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In today's world of stealing financial information, and identity theft, many authorities recommend shredding personal documents. There is more personal information out in the world than most of us want. Bank statements, loan applications, credit card billings, medical records, and the list goes on. Every household needs a paper shredder to eliminate, as much as possible, making identity theft easier for crooks.

I have purchased three paper shredders and have literally shredded each one. One became so hot that I became concerned that it might catch on fire. It was a strip shredder and I was happy that all my personal information was being stripped. Then a local newscast showed how our trash company had hired county prisoners to sort out the trash for recycling purposes. They found that the prisoners were doing more than recycling they were taking the strips, as they were in a bunch and gluing the strips from strip shredders together and were selling the info they gathered to other people who would use it to defraud the legitimate owner by stealing their identity.

Strip shredders are the cheapest since they require less cutting action. I found the Intek (ShredCare) TQ101Bc Diamond Cut Paper, Disk, and Credit Card Shredder by searching online. I purchased mine from Costco. I believe I paid $49 for it.

It has a 10-page capacity, though it does slow down when doing 10 pages, and will destroy CD's, credit cards, DVD's as well. It has special slots for these plastic items, as they do not need to be diamond cut. It cuts these items into strips that appear to be sufficient for information destruction.

If you compost paper you will need to remove the plastic bits, or not, from the compost when you use it. An online source of information protection knowledge suggested that you could throw the paper shreds into a bucket and pour water over them to make a sludge which could then be composted. That is a little too paranoid for me.

The clear plastic window on the large hopper lets you know when to empty the shredder. A nice safety feature is that it will not operate unless it is properly installed on the hopper correctly. The Intek (ShredCare) TQ101Bc Diamond Cut Paper Shredder is a great shredder, for a good price, and possibly most importantly, priceless peace of mind.