How Do You Manage Your Household Receipts?

saintpotter on 28/05/2022 - 11:50

We have recently moved in to our own place and after 6 months of numerous spontaneous purchases (many of which were not required), the one observation we have is that WE HAVE SO MANY GODDAMN RECEIPTS!

Initially we thought we thought we would scan them right away on to our iphone "notes" section but this seems to be a little onerous and not the easiest to search through when you need to initiate a return. Now, we're just piling them up into a folder but also doesn't seem to be the most effective method.

So…I ask you ladies and gentleman of Ozbargain…how do ya'll manage your household receipts?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • onetwothreefour on 28/05/2022 - 11:53
    +40

    Chuck em.

  • Hybroid on 28/05/2022 - 11:54
    +21

    Honest answer: Have a spare bottom drawer in kitchen where they all get shoved into, as well as other "might need this someday" junk.

    Might not be organised or tidy but I know if I ever need something that it's there. I have never needed anything from that magical drawer to-date though…

    • orangetrain on 28/05/2022 - 13:46

      Sounds like you haven't done this for long.

      Paper lice.

      • Fobsessive on 31/05/2022 - 22:14

        Paper lice?? Laughs in endless pandemic.

    • Euphemistic on 28/05/2022 - 15:19

      I thought it was meant to be the third drawer.

      https://youtu.be/xpnxedNxK3o

    • MassEffect on 30/05/2022 - 15:15

      That's where all our reusable shopping bags go lol.

      • Hybroid on 30/05/2022 - 15:25
        +1

        I use the sink in the laundry cupboard for that. All neatly folded up and stored there. Never needed that tap.

  • oscargamer on 28/05/2022 - 12:11
    +51

    Thermal receipts fade fairly quickly. For purchases that might need a warranty claim, I photograph the receipt and stick that photo in a 'receipts' folder.

    • PopCounty on 30/05/2022 - 18:25
      +3

      A tag would also help.

      Also, for iPhone, try searching for store name in Spotlight Search. Say Bunnings or something. And look below for results. If you have captured pics well, you should see list of all those photos/receipts there. Win-win.

    • od810 on 31/05/2022 - 17:05
      +1

      This. I start doing this and also online shopping with C&C is my prefer choice for this reason.

  • zonra on 28/05/2022 - 12:25
    +13

    I tend to order online or click and collect to have electronic records.
    If you’re planning to keep paper reciepts for waranty purposes (1-2 years+) I’d be inclined to scan and store them electronically due to fading.

  • 7ekn00 on 28/05/2022 - 12:26
    +2

    Apps like Notes and/or Keep easily capture store and search for these sorts of things!

  • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2022 - 12:45

    i don't bother, but i have found a few old receipts and they were all faded so much that i could barely make out the date on them, some of them i couldn't even tell what the item was supposed to be or how much it cost.

  • jace88 on 28/05/2022 - 12:59
    +8

    Ask for electronic receipts.

    But failing that, I always scan and save to OneDrive.

  • SF3 on 28/05/2022 - 13:05
    +8

    Take Photo -> Add to Album.

    • Gr8deel on 31/05/2022 - 16:53

      this is simplest and easiest

  • Benoffie on 28/05/2022 - 13:05
    +5

    Electronic receipts are stored in categories in emails/folders when downloaded.

    Paper ones I have expandable document folders.

    • household (that stays with the house)
    • other household (appliances, garden, utilities etc)
    • pets
    • cars
    • children
    • one each for work/tax per adult

    After 20+ years and having to keep receipts for 7+ years, you get a system sorted.

    • reactor-au on 29/05/2022 - 08:46
      +2

      I have similar setup, been good for 10+ years. Some receipts have faded but the majority are still fine.

  • Muzeeb on 28/05/2022 - 13:21
    +3

    Most thing of any value to worry about warranty are purchased online and my tax invoice is an email.

    I use my right index finger and drag it to my 'receipts' folder.

  • vt on 28/05/2022 - 13:41
    +3

    Use a scanner with optical character recognition (OCR) so you can carry out searches on the PDF file afterwards.

    • drfuzzy on 31/05/2022 - 15:06
      +1

      Taking a receipt all the way to a scanner and powering it up is a good way to ensure you never scan anything.
      Only way I can be disciplined is to photo on my phone immediately.

    • derrida derider on 01/06/2022 - 20:12

      Dunno about iphones, but there are plenty of camera apps in the google Play Store with OCR built in and designed pretty much for this sort of task. Google even makes one itself (Lens).

  • MeesusEff on 28/05/2022 - 13:45

    Shoebox. But I mostly try to buy online so I don't have to worry

  • moo on 28/05/2022 - 14:34
    +7

    Google Drive app has a scanning feature, which scans and crops the receipt. Works pretty well.

