Document Retention Guidelines

Here's something that actually is useful from Martha's magazine. Now that taxes are done, it was time for me to get in the basement and do about 6 months of filing. What a wonderful way to spend a sunny 50 degree Sunday afternoon-right? Anyway, here's what Martha says about storing of important papers.

Auto Records - While active / Six years: keep auto records for as long as you own the vehicle. Hold on to sales transaction data for six years after the car is sold.

Insurance Policies - While active: after you receive the updated policy, shred the old one.

Warranties & Contracts - While active: toss them as soon as they expire

Paid Bills - While active: after you receive a cancelled check or credit card/bank statement, most bills and receipts can be shredded. For insured purchases, keep paperwork as long as you own the item. I think paid bills should be kept 1 year, but Martha does not agree.

Paycheck stubs – While active: hold onto these until you’ve checked that the W2 from your employer is correct.

Quarterly Investment Records – One year: after you confirm your annual statement accurately reflects your quarterlies, shred the latter.

Credit Card & Bank Statements – Seven years: these can serve as proof if you file an insurance claim and as a backup for tax documentation.

Receipts and Documents for tax-deductible purchases – Indefinitely: The IRS can go back at least three years if good faith errors are suspected, and indefinitely if it believes you have underreported your income by more than 25 percent.

Tax Returns – Indefinitely: These are useful references for checking income or medical claims from a particular year.

House Related Records – Indefinitely: save documents pertaining to closings, deeds, assessments, and home-improvement expenses.

Most IRA Contributions – Indefinitely: keep these in case you need to prove that you already paid taxes on this income.

Annual Investment Statements – Indefinitely: retain these until you sell the securities. Keep the record of that transaction indefinitely.

Babysitting

I babysat for Dylan last night. Laura works weekend nights at the hospital, two 12 hours shifts starting at 7pm each. Since Jeff works on Saturdays, whenever Laura is on for Friday night, I'm going to watch D Man. Yesterday was the first time as Laura's only been back to work for 2 weeks. I got there around 7:30 and Jeff & Dylan were just hanging out. He doesn't like to eat from the bottle too much, so Laura fed him before she left for work. He cried a little from 9-9:30, but only when I sat down. If I was up and moving around - he was fine. I gave him his bottle around 9:45 and he only ate an ounce or two. I put him down for what I thought would be bedtime. However, he had different plans. He just laid there until 12:30 AM just smiling - wide awake! I was exhausted! Around 3:30 AM Jeff got up for work. Dylan slept until 5 am when he woke up for his bottle. Laura came home at 7:30 and fed him. He slept with her downstairs until around 10 am when I made her go upstairs and sleep by herself. We had a great time playing and singing and dancing. I stayed until around 4 pm. Around 6pm, Laura, Jeff & Dylan came over for dinner with Ray & Marie. I rocked Dylan for his evening nap while Laura was cutting Marie's hair. I'm exhausted and off to bed. Laura's working again tomorrow night, but Jeff is off on Mondays so he watches Dylan Sunday nights.

Marie and I

I am so lucky to have skipped the first grade so we could grow up together. Here's a pic from Dylan's baptism. Her hair is way shorter now! Laura came over tonight and cut it. She put it in a pony tail and cut 9 inches off to donate to a cancer charity that makes wigs. Check our her mom's blog for more details and pics click here

Bald Blarney

We took Blarney to the groomer's again tonight. His neck was getting matted down and we couldn't brush them out. I finally figured out that his bandanas and collar were one of the reasons for the neck matting too. He hates being brushed, and I am not strong enough to hold him down. The groomer gave me several suggestions so once his hair starts growing back, I will give it another try. He'll be one year old next month, so hopefully his training will pay off and I will be able to brush him. I would much prefer his hair long than short. His legs look so skinny!

Glove Compartment

I love Martha Stewart! I get several of her magazines and subscribe to several of her email lists - and love them all too. Even though over half doesn’t apply to me, I try to read it because you never know when I might find something useful down the road. I wanted to share something with everyone from the Q&A section.

