A Neater Way to Shred + DQ Coma

When I have mail with my name all over it, I do not want it in the trash. A plastic bag served to put things with my social security number and address in. Sometimes, I can just cut or rip off the address, not often.

The plastic bag was unwieldy, often spilling because it was slippery. Then, I switched to a paper grocery bag. That was large. I was not happy with the situation. Friday, I found a neater way.

As I was going through recent junk mail and things from the pharmacy, I decided to use a pharmacy bag for storing paper that needed to be shredded. It is about a foot long and five inches wide, meant to hold meds from the WM pharmacy when I pick it up.

Envelopes fit neatly inside. There is a gusset that will allow expansion. I can also drop the bits of envelop with my name when the rest of the envelope goes in the regular trash. I did compost but now I don't. I should!

I know this is one tiny "thing," but in these few days, it has simplified my life. I can keep the pharmacy bag close which allows me to use it often. With the plastic bag and paper grocery bag, they had to be out of reach. The passenger seat in the car has envelopes I take from the mailbox and leave there. This way, I can keep another pharmacy bag in the front seat, and place sensitive information envelopes into in immediately after getting the mail. Most days, if I go out in the car, I stop and get the mail on the way out. I rarely carry junk mail into the house.

Since the last free shredding event, I have been working on having all the things that need to be shredded ready instead of having to search at the last minute for all the envelopes I had not put in the trash. Plus, I will no longer have my address on tiny scraps that slip to the floor.

I decided against a shredder. They seem to burn out too quickly. For the same price, I purchase on sale at Lowe's a fire pit. I really don't want to deal with fire because I fear fire since my house burned when I was four-years-old. I wanted exbf to burn things. He did not. I don't know why. But, I do not now trust his ability to deal with stray fire. He might fall into the pit with his limited mobility.

We cannot have a burn barrel or open fire in the city.

I predict less mess, less stress with this new method. Do you have a shredder or another means of dealing with sensitive information?

Sunday afternoon, I decided a small chocolate cup of ice cream from Dairy Queen was just what I needed. So, I went the mile there, paid my money and waited at the window to get my order. The woman leaned out smiling with something that was not chocolate ice cream. She asked me if I wanted a banana split, too. Wary, I said, "Yes, but why?" It seems the car before me had asked for no whipped cream and they had to remake the order.  I didn't want the whipped cream, either, so I dipped it off.

I sat in a parking space at a park on the way home and ate the banana split. At home, I got the melty stuff off the cup of chocolate ice cream and put it in the freezer for tomorrow.

Since I had not had my two slices of bread today, I decided I would skip them. The rest of the evening will be devoted to vegetables, mainly leafy green vegetables. As it is, I feel like I am slipping into an ice cream coma.  

Don't buy a shredder. Do this.

I suppose I am ill since I am staggering around when I am not sleeping. The last post I was whining a lot.

For years I have wanted a shredder. I think I had one and it burned out or something. However, I have found other means of shredding paper.

Two years ago, I found a $50 fire pit for $29. I have never used it, but it is not something that will melt away. I may sell it or not. I am afraid of starting a paper fire in the back yard. I know the screen top will keep the fire inside, but the floating fiery paper scares me. What if one floats away despite my best intentions. In the meantime, I get things shredded free.

Open fires and burn barrels are illegal in this town. However, if it called a fire pit, backyard fires are okay. All the houses around here are wood, so a fire could be devastating. Of course, a fire pit used properly is covered with a screen.

The senior center allows seniors to shred paper for free. I did this about a dozen times until I could not longer bend and stuff things into it without pain then for the rest of the day.

My bank shreds things for me. Mostly, I just give them pertinent information from envelopes and forms I get--letters, bills, statements. Every few months, I give them a small packet of statements from them. I take a good sized envelope and stuff it full of tiny bits of paper with my name or ss# or account number on them. I cuts down on the volume of the shredding by doing this.

Some entity in town sponsors a free shredding event. You can bring one bag of stuff to shred. I missed the last one and am prepared for the one after Christmas, first of the year. You drive up, hand them the bag, and leave.

Maybe you work in an office that has a shredder you can use once in a while without taking advantage.

I am not suggesting you wrongly use resources at work. We were welcomed to shred personal papers.

I worked at a place where several businesses shared a shredder. It was about the size of two chest freezers and could handle big shredding jobs. It could handle a two inch book. It just growled a little more.

So, I no longer want or need a shredder.

Your turn
What other way do you have to shred things for free? Are you brave enough to burn things?.