The Paper Our Parents Keep

My folks kept, as reported here some years ago, every single receipt back to 1973 for everything they bought at the drug, grocery and liquor store. WTF? They (Dad) also shamelessly wrote off every single stamp, envelope, airline ticket, and tank of gas bought on the mainland post 1979. This is probably why they were audited at the rate they were! So, they kept all the paper, in boxes in the upper barn, for tax purposes.

Since getting home, this evening we’ve been sorting through the paper that came out of my MIL’s safety deposit box. Short description… Receipts (close to a 1000, so far) they thought would be useful in case the house burnt down. Like clothing, small (and large) kitchen appliances, camping gear, small electronic items (palm pilot!) going back to the early 80’s 😳. What I find so bemusing about this is that should the house have burnt down, the insurance company would have depreciated all these expenses for 37-year old linen dresses, software, and the like.

On the other hand, there were important items. The decommissioning certificate of an oil tank on buried on the property, estate docs, the car title, etc.

This just makes me even more dedicated to chuck paper that is meaningless.