In the form of a kind of checklist, because I swear I will forget otherwise. The "how long to keep what" is embedded within.
Daily:
- don't spend money you don't need to spend
- don't spend money you don't need to spend
- don't spend money you don't need to spend
- basically, yeah. Save money.
- One book said you could toss phone bills, utility bills, and grocery receipts as soon as they were paid.
Monthly:
- Check your balance statements with your receipts and records
- Put extra Fun Money into Next Big Thing fund
- Toss canceled checks over a year old
- Toss credit card statements and receipts over a year old, unless you need them for taxes, insurance, or a warranty
- Toss bank statements over 3 years old
- Make (read: relabel) new folders as appropriate for upcoming month
Annually:
- Rebalance your investments
- Other stuff I'm sure I should think of here but am not thinking of right now
Stuff to keep forever (yes, in folders! more folders! a lot of them!):
- birth cert
- college transcripts
- credit card agreement (as long as you have the card)
- diplomas
- insurance policies
- loan agreements, if you have any
- home inventory
- passport (current)
- receipts for major purchases (you get to define "major")
- social security
- retirement plan docs
- tax returns, forms, and docs (can toss receipts in 3 yeras)
- warranties (as long as they last)
- work performance reviews, memos on job performance
- year end pay stubs & bonus statements
- year end transaction statements from mutual fund companies
- your immortal soul (putting it down as collateral for a loan is generally considered to be Not A Good Idea)