I was doing some re-organizing today and it came to mind how I have folders worth of items such as old credit card statements. It became a habit for me before to archive it all so that I can easily have access to them if I needed to review my financial spending habits. Nowadays all the bills are paper less and so the archive only lasts as long as the bank is willing to store it. It made wonder, do you keep your old bill statements as a way to review your financial habits?
I know a lot of people would just throw it away or suggest that you shred it once you don’t need it. That is for privacy issues of course. The more I thought about it a lot of people that I know who manage money very well tend to keep records and archive of bills and statements as well. In many ways, I don’t feel it’s having the information in general that can help you. Instead, it’s more about the habit of treating your expenses with a certain level of attention where for the most part you should understand exactly how much and where your money is going to.
People often only do this when they are already in some kind of financial trouble. By then it is kind of too late. Make it a habit as opposed to a task and you should always be on top of all your finances.