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

    • bohn on 30/05/2022 - 16:40
      +2

      I claim a lot of stuff on 28degrees price protection. If they ask for the receipt I have it.

      • SgtBatten on 31/05/2022 - 09:56

        Yeah really wish i'd enabled that when i had the chance on my card

  • susannetsv on 30/05/2022 - 17:14
    +1

    I take a photo of the receipt, email it to myself and when I am at my PC I store the receipts in folders named what the product is and when I bought it. I also download a user guide and add that to the folder. I also find it useful to take a photo of the serial number/model number (usually on the product box) at the same time and add this into the folder because if you are not at your house, for example you are renting the property out, it can be difficult to get the serial number when you do a warranty claim for items such as air conditioners or hot water systems etc. This method is a little bit tedious but has saved me a lot of time and money. Recently a tap broke in my rental property. The plumber sent a quote to replace the existing tap with a no-name tap for $250. I was able to provide the receipt from 7 years ago and due to it being a Dorf tap it had a lifetime warranty so I got the tap replaced for free with another Dorf tap.

  • drprox on 30/05/2022 - 19:01

    Was I meant to keep these? Oh boy am I in trouble…
    (but in all seriousness if it's warranty required they all just get piled in a drawer otherwise bin)

  • Black Brown Blue on 30/05/2022 - 19:12

    Email photo to myself and keep in Receipts folders.

  • Kranbone on 30/05/2022 - 19:16

    I take a photo and then shred them. Eventually while archiving the photos I sort them into their own folder and just add the warranty duration for the item.

    It's actually been helpful on several occasions.

  • spendandsave on 30/05/2022 - 20:24

    Receipt Jar App that is meant to be used for rewards but also conveniently saves a photo of the receipts in app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.unocart.un…

  • jemichae on 30/05/2022 - 21:01

    Fujitsu Scansnap for me.

  • ATangk on 30/05/2022 - 21:15

    I save anything with warranty in a warranties folder on onedrive. PC parts, tech, etc. Else, the receipts just get chucked mostly.

  • a-friend on 30/05/2022 - 21:51
    +1

    Receipt in the box. Box in the garage. Date on the box.

    Bulky items receipt in email.

  • Matt P on 30/05/2022 - 23:58

    Take a photo, email to my gmail with a keyword spam title. "Receipt drawers tallboy chest main bedroom master ikea" etc..

  • kev88au on 31/05/2022 - 07:53

    YNAB is my single point of truth when it comes to our spending for the past few years.

    For the most part, I truly to get email receipts where I can which can be searched and recalled instantly.

    Beyond that, we used YNAB for our budget. And every transaction is searchable. So recalling a transaction and day isn’t very hard.

    • SgtBatten on 31/05/2022 - 09:58

      Same. I've got every transaction since mid 2013. makes it easy to then find it in my bank statement if "proof" is needed.

  • Duckie2hh on 31/05/2022 - 09:08
    +1

    What do you need these receipts for OP? I only keep some special ones for warranty purposes and I just take a photo of them and archive them away. Easy to search enough as google will pick out key words in the receipt (i.e., blinds, oven, etc).

  • tebbybabes on 31/05/2022 - 11:20

    I can scan them as soon as I get them… or more realistically after a two week pile has built up. I store them in evernote, labelled with the purchase date, purchase item, and recently, as well as the price paid + payment method.

    Now when I try to claim price protection from 28°, a quick evernote search sorts it out.

    The same receipts get several tags if needed, like tax deductible/deductible claimed.

    I also have a separate notebook of previous price protection claims in case the price goes done further later on, I can reference that.

    Dining receipts get scanned and stored in a separate PDF where I just keep adding pages. This is for salary packaging purposes.

    I realise this sounds like a lot of work, and truthfully it is - if I had a giant stack and I needed to do them all now. Realistically, I have a handful of receipts after a fortnight and it only takes less than 10 minutes a fortnight because the process is well organised by now.

    That little bit of my time doing this has paid off heaps in terms of the ease when it comes to tax time, price protection claims, salary packaging submissions, or indeed just remembering what I bought and how much I paid for it. In the end, the time I've saved as well as the potential cash I get back because I could actually find something instead of saying, meh, too much trouble to claim, probably has me way way way ahead.

    I hate Evernote's new pricing structure, but it has been an absolutely excellent electronic filing cabinet for me.

