Question for the Accountants

unaveragejane

Is there any reason for me to continue to hang on to old bank and credit card statements and check book carbons? All my statements are reachable online (except for Navy Fed b/c I can never remember my account info).

welly01

I don't see a reason to.  Are you thinking for reasons like an IRS audit?  An IRS audit can go back 3 years, I think.  If its something like a charitable deduction, just make sure you have everything to backup your return.  Especially if you have access to them online, I would shred.

unaveragejane

There's no real thought behind it. I just save everything b/c that's what my mom does. Good point about the receipts for charitable donations. Those wouldn't be online. I can put them with my tax returns, though.

Amores0121

Yes 7 years for paperwork that you use to do your taxes. But I don't see why you would need your bank statements.  Obviously if you owned your own business you would want to hang onto those, but otherwise you would just want to hang on to the actual documents you used to do your taxes.

unaveragejane

Thanks, ladies! It looks like we'll be having a nice little roasting party with our fire pit when the weather is decent.

freezorburn

I found them handy a few years ago when we moved to Canada. We needed to list every place where we had ever lived, and since I have moved every 1.5-2 years since graduating college a million years ago, it was helpful to check old bank statements to verify my addresses. Because honestly my memory is not that good.

YellowLily2013

@mapleme oh my! Half an hour!! That's just ridiculous! :P

YellowLily2013

I need to toss stuff. I think I have every bill I've been issued since I've received bills in my name.... I'm such a weirdo pack rat.

YellowLily2013

And since we got checks for our joint account. We've just got the default checks (well picked out the front). But they never ask if we want carbon copy. And I keep forgetting to mention it.

Who doesn't want a carbon copy?!?! I think it's so freaking stupid. Of course I want carbon copy. But I'm not about to pay for more checks since we have checks. good thing they do check images or I'd have to buy more checks.

unaveragejane

@YellowLily2013 - I've always gotten carbon copies for my checks, but honestly I can't think of a time that I've used them except *maybe* once or twice in the 11 years I've had my own account besides for balancing a checkbook register. I'm also ashamed to say that I haven't kept a register in years. It got too complicated when I started using a debit card for my own account, and it's just pointless for our joint account.

unaveragejane

@Mapleme - That half hour wait really must have bothered you a lot. You've mentioned it in this same thread twice now.

unaveragejane

Mapleme said:

@Mapleme - That half hour wait really must have bothered you a lot. You've mentioned it in this same thread twice now.

I was replying to @YellowLily2013‌'s exclamation and explaining the reason. Are you calling me some kind of PW?

Oh! I see now. Nope, I thought you were like me and subsisting off of a sub-par level of sleep and brain function, to the point that you've begun repeating yourself. It must just be me.