Would You Like A Receipt?

It's amazing how such small pieces of paper have a tremendous hold on people. Often times when I am helping clients get organized, we sort through piles of receipts. Here are some suggestions to help manage receipts before they manage you.

Put all new receipts in one place! Put receipts in a centralized location. One good place to keep them is close to where you sort your mail (for tips on organizing mail, see earlier post dated 2/22/09). Keep a manila folder or envelope handy for storing the receipts. This will prevent receipts from migrating into other places where they will quickly be forgotten. Make it a habit to empty receipts from your car, pockets and/or purse daily!

All receipts are not created equal! Purge your receipt file weekly. Toss receipts for groceries, dry cleaning etc. In this file, keep only the receipts for items recently purchased that may need to be returned (clothing, inexpensive household items). Store these in a separate smaller envelope or paper clip them together. After three months, it is usually safe to toss these.

Other receipts will need to be kept longer. These include: 1) Receipts for major purchases (appliances, household repairs) 2) Medical receipts 3) Receipts for bills (credit card, utilities, etc.) 4) Receipts for items you plan to deduct on your income taxes 5) Miscellaneous important receipts like those for jewelry or expensive children's toys. (keep these to a minimum or else you will find you are saving more receipts than necessary).

The receipts that you plan on keeping can be stored in your filing cabinet under the appropriate category (see post dated 2/25/09 for tips on organizing your files). Keep in mind that filing these receipts away does not mean you don't have to deal with them at a later date! Go through your files every couple of months and weed out the old receipts. In general, keep only one year's worth of receipts (with the exception of those pertaining to home and auto repair and other major purchases). Always check with an accountant about which receipts you need to keep for income tax purposes (as well as how long).

Go online! These days a lot of information is stored electronically, making it unnecessary to keep paper copies. I have learned to let go of keeping my paper bank and credit card statements. In fact, many companies are now offering paperless billing options! Not only does this reduce paper clutter, but it is better for the environment!

Unleash Your Organized Me!