How to organize your receipts for maximum savings
Can you remember when you last spent any time organizing receipts? Do they often end up in a crumpled mess on your kitchen table, in a drawer or in your purse or wallet? If so, you’re not alone. Many people can’t seem to get a handle on organizing receipts – but it’s so important for money-saving success!
Scan receipts for cashback right away.
If you use cashback apps, such as Checkout 51, SnapSaves, Zweet or CartSmart, make sure you scan your receipt as soon as you’re done shopping so you don’t miss out on any cashback.
Also, most cashback programs have limited quantities of rebates available, so you want to make sure to scan your receipts right away to avoid missing out on a rebate.
Send off mail-in rebates right away.
Before the receipt gets misplaced or thrown out, submit it for your mail-in rebate right away. Most people buy items with the intention of sending away for a rebate, but they don’t do it right away, and in turn, lose their receipt and end up having paid for the item out of pocket that was supposed to be free (or discounted).
Fill out the rebate form, address the envelope, make note of the UPC code, and submit everything with your receipt, then watch your mailbox for your rebate!
Decide on an organization system.
For all receipts that don’t need to be sent away to claim rebates, you need to find a system that works for you in terms of organizing.
Why keep your receipts?
Just in case you need to return something to the store, or you are checking your credit card or bank statement for discrepancies and need to double-check a purchase.
I personally have a bin on my desk that collects receipts and paid bills. At the end of the week, I file them in a filing cabinet in my office. I use these categories for my receipts and bills:
- Utilities
- Life
- Miscellaneous (not much goes in here)
- Pets
- Clothing
- Entertainment
- Housing (mortgage)
- Groceries
- Insurance
- Transportation
Every 3 months or so, I go through the receipts and shred what I no longer need to keep. This keeps things neat and tidy for me! At the end of the year, I move all needed receipts/bills to a file folder for taxes, then start filling up my filing cabinet with receipts from the new year.
You don’t have to use my method, though. Here are a few other ways to organize receipts:
- Organize by date
- Organize my month
- Organize by store
- Organize by category
If you want to prevent paper clutter and obtain optimum savings, you need to organize your receipts in a way that makes sense to you. A way you will follow through with.
If you don’t, receipts will start cluttering up your life, and you will miss out on money from cashback programs and mail-in rebates, and you could also miss spotting unexplained purchases (when you’re balancing your credit card bill). So get those pesky little papers organized and start saving money!
Comments
A man I used to work with told me that he has a box and all receipts go into it for the year and then he puts an elastic band around them and has done this for decades. Decades! Like from the ’50s or something. And he still has them all!
I only keep two envelopes each month for cash receipts…one for Household (which includes groceries, pet food, miscellaneous) and one for Auto Fuel. These are all cash transactions paid during the month and do not include bills which I pay through online banking. On the outside of the envelope, I write the total amount that I have budgeted for the month. As each receipt goes into the envelope, I subtract that amount from what is left in the budget. That keeps me mindful of how much I have left and keeps all my receipts together. When a new month begins, I use new envelopes and keep the old ones filed away until I decide I no longer need to keep them.
I also like to keep receipts in case something I buy goes on sale in the following few weeks. For example, Target will refund you the difference if something you buy is cheaper in the two weeks after your purchase. Most stores will honour this type of price adjustment. Alternatively, you could buy the product again and return it on the old receipt to get the sale price.