HELP! Desparate! What should 70 year young widower pick to throw out in a major home cleanup?

Question

I am truly overwhelmed! 1000s of pages/files - unsorted bills and account statements go back twenty years. Do I need to keep all IRA statements for tax purposes? Can I risk just shredding mail w/o opening if it is 0 to 10 years old? Same with all those insurance letters from Medicare and Blue Cross? What about: Memorabilia that I have not looked at in O to 50 years? Old mortgages, GI and VA records, college records and papers, computer discs, hundred of magazines, articles, books, videos? Compute parts, cables, discs? Must I sort magazines and books so I can give them to a library or is it OK to send them to recycle? Throw books away instead of selling or donating?
I have a huge problem. I have not opened much of my mail in five years and have a half dozen unread subscription mags too that are piled up. Lots of other things too, but the paper is the worst and not getting better. I have read dozens books on organizing and gotten advice, but it is not helping. My life is a MESS!

Answer 1

Hi don't worry you can sort this out. I know someone dearly who reminds me of you. He had not opened some of his mail for years, he just looked at the return addresses on the envelopes and thought that some of it was junk (insurance stuff etc) so didn't open it. However things came to a head one day and I offered to take this paperwork off him and work through it. To my surprise there were some uncashed cheques there from nearly 10 years ago amounting to over £1000. I was gobsmacked! I contacted the co's who sent the cheques and luckily got them re-issued and made sure they went into his account. There were also letters there regarding council action that may be taken to his house (as the garden was a bit of mess too) which could have resulted in compulsory purchase and he would have lost everything. Procrastination is one of the worst faults and you must sort it out NOW!! Ask yourself - do you really need all these magazines and books? Probably not, especially if you don't have time to read them no matter how you think you would enjoy the subject matter, so then just throw them out. Do it, don't worry about giving them to charity or selling them, because that is just another worry for you, which you don't need!!. All these things and this mess that you're in is a drain on your life - your life is the most important thing and your peace of mind so just throw them out - don't think twice just do it. Regarding other paperwork such as insurance etc, first of all file it all in a ring binder under each item and in date order. Then once organised decide if you really still need to keep the ones from ten years ago cos you probably don't, even your pension statements etc you should only need the most recent ones cos these are the ones that are currently valid. You would only need to keep old ones if you have a dispute with the company over something.
Regards the old computer parts, cables and discs etc then again if you are not using them now or have not used them in the last year then throw them out - why clutter up your life like this. Plus technology moves on so quick that they're probably obselete anyway now and the equipment they fit is outdated. I don't know what you're discs are but if they are music CD's then you may wish to keep some of them only if you like the music otherwise you could upload them onto your computer and keep them on there instead.
Regards your account statements from 20 years ago you don't need to keep these. I would recommend only keep for the past 5 years only. However, a really good option for you to give you peace of mind in this issue is that you get a scanner for your computer if you don't already have one. Then you can scan these statements and bills onto your PC for your peace of mind and they will always be there if you need them but won't be piles of papers everywhere. A scanner can cost only £30 and is worth it if this is a worry to you.
Good luck to you and please start to sort this mess out today, even if you just dedicate 1 hour a day to it then you will get your life sorted out and feel liberated rather than chained to all this paperwork and possessions.

Answer 2

Tax-related records should be kept for seven years. In an audit, the IRS will look at your last three years worth of returns, but if they find anything suspicious, they can go back seven years.

Anything related to the purchase of an asset (house, stocks, mutual funds, CDs) needs to be kept at least as long as you own the asset (I'd keep these forever, just to be sure).

Magazines - recycle
Books - donate to the library
Videos - (if they are copyrighted) can be donated to the library, otherwise, toss
Computer parts - with the exception of hard drives (unless you are absolutely certain they have been completely erased) can be donated to Goodwill or any other computer reclaim center.

Depends on the memorobilia - family photos? your choice to keep or toss. Old movie posters, signed books, etc.? Check online to see if there's any value (eBay is a good place to start). Old toys? Again, check online to see if there is a market for them (you'd be surprised!)

Remember, this mess wasn't created overnight and it's not going to disappear overnight. Set aside some time every day (15 minutes to an hour, your choice, but no longer than an hour), set a timer and work for just that long. When the timer goes off, walk away until tomorrow. Within a week you'll notice progress and within a month, your stacks will be almost gone. Also, promise yourself to deal with items (mail) as they came in - either file or toss, don't set it aside to deal with it later.

Answer 3

You are going to have to look at everything before you throw it out or decide to keep it.Any Memorabilia can be looked up on the Internet and eBay.Something might be worth some money even old books and magazines.It's pretty easy to do.If you need help just ask on here.Someone will know what something is worth.All important paper should be kept for at least 10 years.Junk mail can be tossed out.If you do just a little at a time it will get done.Sometimes a big job like that seems over whelming. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Tax statements only need to be kept for 5 years. Anything prior to that, shred or burn. If you haven't used it in the past year, or can't remember what it is..yard sale. If you want to do it the easy way. stack all unwanted item in boxes and bags, and donate then to the Salvation Army and use the donation as a tax writeoff. As far as al th old paperwork, keep your DD214, and get rid of the rest. If you don't need it or use it, why have it around it it's cluttering up your life?

Answer 5

1) Ebay
2) Shred the financials
3) Old magazines aren't worth anything, recycle them