I was just reading my Walgreens receipt. They put a lot of information on those things. And in two languages!
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| My file cabinet laden with receipts. |
Receipts and Records
One of my weird bad habits comes out of an old good habit of saving receipts. When I started working as an independent contractor I saved any receipt that I could use as a tax deduction. Also I kept receipts to check against my credit card statements if I had charged something. And there were the receipts I kept to make it easier to return something if that needed to be done. There are a lot of good reasons to keep receipts for at least some designated period of time.
Now I'm in the habit of tossing receipts on top of my office file cabinet whenever I have them in my pockets. They pile up until they overflow onto the floor and I attend to the fallen while ignoring the pile. Periodically I'll weed out some of the receipts or file them accordingly, but the pile seems to grow faster than I can keep up with.
I need to come up with system that works for me--probably a neater variation on what I've got now. For the time being I've cleaned the receipts off the top of that file cabinet. I like seeing it that way, but a few things on top don't bother me either. But the neater cabinet top will be an inspiration for at least a few days.
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| After cleaning receipts from top of file cabinet. |
My father was an accountant so he was kind of a stickler about saving receipts since we could take a lot of tax deductions for our side job as a juggling act. He ingrained in me the idea of saving receipts. Old receipts and statements can be helpful for jogging the memory, something which I wrote about several years ago on my memoir blog. I'll have a bit more to say on this topic in my next post: S for Statements.
Do you save a lot of receipts? Do you use expense deductions for your income tax? Have you ever run across very old receipts for past purchases by parents or others?
I keep receipts for so long then discard them.
ReplyDeleteInteresting "R" word and post.
Enjoy your weekend.
Yvonne.
Yvonne, some are good to keep for a while and others I don't know that we'd ever really need for financial accounting reasons.
DeleteLee
I used to save them all. Had a huge bag of them, but then burnt them all. After a decade, they aren't much good.
ReplyDeletePat Hatt, the burning receipts might help keep you warm for a few minutes on a cold winter day.
DeleteLee
Ours all go into a box until it overflows, then I'll go through it, file some, and shred the rest.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I keep thinking to get a shredder but we never do. My wife likes to tear up paper.
DeleteLee
The before photo of yours looks a lot like what my desk used to look like. I am finally now in the habit of tossing receipts for groceries but it is not due to me improving my habits. It is because once I've bought it, I own it. Most stores in town will not accept returns.
ReplyDeleteFor receipts that I may need later, I scan them then file them. My "pile" of receipts then becomes scanned files I need to rename later. At least they aren't visible (or maybe that is a problem LOL!).
Emily In Ecuador | Rainbows and the rainy season in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador
Emily, my grocery receipts are among the first to go. Scanning is a good idea.
DeleteLee
My husband saves all receipts and everything else too.
ReplyDeletehttp://findingeliza.com/
Kristin, maybe he was educated like I was. He sounds like we share accumulation habits.
DeleteLee
Oh yes, even in this day and age, I save all documents and receipts (until the piles overflow). It's necessary in my business, as well as other accounts I manage.
ReplyDeleteThe link to your memoir blog reminded me to say I hope you keep that up and to suggest a site called https://www.storyworth.com/about
I think might be of interest to you.
I recently ran across a receipt for the home a family member designed and built 50 years ago!
Things sure were less expensive back then.
Diedre, I don't think I'd need most of mine anymore. I think we use some of my wife's that can apply to her educator job.
DeleteI like finding those old receipts.
I keep thinking back to my memoir blog, but can't motivate myself to blog more that I've been doing lately. Maybe soon though.
Lee
Lee,
ReplyDeleteMost of our receipts get trashed immediately, except for things we mail-order or large purchases. Those I keep until either I know something is going to work or till enough time has past to make sure said 'big items' are defective. No, we don't take big deductions on our taxes. We tried that one year for medical and after spending a lot of time on it to find it our out-of-pocket expenses had be significantly more to be of help we stopped trying to see if we can save a few dollars by itemizing. We'd have to rethink this if we bought a house or medical costs ever got exponential so for now we just keep it simple. And, no we haven't come across receipts for our parents. DH's middle brother is the executor of his parents' estate so we don't have to worry about any of that. Thanks for visiting and for hosting the fun, my friend. Have a relaxing weekend!
~Curious as a Cathy
A2Z iPad Art Sketch 'R' for Rocks
Cathy, it doesn't matter much for most people to hang on to receipts and really not for me anymore. It's just a habit.
DeleteLee
His nibs is an accountant... Need I say more? LOL
ReplyDeleteCalensariel, I know how that goes. My father was so organized and meticulous. I guess parts of his nature rubbed off on me.
DeleteLee
I save them all until after tax time. I can deduct a lot of things for business expenses since I work from home. I use an accordion file that has monthly dividers and save them by month. I couldn't deal with all those papers on top of the cabinet.
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
Janet, I used to put receipts in an accordion file--still have it somewhere. Most of mine I need to throw away. It's just so darn easy to just empty my pockets on that file with the intent on coming back to fix it--it always takes me a while.
DeleteLee
Arlee I loved your theme this year have read a couple of posts but plan to come back to read all of them once the challenge spade work gets done.here from Second thoughts First
ReplyDeletePooja, I hope you comment on the posts you read, but thank you for leaving this comment. And thanks for participating in the Challenge.
DeleteLee
I keep receipts until I check them off my credit card statements and then toss them. I got a shock to see first picture of your filing cabinet!
ReplyDeleteSusan S, I usually don't even check them off. At least no one typically can see my file cabinet so the mess doesn't bother me that much.
DeleteLee
Laurie is the receipt saver- and almost exactly as you described. My receipts get one of three treatments: thrown away immediately; tossed in the bag with the item and disposed of when the bag is; or crumbled into a coat pocket and tossed once properly fossilized...
ReplyDeleteCW, my wife saves receipts that she get and I guess she does the same as I do except her pile is neater.
DeleteLee
I kept every one at one point - usually in large envelopes or a box. The threat from Her Majesty's Revenue Collectors was motivation enough - they were able to check tax records back seven years and at one point they did. But they weren't interested in my receipts - just my offshore bank account..............
ReplyDeleteLatest post: https://rolandclarke.com/2018/04/21/s-is-for-swtor/
Roland, no offshore bank account for us. I've never had to use any receipts or statements for official use.
DeleteLee
I am good at keeping receipts, I use an old shoe box but the amount of times I look for a particular receipt and can't find it is a joke
ReplyDeleteJo-Anne, a filing system with an easy access system would be the best but I don't want to take the time to do that.
DeleteLee
The counter top looks clean now and the world can be seen :) Hope you find the perfect filing system.
ReplyDeleteLiked your theme - its different and refreshing.
Do stop by my #AtoZChallenge post for N and share your thoughts:
https://lonelycanopyblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/rainy-days-in-oceangreen-kannur/
Seema, I use a lot of filing systems and still haven't found the perfect one. But they all kind of work.
DeleteLee
You’re not the only one with a desk like that but it does get overwhelming. I have a file cabinet where I place the receipts. I tell people to take envelopes, label them and place receipts in the right envelope. This is for keeping track to know what one truly spends in a certain area but it helps clear the clutter. I found a receipt from a ring my mom bought in 1982.
ReplyDelete