Cleaning Tips For The New Year

The end of the year is almost here and it is time to do some cleaning to prepare for the near year to come!

Before you start throwing away or donating your items you no longer need, read on to find out how to keep from advancing the careers of local thieves by making it easy to steal your identity as a result of ridding your home of old papers and electronic gadgets like computers, phones, tablets and scanners.

Remember to use Clear The Air for any odors you have while you are cleaning areas you haven’t cleaned in a while! Here are four ways to clean house without compromising your privacy:

Make a Date With a Local Shredder

You’re probably well aware that important documents should be shredded, but this doesn’t mean letting your 7-year-old loose with a stack of papers and a pair of scissors. Privacy Rights suggests that you invest in either a shredder that does cross-, diamond- or confetti-cutting to ensure that your documents can’t be pieced back together.

Alternatively, contact an office supply store or commercial shredding company and take your paper piles to be shredded while you watch. Boring, yes, but wouldn’t you rather spend an hour doing this than days trying to clean up the mess if the papers get into the wrong hands?

Clean Your Electronics

Passing your old electronics onto a new home requires more than just putting everything into the “trash” and then doing the digital equivalent of setting it out on the curb. An article from Tech News Daily says that, with a bit of understanding, it’s not difficult to wipe away sensitive data correctly. There are several programs on the market that allow you to do this. Or, if you would rather, you can take it to a professional.

If you’re going to resell your device, consider just selling it to a company that does refurbishing, because they then take on the liability of your personal data and are highly motivated to make sure the device is as safe as possible. For items that are going directly to the trash, use this as an opportunity to physically release some tension by destroying the memory chips and circuit boards. For CDs and DVDs, use specialty scissors that are tough enough for the job and cut each disc into at least four pieces.

Keep Important Documents Under Lock and Key

You certainly don’t want to accidentally toss out an old tax return, complete with social security numbers of each of your family members. This opens up the possibility of your personal information becoming compromised or even your children’s identity theft, if it falls into the wrong hands. For the items that you need to keep forever, you should consider a fire-proof safe that keeps documents safe and out of harm’s way.

Documents that you should never get rid of include:

• Birth, marriage and death certificates

• Social security cards, passports and citizenship papers

• Prenuptial agreements, divorce documents and military paperwork

• Wills, power of attorney and trust papers

• Insurance and investment paperwork

• Heath records, diplomas and organization membership cards

Set Up a Digital Organizational System

With all the paper that comes into the house via the mail, your child’s backpack, print media and organizations you’re involved in, it’s hard to find a way to keep clutter at bay.

For things that don’t require physical copies, like owners manuals, kids’ artwork and articles that you want to ready, have them scanned into your computer, which you can do through applications like Evernote. Once you’ve filed it away, you can easily search for it when the need arises.

According to Real Simple, receipts should be kept until the items are worn or used. In the case of clothing and food, or for larger purchases, receipts should be kept until the warranty expires or when you discard the item(s).

So before you put that leaning tower of paper in the recycling bin, or attempt to recoup the money you spent on that clunky old desktop, make sure to implement these tips to ensure your privacy and keep your identity protected. Sure, it takes a little extra effort, but it’s a small price to pay when you consider the worst that could happen.