Community Chat

[ShowMe]

---

@Imaoldhippie wrote:

An ounce of prevention........................

---

Heck, I use more than an ounce of prevention.  I mix some of those papers in amongst dirty stinky cat litter.  Don't believe anyone would like to go through that to get information......

[ShowMe]

---

@Carol08 wrote:

I put my personal information in with cat litter (used, of course), if I don't have a shredder available.  I cut the personal papers into little pieces.....

---

OMGosh, I just posted the same thing that I do.  Two great minds in the same channel.  LOL  

[Burnsite]

I know my next-door neighbor goes through trash, and if there is room, inserts industrial waste (cinder blocks, etc, that are forbidden by my city) into mine.Last time he did that, I dumped them back on his lawn.

Anyway, I put my trash out just before collection because of this nut.  I do think most identity theft these days is not from garbage inspection but from Internet theft of personal details.  So while I have a shredder I no longer use it. I do tear up papers into pieces and then dump coffee grinds on them.

True story about this neighbor.  We had a new neighbor several houses away, just in the house a week or so, that (I was gardening outside) I saw carried on a gurney into an ambulance.   (She is fine now).  The neighbor walked by with his dogs and said to me,  "Oh, good, they're gone.  I'm going over and look into her windows."  He has a loose screw or several.  If I ever do figure out how to move back to New England, I think I want acres of land. 

I have good neighbors, too--but bad ones. ... it's as if they have no filter and no principles.

[lovesrecess]

I use scissors to cut up everything I get in the mail with our name and address on it, even if it is just junk mail. I use the shredder for everything else that has any personal info on it. I just think you can't be too careful, whether anyone would go through the garbage or not.

[chessylady]

I guess I bought cheap shredders that would get overheated and stop working. So I am accumulating stuff to take to a local business called Red Dog Shredder. I was told it costs seven dollars for a bankers box full of paper. You can watch while they shred it. That will save me a lot of time and aggravation. If it is just my name and address on mail items, not a bill, I just use the recycle container. They can get my name and address on the internet.

[PamfromCT]

I shred all documents with sensitive information and remove labels from prescription bottles.  Our mail box is by the road so, like others here, all outgoing mail gets dropped off at the post office.  I personally don’t see the wisdom of shredding junk mail with our name and address - anybody can get that kind of info very easily.  We do keep longer sensitive documents that are outdated to shredding events.  Yes, you can watch your paperwork shredded.  Now if anyone can figure out how everyone out there gets our e-mail addresses, they should win a prize.  Delete, delete, and more stuff keeps on coming.

[RainCityWoman]

I guess it has happened, which is why i tear up things  and also separate the mail itself from the identity on it. I recycle the mail, but throw my name and address in solid waste. I think the biggest danger is stolen mail before it gets to the trash.

[SeasonedCitizen]

Our senior center has a truck one Thurs. a month and shredding is free. Very handy.

[Cakers3]

We shred everything.

[this is my nic]

My daughter has a woman who comes in weekly to clean.  Dd works from home, so she's in the house when the woman is there.  I do my daughter's filing, so I always tear up anything that might be interesting to someone who's up to no good.  We were talking about the things the cleaning woman does and I was floored when dd told me she takes the trash collected from the house home with her! OMG!  Why on earth would she do that other than to look for info?  My daughter thinks this woman is ok, but we wonder about who she might be living with.  This woman speaks very little English and may not be able to read it either.  I have warned my daughter to tell this woman to leave the trash, but I'm not sure she sees her when the cleaning is completed.  Yikes!