It's tax season. A lot of people combine file cabinet clean-out with tax preparation. If you are one of those people, or if you need an excuse to clean out your files, I have good news: the days of free shred events are upon us.Before we jump to where you can get your papers shredded for free, let's talk about what to shred. There are three guiding principles that I follow for shredding:
- If the information can be used to steal from me or it can be used to steal my identity, then shredding is a must.
- If the information is confidential, then shredding is a must.
- When in doubt, shred.
Examples of information that is covered by the second principle are old medical records, old phone lists, old legal papers, transcripts, resumes, and anything that would embarrass me if someone else found it.
Typically, I don't feel the need to shred anything that can be easily obtained by the public. For instance, I don't shred the address labels on my magazines or non-financial junk mail (I do shred the credit card offers).
I collect items to shred in cardboard boxes. Printer paper and banker's boxes are the right size for easy handling and I can just leave them with the shredder.
Grab your calendar and record the upcoming free shred days. Usually shredding is limited to one box, but sometimes you can shred up to three boxes.
04/06/13 9 AM - noon Scott Credit Union at 1100 Beltline Road in Collinsville, IL
04/06/13 8:30 AM - 1 PM Eagle Bank at 1052 Kirkwood Road in Kirkwood, MO
04/13/13 9 AM - noon First Community Credit Union at 4566 Lemay Ferry in St. Louis, MO
04/13/13 9 AM - noon First Community Credit Union at 2651 Old Muegge Road in St. Charles, MO
04/13/13 9 AM - noon First Community Credit Union at 801 Lincoln in Fairview Heights, IL
04/13/13 9 AM - noon First Community Credit Union at 17151 Chesterfield Airport Road in Chesterfield, MO
04/20/13 9 AM - noon Ameriprise Financial at 825 Maryville Center Dr in Creve Coeur, MO
04/20/13 9 AM - noon Coldwell Banker Gundaker at 6235 Mid-Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters, MO
04/20/13 9 AM - noon St. Vincent Community Center at 7335 St. Charles Rock Road in St. Louis, MO
04/20/13 8 AM - noon Galleria parking lot (BBB event) in Richmond Heights, MO
04/27/13 9 AM - noon Vantage Credit Union at 4020 Fee Fee Road in Bridgeton, MO
04/27/13 10 AM - 1 PM Neighbors Credit Union at 6300 Lindbergh Blvd. in St. Louis, MO
04/27/13 9 AM - noon West Community Credit Union at 2345 S. Brentwood Blvd. in Brentwood, MO
05/04/13 9 AM - noon American Eagle Credit Union at 1075 N. US Highway 67 in Florissant, MO
05/04/13 9 AM - noon American Eagle Credit Union at 3805 Union in St. Louis, MO
05/04/13 9 AM - noon American Eagle Credit Union at 2175 Barrett Station Road in Des Peres, MO
05/04/13 9 AM - noon American Eagle Credit Union at 1334 Jeffco Blvd. in Arnold, MO
05/04/13 9 AM - noon Eagle Credit Union at 3944 Vogel Rd in Arnold, MO
2 comments:
It’s great that there’s a growing number of companies that offer free shredding days, especially around tax season, where paperwork that I probably won’t need or use again just piles up in the office or at home. And yes, not everything needs to be shredded. Some of those papers could just go directly to the recycling bin, or maybe for wrapping if they’re big enough.
Ruby Badcoe
I agree with you Ruby, it is great that there are free shred days. I hope more people take advantage of them.
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