Financial question - how do you deal with receipts?

[NorthwestMom]

We did Financial Peace University this past spring and it really changed us for the better. I am devoted to my budget and one thing I struggle with is how to manage all the receipts that come in each day from DH and me, until I can update the budget and shred them. What does everyone else do? Do you put them in an envelope, a basket? All suggestions welcome!

 

I currently have a very messy pile on my kitchen counter. :tongue_smilie:

[romeacademy]

:bigear: I have lots of messy piles too, and it's really not working very well!

[Dana]

We pay for almost everything by credit card (and pay off the card without fail every month so no finance charges). We hang on to the receipts (in each wallet) and then every weekend (or every other weekend) we each record our receipts.

 

We use Quicken to track everything. Have records going back to 1994... I just looked up when we bought all our appliances and it's so nice having that data handy.

 

You could get a folder and stick things there until entry - just be careful to actually enter everything. Getting a system that works for you is so good.

 

I know if I wait longer than about 2 weeks, things get unmanageable for me, so I aim for every weekend and am very careful about not going longer than 2 weeks.

[Cheryl in NM]

I enter receipts into my computer program daily usually, weekly if I am extremely busy. I checkmark the receipt, then put it in a file marked for that month. I download my banking history a few times a week (daily if we are really crunched) and mark the receipt with a "c" after it clears the bank. Then I toss all gas & dining receipts. I look at the other receipts to see if I might need them for a possible return or quality/refund issue. Any receipts that need saving are kept with the bank statement along with copies of bills paid.

[KatieJ]

I have an office cabinet that I had built when I remodeled my kitchen 2 years ago. It has slots in it for receipts, stamps, envelopes, hooks for car keys, etc. It's by the back door and hubby and I both put reciepts in there until I balance the checkbook about every two weeks.

 

Prior to that I had an ugly wooden slotted organizer do the same job, but outside the cabinets and not hidden away.

 

My neighbors use their cookie jar!

Edited August 23, 2010 by KatieinMich

[Punks in Ontario]

I put the receipts I haven't input into Quicken in a drawer of my desk, and file them in an accordian style file folder by month when I've input them. That way, they're out of sight, and I can find them when I need to. I'm amazed at how often I need to go back and find specific receipts!:confused:

[Mejane]

Mine go into a basket on my desk until the credit card bill is reconciled, then they go into individual files in a filing cabinet if they're "keepers."

[QueenCat]

I keep an envelope in my purse for receipts. And dh hands me his once week, he doesn't have many. I enter them in to Quicken once or twice a week. At the same time I enter them into Quicken, I cross the amounts spent off of the category on my budget spreadsheet.

[Food4Thought]

For receipts I have to keep (HSA, high $$ amount, etc), I have envelopes near my desk.

 

For balancing my checkbook, I now do almost everything online with my bank and in GnuCash (a free program). So we don't keep random receipts for small purchases. They go in the trash when we clean out wallets & purses - usually about once a week.

[Peela]

Mine go into my wallet....theres not so many that its ever been a problem.

Stuff that comes in the mail gets dealt with immediately- if its a tax deductable receipt, I have a file right next to my desk for it.

I also have a pin board for paperwork I need to attend to.

[Sparkle]

I have a big messy pile too :blushing: I'm supposed to be entering them every few days into the budget spreadsheet, but they usually accumulate until I enter them all at once at the end of the month. Bad, I know.

[hornblower]

We have a wicker basket for them inside one of our bookcases.

 

I don't enter receipts into Quicken - I download the data from the banks. I really recommend those of you using credit cards, check into that - it makes things SO much faster!

 

Once downloaded, I scroll through the items & categorize & label with tags. I usually remember things & if not, I quickly rummage through the basket to see what it was.

 

I throw out grocery & fuel receipts once they're in Quicken. The rest of the stuff just stays in the basket until it becomes unmanageable & then I shove them in a manilla envelope labelled Receipts Jan-July 2010 :D

[Dana]

I don't enter receipts into Quicken - I download the data from the banks. I really recommend those of you using credit cards, check into that - it makes things SO much faster!

 

I have caught errors so I'm glad I don't just download. It's never been more than a couple of dollars, but it happens at least a couple times a year. Often at restaurants where a tip isn't entered correctly on their end.

 

I once had a check that I wrote for $100 only be deducted from my account for $10. The fees there for missing the minimum would have been really rough, so I'm really cautious about just electronic work without double checking.

[hornblower]

I have caught errors so I'm glad I don't just download.

 

Well, I do agree that it's important to check them but it's still a lot faster to confirm a transaction than to enter it by hand.... and now that chip cards are pretty much standard here, there is no manual entry of tips!

[achristean]

Our receipts go into labeled envelopes and then into labeled shoe boxes. There have been enough times that I've needed a past receipt that I have just always held onto mine. I know. I know. It's the pack rat in me.

[RoughCollie]

I use Quicken. I enter the receipts when the charge hits the bank and I have downloaded it into Quicken. I keep track of every expense in various accounts.

 

I accumulate receipts in either a wicker basket on top of my printer or in a desk drawer, depending on my current organizational structure.

 

I toss receipts that I don't need. I file receipts that back up tax deductions in the current year's file. I staple receipts to the front of the manuals for anything I buy that has a manual, in case the item needs to be repaired and may be under warranty.

Edited August 24, 2010 by RoughCollie

[KidsHappen]

We use Money. I put the receipts in Money then drop them in a shoe box in my bottom desk drawer. At the end of the month, I put them in date order, rubber band them and then pack them away in a zip lock bag along with the rest of the ones from the current year. Once a year I dispose the previous year's receipts.

 

I don't use cash though. I only use my debit card. Only I can use my debit card meaning my kids can't come and ask for money to go to the store and get something. If need something, I have to get in the car and drive somewhere to get it. They really have to need something for me to be willing to do that. Anytime, I get cash for any reason my kids or my hubby show up will palms out. I think that they have a sensor in my purse that let's them know when cash shows up. So if I don't have cash, they don't have money. So the way to control spending in this family is to never have cash. (no cash = no money) Sorry, I don't have any cash (money). ;)

[Garga]

In a basket that sits on the piano bench (the piano is right next to the front door.)

[NorthwestMom]

Thanks for all of the great replies! It's interesting to hear other people's methods of managing their finances. I've figured not only how to manage my receipts (I'm going to put them in a little shelf in my kitchen which previously held post-it notepads), but also how to manage receipts for items with instruction books (Stapled on! Brilliant! Thank you, RoughCollie!).

 

:)