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Post by morningglory on Mar 15, 2012 11:28:32 GMT -5
I wonder if the credit report showing that the account was paid in full by a particular date would work?
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Post by dayeanu on Mar 15, 2012 11:33:17 GMT -5
- Regarding CLOSED & PAID credit card accounts And also Closed&PaidOff LOANS:If the account is closed and fully paid off, then save the final documentation that it's paid in full. You don't need the entire history of the account. You just need proof that it's paid off. AND ,, if WHILE your account was OPEN, they gave you a new card # or new account #-- ( because they changed the account or sold the loan, or because you lost your old card, or for any other reason)... SAVE one document from each acct # so that you can prove that it's all ONE account.WHY? 1) because these companies do computer upgrades, sell accounts, etc. You cannot rely on their computer archives for accuracy. and 2) because creditcard and loan companies are constantly buying and selling old debts to other collection companies. Sometimes one of your PAID debts will show up on a list of accounts sold to a collection company. Even if it's very old paid years ago! Bottom line: you want to keep all account numbers associated with the loan or card, plus proof that it's paid off in full. That would be maximum 3 pieces of paper per account. Keep that forever.- This absolutely! I recently got a phone call from a collection bureau trying to collect a bad debt that wasn't. Fortunately when I paid off the original bill, I had the presence of mind to actually file the paperwork and had proof I paid it off. The collector threatened me and yelled at me, but I had proof from the original company, so there was nothing they could do. This was several years after the fact, too! WTG on tossing stuff!
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Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Mar 15, 2012 16:54:01 GMT -5
We had lots of mortgage papers as the result of refinancing a ouple of tImes. We also paid off our last mortgage bank with an inheiritance . We had the actual "Deed" from the County showing we fully own the house, so we definitely didn't need all those papers. I put them in our backyard barbecue, poured cooking oil over the paper and lit them up. Left it go for hours, watching to make sure the surroundings didn't catch on fire. The next day I buried all the ashes in our garden, it made decent fertilizer.
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Post by oliveoilmom on Mar 15, 2012 16:59:48 GMT -5
I never save our tax records. Then again, ours are very simple to file. I throw them out after we have gotten the refunds. I assume that HR Block would have everything we would need if we were audited. We were audited once before, and it wasn't a big deal. I was pregnant at the time and just sat at the guys desk and answered some questions while he figured. We didn't end up owing anything, we never do. I remember the audit because it was the day that Davey Allison died and it was on the radio and they put it on the building's intercom system and played the live coverage of it the whole time.
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Post by morningglory on Mar 15, 2012 18:22:35 GMT -5
Fluffernut, what a great feeling that must have been!
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Post by ontheway on Mar 15, 2012 18:40:04 GMT -5
Shredding is a hassle for me - very time consuming. First I have to sort the okay to recycle from the have to be shredded stuff. Then, piece by piece feed it into...
Well you know the routine. I have a plastic container full of stuff I have shred. Usually it sits around for months till I get up the motivation and time to do it (it is so mindless).
My friend just told me about that some places offer secure shredding. I checked Office Max supply store, and there is one near by that does it for less than a dollar a pound. I am seriously considering going there - has anyone done so and is it secure?
Last year I my sister emailed a nonprofit or government recycling NYC day flyer that included shredding - you actually see them put ii in this enormous shredder and destroy your documents in from of you. For free. I want to investigate that!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2012 22:27:34 GMT -5
How did it go Morning? I hope you tossed so much you're too exhausted to type!! No really, whatever you managed to get done, give yourself a pat on the back. Big purges are exhausting physically (at least for me), so I hope you're recovering by doing something nice for yourself.
