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How long should I keep my bills?
In general, you don't need to keep bills around for more than a few months.  The exceptions are: anything that was itemized on your federal or state income taxes. You want to keep these around for seven years in case of an audit by the IRS brokerage statements buying/selling stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.  You need to know how much you bought a stock for when you sell it, to calculate capital gains. information relating to major renovations to your house.  This can be used to reduce the gain when you sell. anything relating to a business, again for tax and valuation purposes. When selling a house, the last years worth of utility bills might be useful, to show potential buyers. However, I get almost all of my recurring bills electronically now.  They get saved and backed up.  In that case, its easier to just keep everything than to selectively delete stuff.  It takes very little space, is easier to find things than in paper files, and is much less hassle when moving than boxes full of paper.