Document Hoarder

Today, with Tropical Storm Debby keeping most of us in Florida indoors, turned out to be the best day for me to finally do something I’ve been putting off for 2 ½ years. Filing and shredding.

I don’t know about you, but I seem to be a document hoarder. I’ve switched to electronic statements in several cases, but truthfully, I’m not thrilled about it since it frightens me to be totally dependent on my WiFi, my computer, and my website access to several of the important companies and services I utilize. I’m just not comfortable having my life completely controlled electronically. Like, send me my auto insurance card, please, so I don’t have to print it. Like, send me my health insurance cards so I don’t have to print them. Like, I’m paying you enough money for you to send me the good, old-fashioned plastic cards of the past instead of me printing flimsy versions that curl in my wallet.

And in a hurricane situation, where we are likely to lose power (as we have discovered in the past), it’s not so easy hopping online to do our transactions. We’re lucky if we can even send a text or make a phone call.

So, I put on the Olympics and proceeded to go through a rather large pile of paperwork, shredding most and filing the rest. I never used to shred and laughed at my mother when she did, but she was right, which is sooooo difficult for me to admit. With identity theft so rampant, you have to protect yourself in every way possible. Naturally, I didn’t manage to transfer the little paper dots completely into a garbage bag without some sort of mess, but that’s all part of the expected ritual.

My feeling of accomplishment is huge today as I finally cross this off my To-Do List. And the day is still young. Let’s see what else I can do because I’m on a roll, baby.