How long should I keep household bills?  Some of them should be kept for up to 10 years

How long should I keep household bills? Some of them should be kept for up to 10 years

Each of us should have a small home archive where the most important bills and documents are stored. Some may come in handy when you least expect it, and we are obliged by law to collect others. Which documents can be thrown away immediately and which must stay with us for the rest of our lives?

Archiving documents can be quite a challenge. Especially if we don’t know which ones we should keep and which ones we could have gotten rid of a long time ago. Check what documents you need to have at home, even for the rest of your life, and which ones can be safely disposed of.

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How long should I keep household bills and receipts? The deadline matters

for gas, water and electricity, as well as proof of payment, we should keep in the home archive for 3 years to be able to settle the matter in case of problems. After this time, the documents expire, so there is no need to collect them for longer than 3 years. The situation is slightly different with receipts. We can throw away most of them immediately after shopping, but it is not always worth doing so. In the case of clothing, shoes, electronics and household appliances, it is worth receiving receipts or invoices for 2 years. During this time, the warranty applies. However, if we have purchased an additional warranty, both the documents confirming it and the receipt or invoice after purchase should be kept in the home archive until the end of the warranty period.

How long do you have to keep documents at home? Some we should have throughout our lives

However, there are documents that we should collect for much longer. This refers primarily to those that constitute the basis for settlement. We must store them for at least 5 years. In most cases, such a deadline is sufficient, and exceptions result from specific circumstances that do not apply to all persons. Thanks to this, in 2023 we can get rid of documents whose payment deadline was in 2017. We are talking about a document such as PIT for 2016. However, it is worth knowing that there are certificates that must be collected for at least 10 years, and this applies to confirmation of loan repayment. However, contracts regarding the purchase of real estate, property separation and donations must be kept in the home archive throughout our lives.

Source: Gazeta

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