Tips For Organizing Receipts

I'm Asking: How Do You Stash Your Receipts?

May 24, 2010

Like most SavvySugar readers, I take a receipt when it's offered to me. I figure if the cashier has already printed it, I might as well keep it. They stack up quick and for all my years of spending, I still haven't come up with an organized archiving system.

Logging receipts by category is an effective tool for better managing your budget, but it requires careful spreadsheet or envelope work. Help those of us who are drowning in paper by sharing how you organize your little spending records.

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6 Comments

Riverspree 2 years 49 weeks

It may seem like a silly thing to save receipts but I can't tell you how many times it's saved my skin. I keep them in a file cabinet for 90 days, which is how long most stores take items back and it helps me organize and track my spending easier. For big items ($100+) I keep them in a folder in my fire safe for a year, this actually helped me so much after my apartment burned down around Christmas a few years back, managed to get everything reimbursed right down to the star on the top of my tree.

3 years 1 day

I save them for 6 months ... They are categorized in a small file system according to alphabetical order to the store's name. If I have/want to make a return on a previous purchase ... or even get an adjustment on the purchase price ... I have the receipt(s) & end up saving a few dollars here & there!

skigurl 3 years 1 day

For regular everyday retail and restaurant reciepts, I usually take them, put them in my wallet, and then never look at them again and throw them out the next time I think of it...but for important ones, I file them in my income tax file or in the associated file like "house stuff" or "car stuff" or whatnot

supercoolnat 3 years 1 day

Generally I throw it out after it's been accounted for in my credit card or bank accounts, which I check online regularly (rather than waiting for a statement). Specific ones I keep longer, such as medication costs for FSA reimbursment. Or car repair ones, for my car records.

candy2007 3 years 2 days

I do the same thing as brisas.

brisas 3 years 2 days

I try to keep mine in an envelope for the month. Once the month is up, I will go through and make sure they all have been accounted for in my mint account. Once the month is up unless I think I might be returning something or it is was a large purchase, I shred the receipts!

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6 Comments

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