Nobody wants to be a victim of identity theft. I have been very fortunate over the years that I have only had a couple incidents where we thought someone may have gotten my personal information and attempted to use it illegally. This has happened with two different credit cards. The bank calls or sends a message asking you to verify yourself and then asks about a specific purchase or a specific dollar amount that was presented for purchase. The financial institutions computer systems know your spending habits - how much you spend, where you spend it, and the types of companies from which you make purchases. I know that sounds kind of scary; like it is an invasion into your privacy, but look at the alternative. What if they did not do that. The likelihood that someone would get your personal information and use it illegally would almost be guaranteed. It does not bother me that my purchases are tracked. I am not engaging in illegal activity, so I do not give it a thought.
To help lower the risk of identity theft even further, I shred everything.
I shred credit card bills, invoices, receipts, coupons (those that I do not use), special sale flyers, anything with my name and address on it. If I want a copy of something, I scan it and then send it to myself as a pdf and file it in an electronic folder on my computer hard drive. The box in the picture above was full of credit card bills, invoices and receipts and other items mentioned above. On a recent Sunday, I went through the box and shredded everything.
I bought this Embassy paper shredder last year. It is a rather heavy-duty paper shredder. It also shreds expired credit cards and cd's.
I particularly like this paper shredder because it finely shreds the paper, thereby making it impossible for a thief to reassemble the documents. The old-fashioned shredders which shredded in long, continuous strips did not do a sufficient job. It was incredibly easy for someone who was willing to spend the time to tape the strips of paper back together into a readable document. Not so with this shredder. You couldn't reassemble these sheets of paper no matter how hard you may try.
I remained steadfast in my determination to get the entire box of documents and receipts shredded on this afternoon and I accomplished that goal in the end. The dried leaf in the lower right corner escaped the shredder and was thrown into the compost pile.
There are document shredding companies who will do the shredding for you. All you need to do is box up what you want shredded and drive it to their location. They weigh the box and then you pay for their services based on the weight. There is a local company in Alexandria, VA that does this and I have used them in the past when the amount of shredding was too enormous for me to justify spending my time doing it at home. The service is very affordable. So this option is available if you do not have a shredder at home or don't have the time or are not inclined to take on the task yourself.
To help lower the risk of identity theft even further, I shred everything.
I shred credit card bills, invoices, receipts, coupons (those that I do not use), special sale flyers, anything with my name and address on it. If I want a copy of something, I scan it and then send it to myself as a pdf and file it in an electronic folder on my computer hard drive. The box in the picture above was full of credit card bills, invoices and receipts and other items mentioned above. On a recent Sunday, I went through the box and shredded everything.
I bought this Embassy paper shredder last year. It is a rather heavy-duty paper shredder. It also shreds expired credit cards and cd's.
I particularly like this paper shredder because it finely shreds the paper, thereby making it impossible for a thief to reassemble the documents. The old-fashioned shredders which shredded in long, continuous strips did not do a sufficient job. It was incredibly easy for someone who was willing to spend the time to tape the strips of paper back together into a readable document. Not so with this shredder. You couldn't reassemble these sheets of paper no matter how hard you may try.
I remained steadfast in my determination to get the entire box of documents and receipts shredded on this afternoon and I accomplished that goal in the end. The dried leaf in the lower right corner escaped the shredder and was thrown into the compost pile.
There are document shredding companies who will do the shredding for you. All you need to do is box up what you want shredded and drive it to their location. They weigh the box and then you pay for their services based on the weight. There is a local company in Alexandria, VA that does this and I have used them in the past when the amount of shredding was too enormous for me to justify spending my time doing it at home. The service is very affordable. So this option is available if you do not have a shredder at home or don't have the time or are not inclined to take on the task yourself.
