Most people toss receipts out or tell the cashier to keep it, but that’s actually a bad idea! I always save receipts, and I’d like to share some reasons why. I can say that it’s a great idea to save receipts from up to two years past. You can sort them by month or per year in different ways, including accordion notebooks or folders. Check out some reasons why you need to save your receipts.
1. Peace of mind
Perhaps the main reason why you need to save your receipts is to have peace of mind. We can’t control what life throws at us, but if you have receipts you know where your money is going and you can be prepared for emergencies.
2. Proof of purchase
This is another reason to save receipts. Sometimes you may need to produce a receipt to get an insurance claim or when selling something to a second party, such as a home or a vehicle. Recently, my friend placed an insurance claim on a package lost through the mail and he was told he wouldn’t receive reimbursement unless he produced a proof of the parcel’s contents. Fortunately, he had a receipt and he received reimbursement.
3. Easy and quick returns
Another main reason to save receipts is for easy and quick returns! Lots of times we buy things and then decide we don’t need it or don’t like it. If you have the receipt, your returns will be easy! Especially when it comes to really expensive things, so keep your receipts.
4. Budgeting purposes
If you’re on a budget, you need to save the receipts just for budgeting purposes! Each month I categorize my receipts sorting them out in accordance with expenses. For instance, I have a category for gas, groceries, pet and vehicle expenses, and some other categories. When I look through my receipts at the end of the month, I see where my money is going and fix the areas where I may be overspending a little!
5. Taxes
Keeping receipts for tax purpose can be a big lifesaver, especially when coping with tax-deductible or the IRS and that kind of thing. The problem is you cannot rely on word of mouth or keep your fingers crossed that a company or store might have you in filing system for a loan or a purchase. Save your receipts in order to make tax season go by smoothly and efficiently!
6. Keeping records
I often pull out my receipts to check out where my money is going and make sure I’m not making duplicate purchases or spending money on small unnecessary things. I can also look back and see the main purchases over the past few months, and have good records of where my money went.
7. Reimbursement of expenses
The last reason why you need to save receipts is reimbursement of work-related expenses. If you are buying things for your company or you are traveling, saving receipts, especially if you have a company credit card, means that you can get reimbursed for any expenses you may have.
Do you save receipts? Why? Share your thoughts, please!