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Post by morningglory on Mar 16, 2012 10:20:15 GMT -5
Wow! I just did the basement pile and IT WAS A LOT HARDER (PSYCHOLOGICALLY) THAN I EXPECTED!I had it on my to-do list for later today, but when I saw Huricane_J's post, asking how I did, it motivated me to just tackle it immediately. I filled up FOUR LAWN & LEAF BAGS. In addition to the clothes, I grabbed a couple of black bags of debris that I had partially filled months and months (probably over a year) ago, and stuffed them into the big bags, too. But at least 3 bags worth were the clothes, which was a lot more volume than I thought it was, just looking at the pile. HERE'S WHAT WAS HARD:I had a *really* hard time keeping to my intention of just bagging the stuff up, like Hurricane advised. I had a very strong impulse to pull out various things that I mentally tag as needed--mostly socks, since we are forever looking for a matched set. I had to remind myself that if we have fewer socks it will be easier to find a pair. Other things I tag as things to keep are jackets, stuffed animals and dolls, and backpacks or other bags. I did throw away several dolls and stuffed animals, even one that had at one time been very loved but is now worn out, stained, and stinky. I found a soft-sided lunchbox in the pile that STILL HAD A PACK OF NUTS AND A BOX OF PRETZELS IN IT! Some of the backpacks were completely threadbare, and much of this pile had been used as a litter box, I discovered. But that didn't keep me from *feeling* like I should try to salvage those things. I was good, though, and tossed them. Another category was stuff that looked to be in really good condition. I thought, even if we don't need them, I really OUGHT to wash them and donate them! I put a few things aside, then went back to them and convinced myself to put them in the bag and forget them, because the cost/benefit balance was not in favor of keeping them or restoring them for others. I have to admit that I was not completely successful. I did put aside: 1) Acrylic baby blanket that my stepmother handed down to me, that she had used with her babies and I used with all six of mine. It is stinky right now, but I think I can wash it out (since it is not an absorbent fabric). 2) A fancy little faux fur jacket for a teddy bear. It is in really good condition and not smelly, so I think I can wash it and donate it. 3) An acrylic zipper-sweater and a fleece jacket that appear to be in good condition and just need a washing. 4) A youth baseball hat with the logo of the league the boys played in when they were small. I have a very hard time letting go of things that have logos relating to things we have participated in. It's one of my weak areas. I did manage to throw out 2 or three t-shirts with camp logos on them, which I usually have a very hard time with. 5) A belt leather belt that can be wiped with disinfectant and used (the boys are forever looking for belts). 6) The plastic container that held the pretzels (it was perfectly fine) and (I am embarrassed to admit) the unopened and perfectly clean package of nuts. 7) Two apparently unused pens from a backpack that I threw away. Items 1-4 I put into a small laundry basket near the machines. They only filled it up about 2/3, and I am planning to deal with it within a couple of weeks or go ahead and toss them at that point. Items 5-7 I think we will definitely use very soon. HOWEVER, I WAS NOT COMPLETELY SUCCESSFUL, because Hurricane was right, it slowed me down to fish through backpacks for pens and examine items of clothing to determine whether they were salvageable, even when I did end up trashing them. More than that, it will cost me time to deal with the items, cleaning them, donating them, etc. Even though it doesn't take long to wipe off a belt or a couple of pens, it doesn't bring me closer to my goal of getting all this freakin' junk out of here. Realistically, the replacement value of those salvaged items (if I bought the clothing from Goodwill, let's say, since these *are* used items) would total under $20, I think. It's not that I would want or can afford to throw away $20, but there is a bigger picture I need to keep in focus--that I need to overcome this huge burden of too much stuff in too big of a mess and I need to overcome the emotionally obstacles that will forever keep me in this kind of situation if I don't. The baby blanket and the baseball cap were for sentimental value, but I'm not even sure they (especially the cap) are that important. If they had gotten ruined somehow, or if I had thrown them out without realizing it, I don't think I would miss the cap at all. I would regret the baby blanket, but I would still have the memory and the photos, I just would miss handing it down to my own grandbabies. Just went into the basement and noticed how much better it looked seeing that open expanse of basement floor where the pile of stinky laundry and partially-bagged up debris were for all those months before today! Awesome feeling.
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Post by puppybox on Mar 16, 2012 10:47:20 GMT -5
yay for awesome feeling.
I know what you mean, sometimes i get that agressive toss feeling and it never goes as fast as i intend it to. but that's ok. sticking with it anyway, when its hard, is the MAIN thing. its like exercise, it'll build up your muscles and then you will be in shape and it'll be easier!
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Post by morningglory on Mar 16, 2012 11:00:29 GMT -5
Thanks, puppybox! You're right about sticking with it!