    • FirstWizard on 31/05/2022 - 12:56
      +1

      this!!

      Can search in the receipt as well!

      • moo on 31/05/2022 - 16:21

        Could ya search? Didn’t realise that!

  • bohn on 28/05/2022 - 15:07

    Genius Scan which defaults to sending it to my Nexcloud.
    Can search Nextcloud for the contents of any of the receipts

  • ChipsChicky on 28/05/2022 - 16:37
    +3

    I made a Notebook for such receipts in EVERNOTE and scan any that may be required later in that, Principle is to scan it asap you get it, dont delay.

    • geoffs87 on 30/05/2022 - 09:46
      +1

      Yep there’s an app called scannable I use to scan, and then name the receipt and save to folders in Evernote. Different folders for tax year, different ones for purchases for our house etc

    • LSGH on 31/05/2022 - 11:48

      is Evernote better than google Keep?

      • ChipsChicky on 31/05/2022 - 12:28

        I have been using Evernote for 10+ years. I haven't seen a better interface comparatively. Google Keep is very basic i think.

        I looked into Notion but its very complex and import from Evernote wasn't working so i am just using Evernote. Hope they can bring some real updates.

  • Godric on 28/05/2022 - 17:06

    Dump, any important receipts take a photo of, then dump

  • Chris Topher on 28/05/2022 - 17:17
    +6

    I installed Wife V2 who manages them.

    • SillySorjai on 30/05/2022 - 13:44
      +2

      What was wrong with Wife V1?

      Trying to work out whether I should upgrade or not…

      • drfuzzy on 30/05/2022 - 16:50
        +1

        I wouldn't recommend Girlfriend V9 either.
        No aftersales support or warranty.

        • ATangk on 30/05/2022 - 21:15

          Thats because we all know that V9 doesnt exist, its imaginary. They went from V8 straight to V10.

        • Castcore on 31/05/2022 - 15:16

          Sounds like you need to downgrade to a stable release.

  • Rako on 28/05/2022 - 18:27

    Doxie – portable scanner better results than using a phone https://www.getdoxie.com/ can save receipts, photos, documents as pdf with or without ocr, Png & Jpg
    Hope this helps you to go paperless

    • Save Medicare on 30/05/2022 - 10:00
      +4

      This is portable in the sense that a portaloo is portable, not in the sense that a MP3 player is portable

  • bazingaa on 28/05/2022 - 20:53

    drawer in kitchen

  • bdl on 28/05/2022 - 22:05
    +4

    Scan them then https://github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx

  • isthisreallife22 on 28/05/2022 - 22:11
    +5

    I have an Evernote widget on the front screen of my phone called "Scan Receipt" and when I launch it it creates a new note in my "Receipts" notebook and launches the Evernote camera in scanner mode.

    I try to scan every receipt before I leave the shop.

    Then I quickly name the receipt e.g. one today

    2022-05-28 Target - Vase, Kids dress

    They come in handy quite regularly

  • adam on 28/05/2022 - 23:47
    +5

    Only ask for the ones that need to be kept (for warranty) & scan them. Avoid/chuck the rest.

  • SlickMick on 29/05/2022 - 07:33

    There are good apps that correct poor photos and let you categorise them.
    I use camscanner for business. I don't want to risk mixing up personal stuff so I just take photos of those.
    When I upload my photos, the plan is to have categorised folders of receipts, but in reality I don't organise my photos.

      • SlickMick on 31/05/2022 - 08:59

        Thanks, if you were legit trying to be helpful, but that's old news. Camscanner was removed from play store until that could prove that their software was okay (they removed the module Kaspersky questioned, but disputed the risk) and are back again.

        Meanwhile, I couldn't click your link because kaspersky is no longer trustworthy.

  • Trekky on 29/05/2022 - 08:14

    I put them aside till I put them in my budget (excel spreadsheet). Credit card ones I keep and attached to my statements. Cash ones I throw out (as they are usually $20 and below)

  • huggzz2u on 29/05/2022 - 08:21

    I like the idea of taking photos and making an album but I take too many photos. So for years now they go in an old box that a bunch of flowers were delivered in and maybe every 2 years I pile them up and chuck out old ones. Online purchases the email has its own folder.

  • Gumby08 on 29/05/2022 - 08:48

    I use the Scannable app to scan the receipt, save as PDF named [item] [store] [date] then save into Evernote.

  • rektrading on 29/05/2022 - 08:50
    +4

    how do ya'll manage your household receipts?

    Managing by not spending 💵.

  • Drj55 on 29/05/2022 - 11:21

    Scan to evernote. My brother a3 scanner will import to evernote automatically but I need to assign to receipt folder. Saved my ass so many times.

