Cheap Paper Shredders

A paper shredder is an almost essential device these days. There are plenty of documents we receive on a weekly basis that get thrown away that should not be accessible by anyone for multiple reasons.

One of the biggest is the threat of identity threat, and identity thieves do dig through trash looking for financial and other documents with personal information on them. Even worse, in many places it’s not illegal for someone to dig through your trash even when it’s on the curb in front of your house awaiting pickup by the garbage truck.

Paper shredders do cost money however and they do take up space as well. There are cheap paper shredders available, however many of them die pretty quick deaths.

You need a paper shredder that lasts, not one that burns out within a few weeks or months.

We’ll look at a few decent cheap paper shredders and then talk about some hints to keep yours alive and well for a long time. Some of the cheapest paper shredders available have a slew of single star reviews but there are a few in the $30 range that are well reviewed and will work well and last if properly used.

The Aurora AS420C Desktop Style Paper Shredder is a popular and hardy shredder for about $30 that shreds paper as well as credit cards, paper clips and staples. I recommend you try to avoid paper clips and don’t feed it too many staples however to prolong its life!

It’s a handy desktop model and a small fraction of the cost of heavy duty models. S. McDonald in Michigan says it’s a “Great light-duty shredder” and Linda Marvel calls it a “Great little shredder!” Click here to see theirs and other’s reviews, which are almost all extremely positive.

It can shred 4 pages at a time, and has a throat size of 4 ½ inches. This means that envelopes, for example the endless credit card offers you receive, can be shredded easily. 8.5x11 pieces of paper can easily be folded and passed through.

For an inexpensive floor model, the Aurora AS810SD 8-Sheet Strip Cut Paper/CD/Credit Card Shredder with Basket is hard to beat and also about $30. It handles paper, CDs, and credit cards and can take up to 8 sheets of paper at a time.

User reviews are quite positive. For example, Ann Johnson says, "A great little shredder for the home." Click Here to see her full review.

Bookwoman, from South Berwick Maine (very close to me) says "Great shredder."
Click Here to see her full review.

A few quick notes on how to get a cheap paper shredder to last a long time:

Do not overload it. Don't put more sheets through than it can take and in fact I suggest always putting fewer through.

Follow the load ratings. If it's 12 pages every hour, do not do more! You will burn it out.

Avoid paper clips, even if it says it can handle them. The occasional accidental one is probably fine.

Shred documents on a regular basis. Do not let them pile up and shred a lot at once, for example 5 years of taxes in a day. You WILL kill the poor little machine!