Is it safe?

[Teacher Lady]

In hopes of slimming down the paper in my apartment, I am thinking about doing my finances almost all online. With that said, is it safe to cut off all paper copies? I am thinking the CYA factor. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[glorified_rice]

Originally Posted by Teacher Lady

In hopes of slimming down the paper in my apartment, I am thinking about doing my finances almost all online. With that said, is it safe to cut off all paper copies? I am thinking the CYA factor. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

I have done this and it does really cut down on paper clutter. Pretty much every company I have signed up for online (as far as bill paying, e-statements, etc...) has sent confirmation e-mails for the initial sign up, then they send confirmation e-mails for every scheduled payment, etc... I just make separate folders for each company and save all of the e-mails. Of course, if you ever need hard copies, you can always print them out later. What is the CYA factor, BTW. I couldn't figure that one out.

[mightymoo]

I'm not sure what you think of as being unsafe - are you worried that if you need a copy of your statement the company may not have it available for you online?

What I do with accounts I've stopped paper statements for is download the statement to my PC every month, so I still have a copy of my statement to reference if I need to.

[Alkenny]

I've been doing this for a couple of years now. Every place has somewhere you can download a paper copy if you need it later on. As for proof of paying it, that would be where a copy of your canceled 'check' from your bank would come in.

BTW, CYA=Cover Your A**

[tamagotchi]

Just don't forget to back up your email and other online records to CD. Hard disk failures are no fun.

[glorified_rice]

Originally Posted by Alkenny

BTW, CYA=Cover Your A**

[Teacher Lady]

: I guess I am just a bit afraid of the "what ifs". For the backing up emails: how does that work? I thought if emails were online, they were online.
I have been feeling a little by the amount of paper especially since I pay most of my bills online. I am going to see about more online statements. Thank you!

[glorified_rice]

Originally Posted by Teacher Lady

: I guess I am just a bit afraid of the "what ifs". For the backing up emails: how does that work? I thought if emails were online, they were online.

I would just copy and paste the text of the email into a word program and save it. Just make a document folder for that purpose. We back up our hard drive every couple of months with a special device for that purpose, then keep the hard drive in our safe.
IMO, there are what if's in every scenario, even when you are sending checks by mail.

[Denvergirlie]

Originally Posted by Teacher Lady

: For the backing up emails: how does that work? I thought if emails were online, they were online.

If you use a internet based email account (hotmail, gmail, yahoo) then yes, it will always be online so long as you keep that email account and don't delete them.

If you use Outlook or some equivelant, you will want to back them up as they are stored on your computers hard drive and not online.