While Hilary Clinton sells herself as a more experienced presidential candidate than Barack Obama, her First Lady appointment books suggest her past travels generally included more tea parties than policy meetings.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, on March 19 the National Archives released 11,000 pages of Clinton's daily doings during her eight years in the White House. The records include Opera House tours in Paris, a visit with former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s wife at a beauty parlor, a blini, caviar and mutton meal in Moscow, and a “very brief cup of tea” in Morocco. Her heavy socializing will be challenging to spin as relevant presidential experience. I bet she’s wishing she had her own Fawn Hall with a handy shredder!

Almost any politician will tell you a shredder is an important tool and that some records are not meant to be kept. But even if you are not running for office, what private information should you destroy, and what should you save?

“I tell my clients to shred all the time because they are swimming in paperwork!” says Cary Carbonaro, a financial planner with Family Financial Research in New York. For starters, most consumers keep too many receipts. Credit card statements are very disposable, says Brian Jones a financial planner and vice president at CJM Wealth Advisors in Fairfax, Va. “My wife is guilty of this,” says Jones. “She keeps receipts from every time she uses her credit card. I don’t know why she keeps them when all of that information is available online.” Often times your credit card number is listed on these documents, so they should not just be tossed in the garbage. They must be shredded.

To get the job done most people just buy the cheapest shredder they can find, says Jones. Bad move. “If you aren’t burning this stuff, you should spend a little dough on your shredder," says Jones. "Cheap shredders only shred length wise. Better ones really crunch your documents into bits shredding length and width.” Carbonaro recommends the Fellowes shredder, which can be found at Costco (COST). Not up for spending the $315 or so for a Fellowes? Then take advantage of your company’s document destruction bin. “I’ve dropped eight pounds of paperwork in for total destruction,” says Jones. “When the truck comes once a week, there is an employee that goes out and watches to verify that the sensitive information was destroyed.”

Of course some sensitive information needs to be preserved. Documents you should never shred include wills, deeds, and mortgage records, says Carbonaro. Also, documents with your power of attorney and your health care power of attorney, says Jones, who adds that storing them in a bank safety deposit box is good in theory but impractical, especially if your name is the only one on the box. “When you are gone or you are incapacitated, someone needs to be able pull those documents quickly.” Jones says. “If your name isn’t on there, you can’t access the box until it’s gone through probate.” That means a person could be buried for six months before their loved ones get to paperwork that gives funeral instructions, says Jones. Instead, “go to Home Depot (HD) and buy a $200 fire-proof safe and bolt it to the floor in your living space,” says Jones. Keep marriage and divorce papers, birth certificates and passports in there, too. No need to keep tea party records, however.