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Post by sidestep on Mar 16, 2012 11:04:34 GMT -5
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Mar 16, 2012 11:12:50 GMT -5
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Post by morningglory on Mar 16, 2012 11:30:06 GMT -5
THANK YOU, sidestep and Courageously.
Now I have to tackle all those file boxes of taxes. I have cardboard boxes to put them in to haul to the professional shredder, as suggested by ontheway!
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Post by morningglory on Mar 16, 2012 12:02:11 GMT -5
Wow, do I have a long way to go!
I started to work on the tax folders. Opened up the first file box and found files for the 1990s. Opened up the first folder and, first off, found a fax I had sent to my parents letting them know we were expecting our second child. AWWWWW! HAD to save that. Don't know why it was in the tax folder, though!
Then looked at the actual documents and realized that was a year we had major tax problems and I needed to be sure I was saving all the right documentation from it. So I put that back and took another year's folder out. Looked at the tax return, all neatly typed and realized how little we had made that year. The curator/archivist spirit kicked in and I thought how we would want to be able to remember how much we made back then and that the kids would want to have it in the future to realize what our life was like when they were little. It's really pathetic getting sentimental about a tax form, but I did it!
Decided I was not yet ready to tackle the tax folders, so thought I would do a bunch of pre-internet filed information. So I went upstairs to the file cabinet, pulled open a long, STUFFED file drawer and took out a folder I didn't think I would mind pitching--animal welfare information from the 1980s. But when I saw the brochures, magazines, flyers, even a bumper sticker, I had similar feelings. The kids will want to see this. I will want to sit down and browse through it. Even if I end up throwing it away, I want to look through it first.
Put it back and took out another I thought I wouldn't need, because the info is readily available online and in modern books--a folder on pastoral counseling with items from the early 90s. As soon as I opened it, I saw handouts that brought back memories and I knew I'd want to look through this one, too!
Put it back and browsed the other tabs for anything obviously tossable, but nothing seemed possible! Opened my correspondence file drawer, but realized I would have to look through that stuff too, since some letters are special and I'd want to keep them, even though probably 80% to 90% of the stuff in there is just cards with a signature at the bottom, or chatty notes that don't need to be saved!
Shaking my head at the depth of my attachment to stuff I thought I was willing to bag up without caring, I decided that maybe I should stick with clothing for now.
As I said, I have about 7 baskets of clean clothes strewn around my living room, and I am sure that, since no one has bothered to put those things away for weeks and weeks, a large portion of what's there must not be needed at all!
So right now my plan is to attack those baskets over today and tomorrow, using the same ruthlessness that I used on the stinky basement laundry pile (instead of carefully gathering up ancient socks, looking for their mates, etc.).
THEN maybe I can face the file folders on Sunday or Monday.
Will report back about the laundry once I have made some progress.
Thanks for all the encouragement and great suggestions!
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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2012 12:18:46 GMT -5
OMG! OMG!! Morning, YOU DID SO WELL!!!!! Dancing bananas for you!! YOU ROCK!!! OK, now a word about the purging and keeping a few things. You will find that as you go on it gets easier to toss more thoroughly. Purging is so demanding that you'll lose the energy to clean up "saved" objects as the days pass....but more importantly, you will start to see a huge difference in your house and that will inspire you to be even more ruthless (like the feeling you got looking at your clean space this morning). So do not despair! The fact that you purged all that and managed to keep less than 10 items is an astonishing success. You should feel darn proud of yourself. I certainly do! Onwards toward the taxes!! You can do it!!! Just so you know that you are not slaving away alone, I have my own goal for today. Last night I made baby food for Baby Hurricane....I pureed up enough fresh veggies and put them in the freeze to last for about a month. It was exhausting and my body ached so bad afterward that I just left the kitchen a disaster and went to bed. I got up today to see it was worse than I remembered from last night....there's mashed avocado all over the counters, pureed brussel sprouts stuck in the blender, spills of pureed asparagus on the floor. That stuff, when dried, is a total bit*h to get up. Not to mention my house smells like the a$$ end of a donkey from steaming all those green veggies. *sigh* It's going to take me hours to clean it up, but I suppose I should get cracking. I'll be thinking of you sweating away on your tax papers, and it will make it easier for me. Hugs to you Morning, and everyone else here!
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