I have a separate accordion 12-month file folder that monthly bills and receipts go into. I have an envelope in the kitchen for the paper receipts from stores from my wallet, and at the end of the month it goes into its space in the file. I have a couple of alternating annual folders like that, so when I need one for 2026 I'll be bundling up the receipts from 2024 and storing them in a large manila envelope. Those usually stick around for 5-7 years before they go in the burn pile, achieving the seven year retention you mention. Same with my IRS forms and documents. The papers in the larger file are account information, utilities, city, IRS, retirement, insurance receipts that come in the mail, folders to do with policies, refunds, rebates, and even a few contests (Consumer Reports sends out one I sometimes return; I've never won the car they say is the prize, but what the heck.)

The tendency to leave breadcrumbs to the past, to something I might want to recreate (journal entry, holiday letter, story, non-fiction or fiction, etc.) but I rarely ever use it. The impulse remains. It doesn't help that I spent decades working in a library and special collection archive that was there to retain documents.