Receipt Keeper--How I Manage Some of My Chaos

This is my handy, dandy little receipt keeper. I love my little receipt keeper. It gives me peace in my life. I used to keep every little scrap of paper that entered my house, but not anymore. The cure for me (although I certainly don't recommend it or wish it upon anyone) was to have a house fire. Not an intentional house fire, mind you, but it was effective all the same.  That was the beginning, and now I am no longer attached to my little paper bits.

I have a section is this little guy for each of my bank accounts, and in those, I file debit card receipts, ATM receipts and deposit slips. Then I have sections for my credit cards, and in those I file receipts from my naughty excursions for retail therapy. I only keep receipts until I get my statements, and this is what makes this system so effective for me. When I get my bank statement, I pull out all the debit card receipts and deposit slips that are listed on that statement and I shred them. The only time I would keep a receipt is if it were something I needed to keep for documentation purposes (things with warranties, gifts that have not been given yet, etc.).

As you can see from the bulging first section, I have the most receipts for our checking account and that is full of mostly debit card receipts. I cannot really be trusted to use my real credit cards responsibly, so I force myself to use my debit card for everything. This has a tendency to raise my blood pressure at times because I still make impulsive purchases. The only difference is that instead of being able to blissfully forget about my purchases until I get my statement, I leave the store freaking out in my head "Oh crap, how am I going to juggle the budget to cover this?!!!" Then I drive home, deep breathing and mentally calculating which expense I will have to cut back on to pay for my impulsiveness. It always surprises me that as often as this happens, we still manage to pay our bills on time and everything works out.

So, if you feel like you are getting buried in receipts, pick up one of these handy, dandy little plastic file pouchy thingies and get those receipts corralled. Just don't forget to shred them once you get your statements and you will never be buried again. You can find them in most any store with an office/school supply isle.