contrapositive wrote:

How long should I keep these items? :

Utility Bills? (Gas, Electric, Phone, Cable, Water, etc.)

Dept. Store Statements (Sears, Macy's, etc.)

And related to credit cards...

Credit Card Statements?

Privacy statements and change-of-terms letters?

Letters confirming balance transfers, increases to credit limits, and other
non-billing-related correspondence?

I tend to err on the side of safety, but I have a fire hazard now. Thanks in
advance.

-jk

My wife died recently and I have been shredding checks, receipts,
credit statements, IRS returns, etc.

I began shredding weeks ago and I still have many more to do.
Save nothing. The banks, credit company keep an archive
of everything you may need, for verification, in the future.

Bill

Money stuff - ditto, I started tossing that stuff pretty harshly and it
hasn't been a problem - bills, checks, the routine stuff, I just keep a
couple months just out of laziness. I don't even balance my checkbook
anymore, what a waste of time.

Keep anything from the credit card company related to a challenged
charge, for a year maybe, just in case.

Keep any legal stuff, like divorce decree, real estate papers, marriage
cert, incorporation, partnership, and any court proceedings that you
might have been involved in.

Also keep current and past 3 yrs of tax stuff handy. That includes all
records of stock sales and purchase and anything needed to substantiate
a multi-year rollover of capital losses (the $3,000 carryover thingy).