On occassion, I've had to revert to an old cell phone while a new one is being repaired, not to mention that my teenager has used old phones when he's killed one of his.

So my question is this: How do you store old cell phones and their accessorie? In the boxes they came in (which I do keep)? In some other manner, like zip lock bags? Is there a good way to dispose of them where your personal information isn't vulnerable to some stranger?

Do you have a time line for getting rid of old phones? Should I keep the old ones for other users?

If it makes any difference, I'm on AT&T which uses SIM cards to store information, but the phones themselves hold information as well. I'm thinking things like phone numbers and email information for contacts. I'd hate for any of that to be available to someone if I donated the phone.

I don't worry about personal info, because I keep the phone numbers stored on the memory card instead of "in the phone" (the phone's separate non-removable memory). When I remove it, the info comes with.

I think the spares are nice to have, but don't think I need to keep every cell phone I've ever owned. Maybe I should take them into the store and see if they can wipe the memory on the ones I'd like to I don't want to keep.

You can sometimes give away the battery or accessories on freecycle or the craigslist cell phone forum.