I also saved every single letter I received since I went to Europe the summer after I graduated from high school. My 50th HS reunion is a distant memory now - that adds up to a lot of years and a lot of letters. I do know why I saved them: what if someone I knew became famous and I'd thrown out a missive?
As Queen T pointed out, pointedly and with oomph, if they aren't famous already there doesn't seem to be much hope left..... we are old. My electric bill from a house we sold in 1997 is also irrelevant, as are its neighbors in the box.
Disposal is needed. Tossing all that information into the recycling seemed foolish, even to me.
I need a shredding event. There was one in a neighboring town on December 26th; we were not ready for it. Now, with my garage neat and tidy, there is a line of boxes down the middle, waiting to be destroyed. I could buy a shredder and do it myself, but even in the 12 page machines it would take hours days weeks more time than I feel like spending over whirring blades.
Big Cuter is on the hunt. He knows I don't want to pay $200 for a mobile shredding unit to come to my house so I can watch them do the deed. Living in unincorporated Pima County makes finding a site that will let me through the gate a bit more challenging. City run sites require an id to prove that you are paying taxes for the service. There's a county Transfer Station nearby; he'll call and see what the rules are.
Meanwhile, I'm examining home shredders so that I don't get into this situation again. It would be pretty hostile to have my heirs deal with this once more.
We do have a small home shredder that we use for statements that have medical or financial information. I keep utility bills along with any tax information for seven years. Then we rotate, new in, old out and we burn the old file in the fireplace. It's not that much. Most of our mail is recycled right away. We also do a lot of our business paperless.
ReplyDeleteThese are from before it was possible to be paperless. We don't have a real fireplace. Sigh.
Deletea/b
I am paperless as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteI was paperless when it became possible, then PNC bank made that a living hell, so I'm back to paper until I get reorganized. These are bill from waaaaay back!
Deletea/b
I mean. You can always go the fun way and have a "Watch your stressors turn to ash" marshmallow roast. You can paper-machie into the fun animal of your choice for best stress relief. . .
ReplyDeleteYou need a real bbq (not a gas grill) or a metal garbage can (ours are plastic and metal ones are unobtainable in Tucson) and live in an area not prone to random fires.
DeleteHowever, paper machie sounds like a great idea!! Wish you and your dad were here to help!
a/b (aka Ant Suzi)