    A years worth of work related fuel receipt get stored in a pouch in the car and then they go into an envelope. This gets stored… somewhere (ask wife) but assume they will all be faded to blank when needed!

  • DDoug on 29/05/2022 - 11:23
    +1

    If you're just starting out in your own place, it might be worth investing in an inventory app. I got Home Inventory for $9.99 in Mac App Store* and have been pleased with it. Input is easy. You can insert photos or scans of the items, receipts, warranties, serial numbers etc direct from your phone, or from files. This is for 'keeper' items obviously, and you get an ongoing record of your home contents for insurance purposes, with reports you can produce and save in emails or cloud. After some initial input time, it only takes a few minutes once a month to keep it up to date.

    Day to day or small item receipts get folded up and dated on the outside and put in a shoe box. Kept for two months then binned.

    *must be loads of PC equivalents.

    • DDoug on 29/05/2022 - 11:25

      Also - searching is a piece of cake.

  • The Hawk on 29/05/2022 - 12:13
    +1

    Once upon a time I had (well technically I still have it) a filing cabinet. Then I took the contents to work and ran it all through the big MFD scanner and kept doing that about once a month with anything new that came in.

    These days I have my own printer with a sheet fed scanner and while less and less comes in hard copy, those things that do go into the scanner which saves onto a network drive.
    When I remember I pick up that folder, feed it through OCR and rename the files and move them into my recepts folder.

    If I ever need anything it's a quick search and BAM, there it is (and when it's not it's probably in my email and I didn't bother saving off a copy).

    You don't really need an app if you can OCR the documents since all the details are on the receipt and search does the rest.

    …now maybe I don't really need every receipt, power bill, council rates notice from the early 2000's until now… but here we are :P The total size on disk is just under 1GB so it's hardly a storage problem and every now and again it comes in handy.

  • LFO on 29/05/2022 - 13:29

    Scan them into a digital form.
    Named as date and shop.
    Store.
    Shred paper copy.

    Yes, you'll never ever use them again but at least you might have them if you would …

    • skittlebrau on 30/05/2022 - 11:55

      This is exactly what I do with all receipts stored as PDFs. I also can access all my receipts on my phone that are on my NAS.

  • Seraphin7 on 29/05/2022 - 13:47

    What sort of stuff are we talking about?

    Anything less than about $50, if it works/fits on day one, take the punt. Life's too short to be filing receipts for every conceivable purchase.

    • Vote for Pedro on 30/05/2022 - 08:57
      +2

      I bet there’s some that keep the receipt for the $7 kmart kettle in case it breaks in 11 months.

      • tebbybabes on 31/05/2022 - 11:09

        I don't keep the receipts but scan them and use them for price protection claims.

        • Vote for Pedro on 31/05/2022 - 11:39

          You keep the receipt for the $7 kmart kettle for price protection?

          • tebbybabes on 31/05/2022 - 12:54

            @Vote for Pedro: Since it's already setup in my workflow, (see longer post below), yes. I don't have to do anything special. It just joins the small pile I have for scanning and filing.

  • kiwijunglist on 29/05/2022 - 16:01

    Take photo, email myself with the subject being "receipt - item name" and include any keywords I might search for later. Then archive then in a folder called receipts.

  • skillet on 29/05/2022 - 16:26
    +1

    If you could decide on a system/app then you can start now, scan the receipt with your phone as soon as you get it then it will be all digitised instead of piling up in a big bunch.

    For the big bunch you have now expired them in a few years after the warranty out.

  • Vote for Pedro on 30/05/2022 - 08:55
    +1

    Bin mostly.

    Anything that has warranty is a plastic tub with lid in garage. Its where i dump manuals ‘just in case’ as well.

    There really aren’t that many that you need to keep.

  • connorlo on 30/05/2022 - 09:10

    I use https://www.waveapps.com/ (not affiliated), created free account and they have a receipt scanning app, simply open the app and scan the receipt, then on the web I can access the receipt (with search abilities - though I haven't had to search for a few users so can't remember to what extent)

  • IMadeYouReadThis on 30/05/2022 - 09:24
    +1

    Dropbox scan with the name of store and sometime with item name if the item is expensive e.g. Bunnings Digital Lock May 2022

  • Poor Ass on 30/05/2022 - 09:50

    a cover page with many rows with columns date, item, warranty period end date, method of payment

    as per the receipts photo copy a few on one side of an A4 and then use up the other side for another few receipts

    keep the A4 page receipts and discard the small loose receipts

    or the same method above but stored electronically

  • islask on 30/05/2022 - 09:51

    Dropbox scan document feature is great for this.

  • mrdang on 30/05/2022 - 10:07

    Take photo of the receipt and email it to myself with details so I can easily search for it at a later date if required.

