Following New Year Resolutions - Organizing Important Papers

Sorry for the long time in between posts. A lot of upheaval and changes pushed many things aside for awhile.

When the new year begins, most people think about their resolutions. Lose weight, get healthy, maybe even get organized. By this time, most of those are probably already forgotten. But one thing that can be done any time of the year can help with staying on top of your budget and be really useful during the tax time is organizing important documents and throwing away unnecessary things.

There are several varying ideas on how long you should keep important papers such as back statements and tax returns. Some things you obviously never throw away, like birth certificates, social security cards, military service records, and divorce papers (if applicable). Through research, I've come up with my personal plan for keeping track of other documents.

Things to keep until sold:
Vehicle titles
Service contracts and warranties
Home purchase and improvement records
Receipts for large purchases

Things to keep until updated:
Loan agreements
Insurance
Credit card account numbers
Contracts

Things to keep for one year:
Paycheck stubs
Bills

Things to keep for 7 years:
Credit card statements
Tax returns

I'm going to clear out a lot of things I've been hanging on to without having a good reason to do so. It should reduce my paper stack significantly.