It is Important to preserve Electricity,Water,Telephone bills and receipts...

@kiran8 (15348)

Mangalore, India

August 25, 2011 12:12pm CST

I think it is a good idea to preserve all the bills with their receipts making different files for each of them so that you are able to get them when there is need.Sometime back I had problems with both electricity and telephone bills when many people got inflated bills for 6 months since all the previous records were lost.All those who could show their bills with receipts for that period were exempted from paying the extra amount . Since I had all my bills and receipts I was saved... I feel that even otherwise it is better not to throw away anything either pertaining to our day today requirements or legal matters or health matters.One can never be sure when they would come in handy... What do you all say ? Please add your views....

2 people like this

13 responses

@anil02 (24688)

• India

26 Aug 11

Hello Kiran ji, I am agree with you that we must be preserve payment receipts of electricity, water, telephone. Indeed we must be preserve receipts of every payment we made to any departments. We must be preserve bill of articles we purchased till the period of guarantee or warranty.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

27 Aug 11

Hi anil, thanks a lot for your response

As you rightly point out It is very essential to preserve all the bills and even medical and legal documents however trivial it may seem.I have known cases where some such documents have come in very useful..all the best anil and enjoy your sunday

1 person likes this

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

28 Aug 11

Thats nice, I too woke up late and did a lot of cleaning job...I like sundays since the day is there for you to do what you want and generally there is no pressure of any kind..

1 person likes this

@anil02 (24688)

• India

28 Aug 11

Hello Kiran, thanks for comment. Today I enjoyed Sunday with lot of sleep.

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@umabharti (3972)

• India

25 Aug 11

yes preserve bills but not lots of bills for a long period of time that becomes a mess all over the home.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

26 Aug 11

Hi umabharti,thanks a lot for your response

There is no need for them to become messy if the bills and receipts are stored in a proper manner in a file.After 2 years or so one can discard the older bills and so on...all the best and happy mylotting

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

27 Aug 11

Just a matter of precaution since any lapse hopefully may not exceed beyond two years.There is absolutely no requirement as such, it is for our own safety and security for any kind of adversity that may arise ...

@umabharti (3972)

• India

27 Aug 11

is there any reason for saving the bills for two years.Is there any requirement.Is there any legal advantage ? Why and waht was the reason for ur specific about the two years of time?

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@kalav56 (11464)

• India

25 Aug 11

Very true Kiran! Unless we ahev all our receiptsin tact there is always this risk of being billed [ out of the blue ]\ some Godforsaken arrears that were never there. We\ should definitely preserve them. I totally agree with you and the more sytematic it is the better it is.

@kalav56 (11464)

• India

25 Aug 11

Sorry for the typos Kiran.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

26 Aug 11

Yes kala, here in Mangalore we have had many such instances where water bill has gone haywire.Once instead of the usual 150- 200 rupees that we get as water charges, we got a bill for Rs 2300/ and I was shocked

On showing the old bills thankfully they reduced it...So now I make it a point to keep all the receipts..take care kala and have a nice weekend

@thedailyclick (3017)

•

27 Aug 11

I agree as I keep all bills, statements and receipts for any major purchase. It’s a useful tool to see if you are using more electricity, gas etc than you did before and as such an aid for budgeting and forecasting what you may spend in the future. It’s also a bit of piece of mind that if there are ever any problems you’ve got them at hand. And if you don’t want to keep files of paper you can always scan them onto your pc and then shred the paper copy.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

28 Aug 11

Hi tdc, I agree, keeping all our bills is helpful in many ways.I have found it very useful since here in India especially in smaller towns the accounting system is very poor and they tend to lose important documents and files every now and then ...the only way to counter that is by producing bills and receipts as proof of payment.It is a good idea to store it on our comp, may be also send a copy to our email accounts so that we have it even if the computer or hard disk crashes...all the best

@chiwasaki (4695)

• Philippines

5 Sep 11

I still have the copy of our electric and water bills. I think those receipts are from last year. My mom and I kept it for us to track our consumption. I really don't mind keeping those paper because I feel like that they are important somehow.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

5 Sep 11

Hi chiwasaki, thanks a lot for sharing your views

It is definitely a good useful habit to keep all our bills , guarantees and receipts at least for 2-3 years or until it is necessary in the case of guarantees...all the best and happy mylotting

@akp100 (13647)

• India

25 Aug 11

Hi Surely it is the proper way.. We should manage all this bills and receipts. It can be needed any time. Just recently I lost my telephone bill, it wasn't a big deal but I have to went in office without bill. And then they search it by number and then I paid the payment. Better we manage all these items with proper file work.

