Which paper bills and receipts actually need to be kept?
Most paid bills and receipts can be safely shredded if you already have digital copies or online access, though keeping a year-long backlog or specific records like medical bills offers protection against billing errors and identity mix-ups. Uncertainty about how long records must be retained leads people to either hoard years of paper clutter or worry they are throwing away important documents too soon.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Shredding paper copies immediately after confirming they are available online
- 2Scanning paper bills and saving them digitally in cloud storage or on a personal hard drive
- 3Keeping physical paper copies or binders organized by month and year for a set retention period before shredding
- 4Saving photos of documents into a notes app on a phone
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“With everything electronic now, should I hang on to paid paper bills - medical or otherwise - or ok to shred them?”source ↗
“We’ve tried to do paperless. Some companies just don’t listen. We scan them and save them digitally.”source ↗
“I used to store everything. For CC Receipts / bills; I keep a year of backlog.”source ↗
“I may be old school but I prefer paper bills so little surcharges and rate change notices don't get overlooked.”source ↗
“We keep the medical bills for a year because 30 years ago, we got sent a bill for someone with the same name.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 3Should I reuse an old plumbing drain or replace it?