Free Paper Shredding - Perks from Local Banks & Credit Unions
Last week my local credit union had a free shred day. As I scan for bank deals, I often run across credit unions and banks advertising a shred day. Shredding old documents like bank account statements and receipts helps prevent identity theft.
I had 2 boxes of documents and receipts with private information. I thought about buying a paper shredder, but in addition to the cost, it would have taken me a long time to feed the papers through the machine. So when I noticed my local credit union advertising a shred day on its home page, I decided to take advantage of the event.
During the shred day, I took my 2 boxes to the credit union. The shredding service company had their truck parked on the side of the credit union building. I just dumped my documents into a plastic can. When the can became full, the shredding service worker closed the can and loaded it into the shredding truck. It was very quick, and no one even checked if I were a member.
You do have to be careful that a stray paper doesn't blow away as you dump your box of documents. It would seem that thieves could exploit these events hoping to take advantage of stray papers.
There may also be concerns about whether the documents were really shredded or were shredded properly. That's one advantage of shredding it yourself. There's no doubt. Nevertheless, I felt pretty confident that this shredding service did a good job.
Free paper shredding isn't a big perk. It's not going to make up for low deposit rates. However, it can save you time and money. Another nice time-saving perk offered by many credit unions is free coin counting. I've used my credit union's self-service coin counting machine several times.
What free perks does your local credit unions and banks offer?
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pjaskate (anonymous) - #1, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 8:44 AM
My credit union branch offers free pocket calenders every year. Even if I had to pay for them, it would be worth it!
AJ702 (anonymous) - #2, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 8:44 AM
Some townships also offer free shredding days. My townshup in Middlesex County, NJ has organized free shredding once every 3-6 months.
Anonymous - #3, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 10:27 AM
Be sure that the device is a confetti shredder and not a strip shredder. I was at a landfill one day when a garbage truck came in and dumped some strip-shredded paper. Despite being all cut up, some pages had pretty much retained their full-page form! Could have easily read what was on them.
Anonymous - #4, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 11:10 AM
Why don’t you people ask for only e-statement instead.
If that is not available, then burn it in the fireplace or in summer in a barbecue pit.
No traces will be left and no energy to waste driving around looking for a public shredder and why accumulate years of old statements, beyond 90 days is useless and nobody will accept your complain for found errors or fraud after 60 days anyway.
Anonymous - #5, Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 12:18 PM
I have seen some shredded papers where you can tape them back together. I would hope that these credit unions, banks, townships, etc. have high quality cross shredders. I don't shed my paperwork. I burn them! No taping back the pieces that way.
Anonymous - #6, Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 7:09 PM
burn baby burn disco inferno
calwatch (anonymous) - #8, Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 12:21 AM
Most of these shredding companies are legitimate document destruction companies which are bonded and serve large corporations. They would be losing millions in contracts if the companies found out that they weren't shredding the documents. And it is important to save statements for IRS purposes - that's why I do it.
dolt (anonymous) - #9, Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 8:21 AM
que es esto dolt?
Ollie (anonymous) - #10, Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 6:44 AM
Free paper shredding is an excellent idea, it also helps the environment.
shredders (anonymous) - #11, Friday, October 7, 2011 - 6:09 PM
Kevin Hart (anonymous) - #13, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 5:44 AM
Paper Shredding is unique idea for confidential document dispose and enjoy risk free environment............
Ender (anonymous) - #16, Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 6:43 PM
This would be immensely helpful for me! I don't know what to do with my old bank statements, and I have never even really put them all together. They are usually left sitting somewhere in my house, just waiting for someone to pick up! If I could go to a community <a href="http://www.papershredding.com">paper shredding</a> event, hopefully I could get rid of that risk!
High quality paper shredder (anonymous) - #17, Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 2:40 AM
Awesome blog! Document Shredding is a safe and secure way of protected valuable data and information from getting into the hands of the wrong people. It is also a great way to contribute to helping the environment.
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