"When do you throw away old important papers and computer files?"
I'm going through spindles of old CD-Rs and boxes of old files - and I'm at the point where I think I'm just going to throw a lot of it away.
Do I need a hard drive backup of a 68K Macintosh from 1998? Do I need a backup of my Google Play account? Do I need discharge paperwork for a surgery I had in 2003? Do I need my taxes from 1996? Do I need veterinarian paperwork for my cat from 10 years ago? Do I need copies of receipts for a bathroom remodel from 2012?
Do I take photos of it on my phone (like scanning it) and then just keep the photos?
Do I just toss it and never look back?
I'm thinking of tossing anything older than 5 year, except taxes and anything I have a warranty on.
Dj Joey Joe Member since Sep 01st 2007 13770 posts
Sun Jun-28-20 03:14 PM
1. "Last Month I Found A Stash Of Pay Stubs From 1996 To 2005" In response to Reply # 0
I don't know why I saved all of them, I know I'm sort of a pack rat, but I remember people always saying don't throw away your pay/check stubs cause it usually have your personal info like social security number & etc. on it.
I should've ripped them up to shreds and threw them away but I guess I just kept on saying yeah I need to throw these away and but kept on adding on to the pile all those years; I should burn them all.
--------- "We in here talking about later career Prince records & your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak
and being a Google One subscriber just makes it harder for me to kick that habit. like, I have old high school essays from 20+ years ago that I copied from old 3 1/2 floppy disks. never gonna need that ever, yet here I am
------- "A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled, and less than that no man shall have." - TR
6. "Man I would pay good money for a copies of my college essays. " In response to Reply # 3
I just want to see if I knew what I was doing then.
In fact, I wrote a short story in high school about a society that was split up and zoned based on your health that I would love to re-read now because of covid.
Some times being a pack rat pays off.
********** "Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson
5. "I keep everything related to property ownership, other stuff..." In response to Reply # 0
...I toss into a cardboard box and shred after a year or so if I haven't needed it. Junk mail gets tossed right into recycling. Messy system tho. Alway end up having to go through to box again anyway because I gotta double check before I shred.
Gonna try shredding "important" stuff every week (vs. every year).
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