What to shred, and how
Paper identity theft hasn't gone away. Shredding anything with personal or account details before it leaves your home closes that door. Here's what to shred, what can go straight into recycling, and how to shred safely, often for free.
Shred
- Anything with your Social Security number, even partly
- Bank, card, loan and investment statements you no longer need
- Pay stubs once they're matched to your W-2
- Pre-approved credit offers and convenience checks
- Medical bills, insurance statements and prescription labels
- Expired IDs, cards and old checks
- Tax papers past their retention period
- Anything with a signature, password or PIN
- Travel itineraries and boarding passes with booking codes
- Envelopes and labels with your name, address and account details
Fine to recycle
- Junk mail without account details (remove the address label)
- Catalogs and magazines
- Store receipts without card numbers, once you won't return the item
- Manuals you can find online
- Plain envelopes and flyers
Not sure? Shred it. And check how long you need something first with our keep-or-shred finder.
How to shred
- At home: a cross-cut or micro-cut shredder is much harder to piece together than a strip-cut one.
- Free community shred days: many cities, credit unions, police departments and senior centers hold free events, often in spring around tax season. Check your local government or credit union website.
- Shredding services: office supply stores and shredding companies offer drop-off by the pound.
- Big clear-outs: save it for a shred day rather than overheating a home shredder.
Stop it arriving in the first place
- Switch statements to paperless where you're comfortable with it.
- Opt out of pre-screened credit offers through the credit bureaus' official opt-out service, OptOutPrescreen.com.
- Reduce other junk mail through the Data and Marketing Association's DMAchoice service.
General information. We're not affiliated with any service mentioned.