  • Dr Techno on 30/05/2022 - 10:36
    +3

    Use the ACCC shopper app https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/tools-resources/accc-shoppe…

    • Username Goes Here on 30/05/2022 - 18:38

      This ^^. Very good app.

    • Chandler on 01/06/2022 - 07:53
      +1

      Had seen the app before and had a look to see if there was a way to export your receipts if you wanted a backup, to transfer them elsewhere, etc. Didn't find a direct answer, but the top two comments (for me) were:

      1. "if you lose your phone you lose all your receipts."
      2. "Useful if you never lose, break or upgrade your phone…"

      So not for me it seems.

      • idonotknowwhy on 01/06/2022 - 10:55
        +1

        You saved me 15 minutes, thanks.

  • dbun1 on 30/05/2022 - 10:40
    +1

    I scan them using a scanner app on my phone that syncs back to Google Drive so I have a backed up copy.
    With text conversion I can then search for key words and generally can find anything quickly.

  • lachhelix on 30/05/2022 - 10:42

    I have a big box in my cupboard with literally every receipt (including things like McDonald's and lunch) since 2009
    Useful? Not particularly
    But if I ever need to find a receipt for something I can 😂

    • Tony-Abbott on 31/05/2022 - 10:57
      +2

      So you're a hoarder then?

      • lachhelix on 01/06/2022 - 01:42

        Yes - albeit, the boxes are neatly stacked if that helps in my defence at all…

  • Random206 on 30/05/2022 - 10:50
    +1

    My partner and I use SwiftScan app, and have a folder on Google Drive set up and shared between us.
    SwiftScan allows you to take a photo of a receipt and it automatically uploads to a folder on Google Drive (or other cloud storage).

    We then have a naming convention {Shop Name} - {Main Item Name} - {Personal/Gift} - Invoice - {Date}.pdf
    This way we can easily search Google Drive by the shop name, or the item purchased, and Personal or Gift lets us know if we still have the item or if we gifted it to someone as we might have bought the same item twice, once for a gift and once for us if we wanted the item too.

    Once it's uploaded, we simply shred (if it's a big ticket item), or throw out the receipt.

    Works well and periodically we'll go through and clear out any receipts we no longer need.

  • cunningdrew on 30/05/2022 - 10:51
    +2

    My wife gives them to me, I pay them.

  • Nebargains on 30/05/2022 - 11:07

    Turf them, unless it is an expensive item in which case it probably came with an A4 invoice or something anyway. Thermal receipts fade super quick.

  • Zephyrus on 30/05/2022 - 11:12
    +1

    I only bother storing if there's a chance I'll need a warranty or it's a business expense. There's 0 chance I'll need a restaurant/supermarket receipt.

    I just scan both and shove them in a draw just in case.

  • RSmith on 30/05/2022 - 11:45

    Ziploc on a monthly basis.

  • bohn on 30/05/2022 - 11:57

    Interesting seeing some of the methods people use. For some of them, there are some big advantages. If your favourite TV show has finished and there's nothing else to watch, you always have your receipts procedures to fall back on ;)

  • jonagrah on 30/05/2022 - 13:00

    I take a photo and upload them to my Google Drive. Delete them once the warranty has expired.

  • aimon on 30/05/2022 - 13:38

    evernote

  • Cheesysmiles on 30/05/2022 - 13:57
    +1

    Scan receipts and save as PDF
    Name each receipt starting with:
    1. Place of purchase
    2. Brief Description of Purchase
    3. Date of Purchase

    E.g. a white T-Shirt from Kmart might look Like This
    "Kmart - White Tshirt Receipt - 300522"

    Then file away accordingly

    • drprox on 30/05/2022 - 19:02
      +1

      I found Hermes Conrad!

  • jerjergege on 30/05/2022 - 14:19
    +1

    If tax deductable, put it into the tax folder.

    If technology or something that warrants the keeping of the recepit that is not digital, keep it in a file.
    I have an email folder which is for saving digital purchases and receipts.

    If its the usual grocery or whatever, never ask for receipt.

  • Needausername on 30/05/2022 - 14:26

    Scan and sort them in folders structure, something like this.
    [Drive]
    |__purchased by
    |__Date
    |__Shop
    |__Receipt #

    If average around 20 per year, just a simple excel sheet (column for each folders, item description and receipt folder path)
    If average around 100 per year, you may need a receipt software

  • mightyrooster on 30/05/2022 - 14:43

    Use the Eggy app, on the App Store or Play Store - https://eggy.as/

    Use it to organise your life, not just your receipts

  • SgtBatten on 30/05/2022 - 15:33

    What do you all do with these receipts?

    Apart from a tax deductible expense which is lucky to be 1 a year, I either decline taking them or throw them away immediately. You can use a bank statement as proof of purchase for warranty purposes.

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