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December 09, 2006
Walk in the door and drop it
OK, so this may seem like a really no-brainer tip but it's one that I've found to be a key system for our home organization. Two key things usually come home with me when I walk in the door: keys and receipts. So I put up a hook tucked into a nook right near where I walk in the door. We never have to do a hunt and gather for our keys as a result. Next to it is a simple shoebox size plastic bin labeled "Receipts 2006." John and I throw all of our personal receipts into that bin for nearly anything we spend money on. When the new year comes, I'll put that bin on a storage shelf and create a new one for 2007. I keep old receipts bins for about 2 years then toss them. I actually have had to look back through some old receipts bins at times when something broke, to lookup a store, price we paid etc., so I've found it useful to hang on to them. And I really don't bother to worry about what goes in there either. I just throw it all in for any kind of personal purchase (online shopping, groceries, gas, whatever.)
The only receipts that don't go in there are the ones I think I'll need for taxes, such as deductions, donations etc. There are far less of those, so they just go into a manilla folder in our files called "Taxes 2006." Easy when tax time comes to have that ready to go.
Posted by Kelly at December 9, 2006 06:56 PM
Comments
I do something similar . What I found useful is every couple of months when the pile gets to look big I just take an envelope and put all the exisiting receipts in it and mark it say " Jan- March14th and then continue piling receipts. this way if I have to look for something It might get easier....
just my 2 cents
Posted by: vivek mehta at December 14, 2006 07:13 PM
... and I process my receipts (business and personal) at the end of each and every month ~ which translates into tax preparation in January taking less than an hour. It's SO worth that not-very-sexy front-end work at the end of the month!
Posted by: Annie at December 16, 2006 11:35 AM
Nifty! I've done the "keys" for years but I've just recently been looking for a receipts system -- I think this sounds very practical! :-)
Posted by: Nathan at December 17, 2006 05:26 AM