@akp100 (13647)

• India

26 Aug 11

True.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

26 Aug 11

Hi akp, Yes thats true, one can never tell when they are needed.One of my relative was telling me that papers of an old court case 16 years old, where she had been the defendant helped her recently in another case since she had preserved all the legal papers and was able to show it to her lawyer, who found some points that was helpful for her to win the case, so one can never say...all the best

@dpk262006 (58679)

• Delhi, India

26 Aug 11

Hi Kiran!

Yours is an excellent suggestion and it must be implemented. I have been preserving my telephone, electricity and water bills. It happened once or twice when old bills were asked for by the authorities and I faced no problem in producing the same. Lately, I have started paying my electricity bills through on line method and now I have become a bit lazy in preserving my electricity bills.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

27 Aug 11

Hi deepak, I was trying to clear up my mother in law's trunks and wardrobe in our ancestral house , which should have been done a decade ago..however, I was amazed to see that she had preserved all her bills in a bundle kept in an old plastic bag.I went through them and found that she had paid Rs 86 for a pair of gold bangles

...the other details like the date is not clear, I guess it was the 50's.. Coming back to our topic, I too feel that it will definitely come in useful for us at sometime or the other to preserve all important bills and papers ! enjoy your Sunday

@bhanusb (5709)

• India

26 Aug 11

Hi kiran, yes it is very important to preserve all the bills with receipts. Otherwise we may face problem. Once I got a notice from the electricity authority that I did not pay the bill of certain month of certain year.The authority warned me to pay fine. As I preserve all the bills I took the bill and payment receipt from my file. Later I showed the bill and payment receipt to the authority and they were convinced.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

28 Aug 11

Hi bhanu, The same thing has happened to me a couple of times.But now with computerised bills it may not be such a problem.But again, unless there is a record for all our old bills it really doesnt help us if they dig up our old records and make some mistake with it...thanks a lot for your response and enjoy your evening

@petersum (4522)

• United States

25 Aug 11

Strangely enough, these utility bills offer proof that you do live in a particular place, and how long you have lived there. They are often required when you make an application for a visa to visit other countries. In some countries, there are many other reasons to keep them. I have seen them required when applying to open bank accounts for example.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

26 Aug 11

Hi peter, that's right ! Telephone bills are accepted in most places as proof of residence and so also Electricity bills.I have used them for just about everything from gas connection to pan card application and opening a new bank account as you rightly point out - all the best and enjoy your weekend

@SIMPLYD (90717)

• Philippines

26 Aug 11

For all the things that i have paid specially the bills, i always have their respective files. Even my payslips in the office have its own file. I am a person who feels secure that i keep all receipts intact , so that when there's a problem like my payment was not posted, i can have something to show as proof that indeed i have paid already.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

27 Aug 11

Hi SIMPLYD, thanks a lot for sharing your views

I am sure that is the right way to handle things.Once we begin to file the papers neatly and develop the habit of putting them into their respective files, it becomes organised and easy to manage...thanks a lot and happy mylotting

@warrior007 (570)

• India

26 Aug 11

yes it is important to save your bills because it helps you whenever you are in trouble...not necessary to preserve them for entire life but at least for some time...!

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

28 Aug 11

Hi warrior, thanks a lot for your response

Of course there is no need to preserve all the bills all our life time...Now we can make entries and store it in our computers or even better in our email accounts..

• Philippines

25 Aug 11

I agree, though I am just lazy to these things lately. However, just like what you said we'll never know when these things will be useful. Thanks for this topic and from now on I'll start keeping my receipts again.

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

26 Aug 11

Hi Ghajini,thanks a lot for your response

I agree that most of us tend to pay the bills and forget about them, but one can never be sure when we can have some problems and then we wish we had kept all those bills and receipts...It can happen even with medical reports and legal papers...all the best and happy mylotting

@parryjain7 (68)

• India

26 Aug 11

yea u are right we have to save all the bills ... because bills just help us anytime from Mystery thing coming up from the government .. as far as i know electricity bill 2 months we needed .... the bills if we pay in time to time we don`t face any problem i am happy that u have save your extra amount

@kiran8 (15348)

• Mangalore, India

28 Aug 11

Hi parryjain, thanks a lot for sharing your views

It is not the question of paying in time.The problem comes in when their accounts fail and they have no proof of your payment and then the only way you can come out of it by showing them the receipts that you have with you...