  • iDroid on 31/05/2022 - 11:34

    I have a shoe box, any receipt I want to keep goes in there - on the odd chance I need a receipt I dig in box and find it. I use a new box each year so makes boing back to find them a little easier.

  • inherentchoice on 31/05/2022 - 11:50
    +1

    Chuck most, but keep important ones on the side of the fridge for returns or warranty. Use a strong, rare-earth magnet, which can hold a fairly thick wad of paper. Periodically purge the receipts no longer needed, i.e. if the returns period or warranty period expires.

    I find this minimal effort, no need to scan/photo/rename etc.

    If I want or need to keep the box and/or a manual, often I will instead put the receipt in the box or in the manual.

    But also… avoid buying stuff in the first place.

    And another tip: buy used! Cheap household items with no receipt, returns or warranty to worry about.

    Vehicle maintenance/servicing receipts can just be kept in glovebox. Sell them with the car.

  • Sendthegoods on 31/05/2022 - 12:03
    +2

    I only keep whitegoods receipts or things that are actually worth keeping.
    A folder with clear plastic sleeves. You can readily flip through to find the receipt.

    Anyone in the family can easily contribute and use.
    Plus when you sell your home, you can easily give to the buyers.

  • blorx on 31/05/2022 - 13:10

    I scan with iPhone Notes as suggested, but then also transfer that to my OneDrive for organisation.

  • techlead on 31/05/2022 - 13:10

    I scan then shred them

  • junet on 31/05/2022 - 13:39

    The high value ones I upload to google drive and add to an insurance contents spreadsheet/flag as tax deductable. The other ones go to the worm farm :)

  • cupcake on 31/05/2022 - 14:21

    Wow. How come you don't have a shelf with a shoe box for each financial year for receipts?
    You need to get more organised. Put every receipt in there and then hand it over to your accountant at the end of every financial year.
    Only need to keep for 7 years just in case the ATO want to audit you.

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 31/05/2022 - 15:10

    Scan into iCloud using phone and name it accordingly so it's easy to find down the track.

  • squidz on 31/05/2022 - 15:20

    take photo, send to your gmail account using [email protected]
    type in the items as title
    it's in the cloud

  • DGrayson82 on 31/05/2022 - 15:28
    +1

    I put them in a filing cabinet and sort them by alphabetical order

    So if I need a receipt for a donut, I just go to D

  • Kamsi on 31/05/2022 - 15:31
    -1

    I let my other half do all the work :)

  • antonthenet on 31/05/2022 - 16:22

    I bought a pencil case and keep important receipts in there.

    Mainly big purchases that would have a warranty.

  • nikey2k27 on 31/05/2022 - 18:00

    might sound crazy but photo product and Receipt post on Facebook in my only see this setting. i know what it for as hold it.

  • evieee on 31/05/2022 - 18:13

    Ziplock baggy for each month
    Big purchases go in the warranties file
    Tax deductible things I’ll save the receipts to the cloud as well so it’s easy to find

  • CuteWittleCorgi on 31/05/2022 - 21:54
    +2

    Straight to the bin

  • Murdrum on 01/06/2022 - 08:23

    Take a photo, automatically syncs to Google Photos. The photo can be found by searching for 'receipts' or the store name.

  • morebunnings on 01/06/2022 - 08:38

    Usually take a photo and email it to myself with some keywords for easy searching incase I need it again. (Shop bought from, item name/model, any other search terms)

  • newjerseydamo on 01/06/2022 - 10:09

    "in the bin"

  • idonotknowwhy on 01/06/2022 - 10:57

    Can I actually throw out my old tax return binders with receipts from > 7years ago?

    • cupcake on 10/06/2022 - 16:11

      If you want to, yes.

  • echelon6 on 01/06/2022 - 11:23

    if i cant claim it on tax, it gets chucked. Unless I suspect I need to return it, in which case I take a photo before chucking.

    otherwise
    - fuel receipts stay in the car, they get processed at tax time
    - work deductions get entered onto a google sheet and the paper receipt gets archived
    - investment property expenses get funnelled thru prop manager so they get captured in the EOY ledger summary
    - all DIY deductible IP expenses get entered into the above gsheet - except bunnings, which is captured in the app. I process this at tax time too
    - all other big stuff (eg bank interest, dividends etc) are stored on provider platforms (eg netbank, commsec etc)

    I think I'm pretty damn organised when it comes to deductions

  • aldog on 09/06/2022 - 21:39

    Paper spike such as:
    https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/paper-spik…

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