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The thing I find so frustrating with receipts is that the crapo ink they use now is heat something or other and it fades. By the time the IRS would audit me, I’d be handing them yellowed blank slips.
I think there are ways to digitize everything but this falls back in no wanting to adult. Dang it, I just want to do things once and simply and be done.
Thank you for responding. Glad that you have mastered the art of seperation and I will need to learn that skill at some point.
Haha, oh not mastered. Just getting braver and hoping it doesn’t bite me in the buns. I think we can all learn from each other. I hope at least!
Thanks for your response.I may have to get my daughter onto the payroll.
Thank you for the very detailed response. Really helpful
We most definitely can.
OMG, that is something that drives me nuts here in Mexico. I think they just use super cheap ink. If it’s a receipt I need to keep, I have to photocopy it right away- it’ll be a blank slip of paper within a week, even if it’s in a file folder in my file box.
My intent wasn’t to be condescending. It was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Try not to take responses personally- some of us have a sense of humor that might not be yours.
I run a upholstery business and property manage a small cabin next door to me, in addition to my in-home Airbnb listing. If I didn’t put receipts in the correct envelopes, as soon as I bring them home, and log the expenses right away, it would be a unsortable mess.
But I have friends who are always paying late charges on bills, not due to any financial issues, but because they are allergic to paperwork, throw everything in a pile that they then ignore.
Thank you very much for your response and clarifying the above. My sincere apologies for the misconstrued interpretation. The above is very helpful, thank you. Simple and straight forward solution. Do you not worry about losing or misplacing your receipts? I too am like some of your friends because receipts, invoices etc just gets piled up in an envelope. My intention is to deal with them when I feel up to it but that day never comes and receipts continue piling up.
Well, I’ve occasionally lost a receipt, but no, it’s not something I worry about. I prepare envelopes with the month written on them, and as soon as I get a receipt (if I’m home and someone has given me one), I put it in the correct envelope. If I’m coming home from buying things, I take the receipts out of my wallet as soon as I get home and do the same.
If the receipts come by email, I have folders in my email that I right away move them into instead of leaving them in my Inbox.
Someone else might need to label envelopes differently, like Utility Bills 2020, Supplies 2020, etc.
I might just put receipts in a pile for a week, but at the end of the week, I find 5 minutes to put them where they go.
Organized-type people do this sort of thing without having to really think about it (one of my pet peeves is having to search for things. Why have to waste an hour of your life looking for something when it would have taken a couple of seconds to just put it where goes in the first place?) - those like you who procrastinate dealing with paperwork need to think of it as tricks that will make your life easier and require much less time in the long run.
One of my grown daughters is like you- she just had piles of papers around and had to go through all of it when she needed something. Some things never did get found because her husband or kids would grab a piece of paper off the pile to scribble down a phone umber or a list and that paper got thrown away. So when I was visiting her once, I bought her a file box and a pack of file folders, then we sat down together and I labelled the file folders according to the paperwork she needs to save and we sorted through the piles, putting everything in the correct folder. Now all she has to do is put each new paper she gets in the right folder in the box.
Don’t hold your breath, Muddy, she may not change her ways.
There’s a spectrum, from so invested in organizing that too much time/effort are expended, to so disorganized that there are severe negative consequences.
This is also true. In that case, people should acknowledge their weaknesses (we all have them) and employ some help with things they aren’t good at. If you hate housework and don’t know how to clean properly and your house is always a dirty, chaotic mess, you need a maid (unless you just don’t care about living in a mess, but I find even messy people in fact do- they just don’t know how to deal with it). If you’re allergic to paperwork, ask your organized sister to please go through your pile of papers tossed carelessly on the shelf once a week or two, file them appropriately, and pay her for her time or take her out to lunch.
I switched last year to having all my deposits go to my PayPal account (they clear immediately rather than the 2-3 day wait on bank accounts) and I use that account for purchases as well. Paypal has now offered a virtual credit card so it works like Apple Pay. If I were to overdraw, I have my checking account set as the secondary account and it defaults automatically.
“My intent wasn’t to be condescending. It was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Try not to take responses personally- some of us have a sense of humor that might not be yours.”
Muddy, I thought your response was not helpful nor necessary. Only your friends know your sense of humor.
I’ve read many times on this forum that if we ask for feedback, be prepared for candid and sometimes brutal honesty. Fine. It is what it is.
I am asking for a certain amount of kindness wrapped up in the feedback given. It does not hurt.
My thoughts exactly. DIdn’t even say if the receipts were related to AirBnB or hosting.
Thanks again for the very informative post.
I use an Excel spreadsheet with all the categories in columns (maintenance, supplies, utilities, etc). As soon as I can, I log each receipt with the date, the vendor, the amount and then tab over to the category and enter the amount again. That way I have a running total for the whole year to date and a total for each category. My accountant suggested this.
Then I file all the receipts in a folder marked 2020 Expenses. I occasionally have to flip through to find something but it’s not difficult.
I doubt you’re the only one. It doesn’t have to be hard. People are recommending Quickbooks but there’s an easier, and less expensive solution, Moneydance. I used Quicken for 25 years but switched to MD. It’s fifty bucks and no subscription per year crap and it’s on your own computer, not up in the ether somewhere.
Do everything you possibly can by credit card or check and download credit card and bank activity (STR platforms pay into your bank account so you pick up income). Then you can sit down once a week and categorize everything. You don’t need separate accounts. Use tags to split your rental versus personal expenses and you can even split purchases between two tags. We get plowed and I charge our rental 20% of the cost. End of year you run a report for the “rental” tag, and you’re well on your way. This will also give you a realistic profit and loss statement for your business. Also get a scanner with document feeder and scan all your receipts, save them in appropriate folders and devise a consistent naming system, vendor name and either amount or date, homedepot121620 or walmart61.23.
Thank you for your valuable response casitacresta