Make it easier by doing this

Everyone loves a new home, but no one enjoys the process! Especially packing up everything you own into boxes and having to load and unload, then unpack it all. But when it comes to many of your household papers, personal documents, and records, there’s one step you can take to make your move easier –take a look.

To pack or not to pack?

Besides all your necessities, the first thing you should do is take a look at all the paperwork and documents that you are planning on keeping. Some of them can be scanned and shredded, reducing the amount of boxes you’ll be loading onto the truck and having to unpack. Here are some documents that you don’t have to keep hard copies of—and once you scan them you can shred them, reducing your moving workload.

• Old tax returns (anything over seven years—but you can also shred those over a year)
• Medical records
• Bank statements (over a year-old)
• Credit card statements (over a year-old)
• Utility bills
• Medical bills (keep for a year after payment)
• Pay stubs (over a year-old)
• Receipts (for items that have been paid off –keep for a year after payment)
• Insurance statements (keep only most recent copy)
• Social security statements (keep only most recent copy)
• Investment statements (keep only most recent copy)
• Retirement plan statements (keep only most recent copy)

What to keep forever

Once you’ve scanned all the above documents, you’ll find your load much lighter when it comes to packing up your personal documents. Of course, there are certain papers that you’ll need to keep forever, although you should definitely scan them and keep them on a thumb drive in the event that they get lost, damaged or stolen. But you should keep and protect the hard-copy of the following documents:

• Social security cards
• Birth certificates
• Death certificates
• Pension plan paperwork
• Marriage license
• Business license
• Vehicle titles
• Mortgage documents and deeds
• Loan documents
• Wills, trusts, living wills and estate planning documents
• Powers of attorney
• ID cards and passports

Moving is one of the most grueling and tedious processes and to make it easier, take the time to gather up those documents that don’t need to move with you. Once you’ve scanned them in, place them in a box and give All Points Mobile Shredding a call. Our state-of-the-art shredding truck with come to your home and securely shred all unneeded paperwork. Then, we’ll provide you with a certificate of destruction to ensure you that your documents have been permanently destroyed. For your convenience, we also offer several drop-off sites where you can bring your boxed up documents. To find our more or to schedule your shred, call us today at 800.696.8483 or fill out our quote request form.