What should you shred?
Depending on how many papers you want to shred, you may need to set aside time to sort out the papers you need to shred from the papers you need to keep. To begin, sort paperwork into three piles:
1. Keep: Taxes less than seven years old, pay stubs (one year), legal documents (contracts, licensing, awards and achievements), insurance paperwork, workers’ compensation paperwork, rent or mortgage paperwork, medical bills (one year)
2. Shred: Old taxes (seven or more years), bank and credit union statements, credit card offers, canceled credit cards, old photo ID’s, old pay stubs (one year or more), canceled checks, business documents, travel itineraries, airline tickets, utility bills, medical bills (one years or more), passwords and PINs, junk mail (any that include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses).
3. Maybe: Personal items that may have emotional value, old address books, luggage tags, transcripts, old calendars.
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