Having your identity stolen can cause a lot of pain and anguish, not to mention become a costly problem to fix. With just the click of a few buttons and a few numbers in hand, a criminal can completely take over your identity. They can rack up new charges on your credit cards, open a new bank loan, or generally wreck your credit in a short matter of time.

Since the crime is so simple to commit it's very easy to commit, you need to guard your financial information closely. Obviously you should never do things like give out personal financial information over the phone or other details about yourself to strangers, but how much of your personal data and information is simply being thrown away and your garbage can?

How easy is it to have your identity stolen?

In the same day, you can throw out one of your credit card statements and maybe a Christmas card, and if you're unlucky, someone could go through your trash and start collecting information about you. Even if it's simply junk mail, there are things inside those mailings that may be able to identify you personally and allow an identity thief to take over your financial life.

You know those blank checks that your credit card company sends you? Those are especially dangerous in the hands of a criminal. You may want to call your credit card issuer and ask them to stop sending those to you if you don't use them. One less thing to shred, right?

So, what's the best solution to protect your identity?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to solve this problem. Investing in a crosscut shredder can easily cut down on the information that an identity thief can get from your trash can. It's not very hard to go through and shred all the mail that you don't want or old bank statements, so why not spend a few seconds to help guarantee your personal information? Many people don't use the shredders that they have, but in reality, they really should be using them pretty much all the time. Of course, you need to make sure that you're not going to shred anything important. But, if you're going to throw away that pile of mail anyway, what doesn't matter if shredded or sitting in a dumpster somewhere?

Investing in an identity fraud protection service is also a great way to keep your identity safe in addition to shredding important documents. Using a shredder to protect your identity is a cheap way to prevent many more expenses in the future. There are many ways to prevent identity theft, but these are the cheapest.

Dealing with the cost of a stolen identity can be very painful, so why not save yourself future headaches by taking an action that doesn't take much time at all?