Reader’s Q: What’s the best way to store my leather gloves?

Martha’s A: Don’t make the mistake I made. I wrapped some beautiful leather gloves in red tissue paper and the color rubbed off on them. So, I recommend that you wrap your gloves only in white, acid-free tissue paper, and keep them in a dry, dark drawer apart from brightly colored items. Even other colored gloves can leave stains on lighter cones.

Silly me – I always store my gloves in the pocket my winter coat in the back of my closet!

Countdown to Bon Jovi

For my 30th birthday, Marie got us tickets to a Bon Jovi concert in Pittsburgh. I don't recall when we realized that we could see them twice in one year if we drove to a different city – but it’s been kind of a tradition ever since. However, in 2006 we decided that if we got tickets through a ticket broker we could get really good seats for the same price if we had seen them in two different cities. So, off to Pittsburgh (by the way, did I mention there is a huge outlet mall on the way to Pittsburgh-perhaps that’s another reason we venture out that way) we went. We got tickets in something called “THE PIT” We weren’t really sure how that would work, but it was the best thing ever!! We got there probably 5 hours before the show even began and we were no way close to first in line. They opened up the stadium and it was a mad rush to get as close to the front as we could. A few years ago, Marie and I figured out that Richie Sambora is always to Jon’s right. So, we always make sure to get tickets on the “Richie side” This way, we can see him and Jon better than the bass player and keyboard player. Who knew that going to a concert was so involved-right? Well, Marie and I were probably 5 people back, but we got our spot on the floor strategically placed halfway between where we knew Richie and Jon would be standing. We got some awesome pictures too! What a day to remember! I will keep you posted after the Ides of March concert.

GREEN!!!!!

So I was outside with the dog this morning and look what I found!!! Right next to my house, under our roof overhang - my Hyacinth popping up through the mulch!!!!! Proof that Spring is on it's way!!

Okay - and here's what our backyard looks like. I think all the snow is supposed to melt today because it is 58 degrees outside right now. However, it's supposed to snow Tuesday through Friday. I hope my little hyacinth continues to grow!

Sunday

We had a great time at Mark's mom's this afternoon. I tried really hard with my old camera to get a good shot of Aidan, but he just moves too fast! However, I did get a video of him putting on some adult shoes. My favorite part is when he taps it to make sure it's on tight. He is at such a wonderful age now - he'll be two next month. I keep asking him how old he'll be, because I know he can count to three. He hasn't answered me yet though. He also sings parts of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We also celebrated Melissa's birthday with chicken marsala and mashed potatoes that Carol made. I made a chocolate cake and peanut butter cookies with Reeses peanut butter cups in them. Poor pregnant Melissa is sick and thinks she might have the flu. She didn't get to eat her chicken marsala.

After we left Carol’s, we went to my friend Crystal’s house. We had a lottery on Friday for a parking spot in our office garage. Crystal was on vacation on Friday, but won the lottery for next week. Since we still have so much snow on the ground, I wanted to drop the garage door opener off at her house so she could pull in on Monday. Plus, she is pregnant too, and she’s also got bad head cold too, so I wanted to keep her out of the cold. It had also been quite a long time since I had seen Peyton. He wasn’t even walking-it had been so long. Peyton is about 5 months younger than Aidan is, and he’s at a great age too. He is so playful, he loves his toys and his books. He brings them to you so you can play with him, but then he also plays by himself. Mark was excited to spend some time with Rob too.

I hope both my pregnant friends are feeling better soon!

We went to Santo’s with Marie and Ray last night, so when we got home – we had leftovers. This was great because Mark is also very sick – and I got to just finish up our taxes and relax a little with no dishes in the sink.

It’s off to work Monday morning – yuck! Both of my bosses are off Monday thru Wednesday so we will be wearing jeans which will make it a little more manageable somehow.