Do You Still Keep & File Bills & Bank Statements Now We Have Online Billing?

I'm in the middle of debating this myself. I feel guilty if I toss the paper copy of something I paid online, but I tell myself I don't really need to keep it... but it's kind of hard to let go of the old system. I'm curious to see what other people think about this.

ellie I feel in today's world of internet we donot need to keep the hardcopies any more. But my father is old school and just would not let go that easily. I can understand his point of view but with so much thing happening with go green thing I am a convert now. I have strated to keep all old paper docs scanned and save them in my computer. The present documents I have opted for the soft copies in banks and elsewhere as well. Here, it would take to get used to it. Specialy when most are not gadget friendly but still I am hopeful. Things are indded catching up fast. Huggles.

Hi ellie, [i]My husband is still keeping some but for like 6 years above, he is disposing it! I guess it will be safer to just wait and keep it this time..Anyway, it will just hide in the locker..LOL! I will consider throwing if they are not old already, 5 years above![/i]

I don't mind having a hard copy for reference. That way I can see what I'm being charged. But, most of my bills are paid online these days, including cable broadband bills; car insurance; life insurance and cell phones. Most of my bills are set up to be automatically paid from my debit card. The last time I got a bill in the mail from the water supply people, I didn't know what to do with it. I thought, didn't they already take care of this online?

No, i relay on the internet so much. No more paper but sometimes I still ask for hard copy. It's old habit I guess.

i would only hold on to them for six years for tax puroposes.

I have to keep my income tax information for seven years, but usually shred my bank statements after I record them on my computer. I do online banking but often they do not keep them up there for more than a few months so I have to record that information in case something goes wrong. Usually it is a check that I wrote but that had not been cashed yet for months. I would say keep the income tax records, when you bought the house, how long you have worked, and shred the rest.

Hi ellie, This is what I do, I shred, my phone statement and any other bill that I pay monthly. I do keep bank statement, one never know who will be asking to see a copy. if you're buying a house, car etc. Just keep you bank statement, any checks that have cleared. after 7 years shred. I know that if you don't need to have the original cancel check, the bank always has a photo copy. But they do charge if you need to have, prove of payment. Everything is on the computers now a days. it's easy to get. hope this helps

Hi dear i just keep the latest bill and waste all old one and sure paper less society is emerging and we should help it Takke care

I do keep some, the ones that I still get!

What ever statements that I receive printed I do keep. For the ones that come online I usually dont take a printout unless absolutely necessary. And the oldest paper I have in my file is my school report of 1970.

I was like you Ellie, keeping a storage cabinet with old receipts, bank statements, etc. Sometimes, when I decided to go through the tedious task of sorting it all out, there were papers there I didn't even know existed. I guess if had needed them, I wouldn't have found them anyway! I am so happy since I am going paperless! I don't worry about it anymore and it keeps my cabinet a lot neater. Maybe you should go paperless and then just print out a statement for a while until you can make a complete transition. I'm sure if you are already doing it for the phone bill, you will have an easy transition.

Online billing is easier but i don't trust doing activities online so much.Though i do sometimes.I love keeping things so i usually keep old documents etc but nowadays its just occupy space in the house.My hubby had alot of these stuffs from many many years back.We tried to clean up and he did threw some that was really very old and thought it could be not in use anymore.Perhaps you could do that too.Or if you love to keep them its up to you.Sometimes its nice to see old stuffs and remember those times.

I try to recieve online bills for as many things that i can because of the impact on the environment and also because if i don't i hoard them for no apparent reason and i have no room. If you don't find a mistake or something that needs to be rectified straight away the chances of getting it sorted are pretty much zip anyway so i don't feel the need. The bills that i can't have online i clear out every year (usually when i get time off) and shred and recycle that was although it's paper i'm doing what i can. Most organisatons have to store hardcopies of things for several years anyway so if i needed something i could request it i'm 27 now and i've had to do so once. I'd rather save the trees.

nah I usually throw them out, but they say it is always good to save them, you never know when you might need them.

I'm all for going green and receiving less paper but my phone bill now doesn't let me check the details of my bill. I tried to organise to read my bill online but was told I had to register to do that and was given a number...when I rang that number I was told I'd been given the wrong info and had to register online. I tried to tell him that I tried to do that and was unable to find where to register. I still want to see my itemised bill so I can check my records with their's. My electricity and water bills have varied from what my meters say and I've called them on it and been reimbursed. I know they get things wrong. If I get a plain statement with a total, I'm in the dark so to speak. I don't have enough money to just hand it over with no questions asked...lol. All my papers are neatly filed in an organised fashion...there is no clutter. I'd stick with what you do now. You still have some control.

I belong to E Bay and Pay Pal and regularly get fake emails that are supposed to be from them. I do belong to any Internet banks but again I get fake emails as if I do. I don't want to do Internet banking because I worry about security on my laptop and fake emails being sent to me. I have a filing cabinet where I keep paperwork from the last six years or so. I don't like paperwork anymore and wish that I could have bills and bank statements on line.

Hello ellie333. I live in the U.S. and I suspect our tax laws might be different from yours in the U.K. In the U.S., we are told by our "tax people" that we need to keep hard copies of all receipts for 10 years. So, I keep mine for that long. It's interesting because I've always kept all receipts for bills paid, taxes paid, insurance paid, etc. However, my sister, who works in a credit union (that's sort of like a bank here in the U.S.) said there is no reason to keep any receipts other than those that might be disputed on our income tax returns, which we have to file yearly. So, things like utility bills, water bills, insurance statements have nothing to do with most people's income tax return. If all I kept was what pertained to our tax returns, I could get rid of practically an entire closet shelf full of receipts. I just couldn't destroy all those papers. But, I do have a system that, after the tax return is filed (usually in March) and I get back our copy, I place all our receipts for that year (already in their expandable file folder) up in the closet and label the folder with the year of those receipts. I then remove the oldest folder from 10 years prior and destroy those documents in our shredder. I run them through a few at a time so as if I come across something I think I should save (like stock confirmations or something like that), I hold them out and file them elsewhere. Whew, I sure took a lot of words to say, "yes, I just can't turn loose of all hard copies, at least the last 10 years' worth of records." Take care, and sorry I got so wordy! P.S. I would love to get rid of all those receipts on that closet shelf...

I never keep my bank statements. I always shred them. But I don't fully trust online banking either. I don't really have all that much money to be concerned about it anyway. LOL

Hey ellie, I still keep some of my paper stuff. I'm slowly getting rid of most of it. I guess being so used to keeping files of it for so many years it just is hard to break the habit. I only keep certain bills. It really isn't necessary anymore to keep them. If you truly needed a copy of something all you have to do is request it from the company and they can send you one. How often would that happen. I guess it's up to the individual. If it makes you feel better to keep it then there's no harm to continue.