have this document feeding scanner) which I hope will mean less boxes.:dancefool

Mine go back to when I went out on my own. 1975

Howdy All,
One year or when I get to them.

What are bills? Do you mean you actually have to pay them?

Damn, no wonder my credit score is in the negative column.;)

I never toss out tax records...but other utilies etc.I toss out after 7 years...

I don't get bills. Only checks. Checks on how come I'm not paying my bills.....

All kidding aside, I keep receipts for as long as they might be needed for tax purposes. That means about 7 years for most. This was a habit I developed when I owned my own business. I keep all files for one year in a box. Each year an older box gets destroyed as a new one is filled. Some of the receipts wouldn't need to be kept for 7 years, but it's easier to keep all than to sort through them.

Wes

So...

I could conclude that anything that might be of interest to the IRS should be kept for seven years, but stuff like my cable bill and electric bill, I can toss after a year. And, since credit card interest is no longer deductable (the good old days when sex was dirty and the air was clean), I can throw them out after a year too.

Are most of us in agreement with this?

Howdy Larry,
Sounds good!¡

Paid and in the trash...

Couple of points:
Tax laws are generally gonna be three to seven years....However.. If they suspect fraud, there is no limit. They can go after fraud back to the enactment of the tax law.
That being said and me being an OCD type (and son of an IRS agent), my records go back forever. Wanna see what I paid for electricity in 1975? My florist's bill from 1974? (I had two florists in those days-single). First check I ever wrote? I know, it's a sickness, but it really doesn't take up much space and it could be something a lot worse. On the plus side, it does help if you have to dig up some long term figures. A few years back, I had to dig up what I had spent on some training over a ten year period.

...... some of us aren't engaged in fraud.