Why? try(BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(args[0]))){ while (reader.ready()){ String str = reader.readLine().trim(); String name = str.replaceAll("\\d+", "").trim(); String bday = str.replaceAll(".+[^\\d+\\s\\d+\\s\\d+]\\s", ""); PEOPLE.add(new Person(name, new SimpleDateFormat("dd MM yyyy").parse(bday))); // System.out.println(name); // System.out.println(bday); } }catch (IOException | ParseException e){}