My life has been a lie....and paper work questions!

[divegirl]

Morning all :0)

I have just been re-united with my long lost birth certificate and discovered I am not who I thought I was, well I am, just born somewhere different!

Question one...I have always put my place of birth as place A [which is just down the road from place B].

Question two...I am in the final stages of getting a new passport....should I change it to place B or will I be accused of not being me and trying to wreck the Olympics [joking].

Question three...How long do you keep your paper work for? Do I really need bills,bank statements and council tax blah blah blah from 2009?

I thought of keeping all from 2011 onwards?

Lisa x

[jno]

I keep mine for two years, just to keep an eye on direct debits and other recurring payments (eg "what did the AA charge me last year?") And I once got myself a big raise when I discovered I'd been underpaid one year and it had affected all subsequent years' raises. The company didn't have records going back 15 years - but I did!

But actually most stuff like that is online these days, so I probably don't really need it.

I wouldn't bother about birthplaces, except for the sake of consistency (eg don't say on a visa application one year you were born in Liverpool and next year tell the same country you were born in Manchester, because they'll get suspicious).

[Maydup]

Wow, how stange it must feel to be a "B- ian" instead of an "A-ist"!
I woudl change the entry of the Poassport if its appropriate but not make a deal of it. Its the nationality which is most important.

Regarding statements, bills etc. I check mine, pay the bills and shred as I go. I keep insurance policies obviously but I try to shred last years once I have all the paperwork for this year's. I agree with you that keeping 2011 is a good idea and once 2012 is up you can shred 2011. Never holding too much that way.

[joggerjayne]

Do you have a scanner?

(most printetrs include a scanner now)

Paperwork ... scan it, and bin it.

[jno]

oh, and I always keep receipts for expensive items, just in case I need to prove it for the purpose of getting repairs under guarantee etc.

[divegirl]

Thank you for your answers.

Am a little gutted as to my birthplace....Place B is really chavvy now lol, though it wasn't back in the day ;0) I'll leave it as it was though.

I think I'll go for the two year rule then. I doubt I'll find any 'lost money' but so far this week I have saved myself around £300 pa by 'Spring cleaning' my out goings....utilities etc.

Am feeling rather cleansed!

[mccfluff]

i have boxes of paperwork going back years, probably 1999 when i moved into my current abode

i must have a clear out

[divegirl]

Sounds a little like myself mccfluff....but as I type my abode is becoming one hell less fire risk in the road lol....

Lisa x

[EcclesCake]

When my mother died I discovered she was a year younger than I thought and I'd spent my entire life spelling her middle name wrong!

With the exception of tax related stuff I bin everything more than a year old.

[rowanwitch]

financial summaries like p60s and account interest statements 7 years bank statements 12 months bills 12 months renewable qualifications most recent, tv licence most recent. jokes/funnies forever

[gness]

When my father died I was helping my mother with paperwork and discovered she was born in April,not November as we all thought. Her christian name was B******** not A******* and she had altered her marriage certificate herself to make me legitimate! Annoyingly she was still my mother.

[McMouse]

When we came to register the death of late mother-in-law we found that her first name shown on her birth certificate was different to he marriage cert and different again to her passport. Registrar said it was quite common!

[jno]

my grandma was named Helen... until she got her birth certificate and found she was Ellen; her father dropped his Hs. And she'd always hated Ellen, too.

[gness]

McM. Maybe your MIL and my Ma were spies.

[divegirl]

Good to hear that I'm not alone!

And Rowan I agree with the funnies and bits, have found some classic notes,letters and cards hiding in with the bills.

Nearly all done now aside from stuff from the last few weeks/months. I've just registered self-employed hence the clear out.... Bought a new mini filing cabinet and now have nothing to go in it lol.

Lisa xxx

[paddywak]

It's a long time since I got my first Passport, but didn't you have to send a copy of your Birth Certificate with the original application? If so they'll already know proper birth place.

[dinki]

My great aunt had been celebrating her birthday on the wrong day, some mix up with the date of birth and date it was reported, everyone just stuck to the old date it was easier, well the queen has two doesn't she.

[divegirl]

Good point paddywak.... Good to know they have a good look at it!!!!

[carolegif]

I'm glad it's not only my family! my grandmother and great grandmother both lied about their ages as they married younger men, then I found out that my parents married twice! Once in April before my father went to France (no-one knew, they went in off the street), then had a big white wedding in October!