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This isn't an IVA question....but I wondered what everyone else does with regards to keeping bills/statements/letters etc?

I have kept everything through out my adult life, now 15 years later its starting to mount up. Everything is kept in an individual file per year! Its kept in good order but I struggle to fit this years file in the cupboard!


I know in business you have to keep records for a certain period and I'm sure there isn't any legal complications with private papers.

~Just curious to know what everyone else does!

Thanks

Hi Ruby -

I never used to keep much in the way of documents before I started my IVA - except payslips and tax papers. Now I keep just about everything and will keep doing so until I - hopefully - one day receive my Certificate of Completion!! Better safe than sorry - you never know when something might be queried and you need to look something up or produce a document.

Hi ruby I keep receipts for things in a box and like you have files for the rest. I have to say when the iva went through i got rid of all the old statements, but probably daft as if I needed to go bankrupt I might need them. In the iva I keep everything, file for bank statements, file for householed debits, file for insurances and one for wage slips. It makes it easy at review ity took me 5 mins to get what I neweeded out and post it and they were all in order.. I do a spread sheet as well, very basic but I put down all the wages our income allowance and the overtime we pay each month I also add any expenditure rises at the time they happen.
I do have 27 years worth of wage slips in the loft, I dont think you need to keep more than five years worth of anything, but before the iva I did keep all of it.

Ang

Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

Thank you for your replies.

I wonder what the experts would suggest....how far back should we keep things?

thanks

Ruby

Three years should be more than adequate if you are not self-employed. If you are then you will need to keep six for tax purposes.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Thanks Melanie,

I've got a brand new shredder still in the box in my wardrobe. I've had it for a year now!

I will start shredding.....might get it finished by Christmas!

Cheers,

Ruby

Melanie,

Can I just say that you are an amazing woman!

You obviously work so very hard in your profession. I have been lurking about and posting on this forum for a few months now and everyday you come on here and offer your advice to total strangers...... And not just those that ask questions, I look at how many people read the topics on here and they are often in the hundreds.

I, and i'm sure many people would agree that you should be acknowledged for your services that you offer freely to those in need.

YOU really do make a things easier for those of us who are struggling with debts. Today, in particular, there has been many questions asked on the forum and most of them you have replied on. Its nearly midnight and your still here......Well done and thankyou

Ruby

Thanks to all the other posters too!

Thanks for those kind words Ruby.

To be honest I am churning a few annual reports out this evening, so anything to break up the monotomy! Hubby never lets me near the remote either (he is a big Sci-Fi fan, and I am more your Corrie lover) so I have to find something to keep me occupied!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

A hubby,a house,a demanding job,and a website to run.....!!!..Im coming back as a woman next time round..so I can multitask too!! ;o) (bored of being a man who can only do one thing at once!!) (

Its not all Good being a woman jpj! You would soon get fed up of 'multi-tasking' ......maybe 'Super-Hero' would be a better description!

Ruby,
(who would like to come back as a pampered Cat!)