Where do you keep your receipts? - Page 2

[MtBikeLover]

I save all receipts. I put them in a baggie and write the month on it. After the month is done, I throw them in a shoebox.

I like the 12 month accordian idea though. May have to steal that one!

[summersnight]

I also do the 12 pocket accordian file except that I keep most receipts for a month until after I have balanced the bank/credit card statement. After I have balanced the statement, I shred all receipts except for major purchases or things that I still might return. I keep the possible return receipts in the accordian file, and I staple the major purchases receipts to the back page of the owner's manual and file it in a file cabinet.

[lara1828]

Originally Posted by Belia

We have a 12-pocket accordian file- one pocket per month. All receipts go in the proper month's pocket. I also file paperwork and statements from the monthly bills/utilities/etc there.

At the beginning of each month I clean out that month's pocket, which will be full of receipts from the previous year. (For example- on August 1, 2009, I cleaned out the "August" pocket which was full of receipts left from August, 2008.) SO I end up keeping receipts for a year.

Exceptions: Cash purchases that were immediately consumed (fast food, for example) get tossed right away. Big purchases like electronics get filed forever with the manual and/or warranty. Car repair receipts get filed in the car file. Receipts for things I buy for work go in a separate envelope for taxes. Everything else gets put in the monthly accordian file.

I am the queen of buying-and-returning, so I go digging for receipts all the time. It works great for us!

This is almost identical to my system. It works great for us too. We only dig out receipts from past months a couple times a year, but I'm really glad I saved them when we do. We also put ATM receipts in the accordian file. I have had an ATM error in the past that I had the receipt to prove what happened.

[Emmeline II]

I have a file for each month kept in a portable file box and empty the file the next year.