Receipts - What Do You Do with Them

Updated on February 11, 2013
M.T. asks from Antioch, TN
18 answers

Do you ask for a receipt on everything you buy? What do you do with them? Do you toss them after a certain time and when? Do you keep them and why?

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A.T.

answers from New York on

I keep them,record them in bank acct book and throw out. If it is electronics, I file away until the warrantee expires. BPA on receipts???

3 moms found this helpful
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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Hate receipts!
Usually I toss on the way out the door.
If it something that might need to go back (clothes for kiddo) I put on fridge til he tries on.
My husband is a receipt fanatic...but that's another story...

1 mom found this helpful

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B.

answers from Augusta on

hubby insists any receipts that have our names on them be shredded. I keep receipts with stuff that might be taken back , if I know it's not going back it gets thrown in the trash. I don't see a reason to keep them, that's just more clutter

4 moms found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

I look over my grocery receipts for errors before I leave the store. We have a "scanning code of practice", and if there is an error on the receipt I get that item free. (I don't know if that code is everywhere or not.) I keep receipts for items that may need to be returned. I keep receipts for big ticket and electronic items that would be under warranty. I get receipts for things that will be reimbursed by a third party. I keep receipts for anything I might claim on my taxes.

When I first became a SAHM I kept every receipt for a couple of months just to see where we were spending money to create a budget.

4 moms found this helpful
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B..

answers from Dallas on

I hate receipts. I don't keep receipts unless it's an important item. Electronics, car repairs, etc.

ETA: Science has proved BPA is bad. Trusting the plastic industry saying BPA is fine, is like trusting a politician to teach us integrity.
Also, the amount on a receipt may not hurt you, BUT people are getting BPA from everywhere. It's the accumulation that is scary and devastating to our bodies.

3 moms found this helpful

~.~.

answers from Tulsa on

Receipts for electronics, big ticket items, or items that have a warranty get saved. Usually I buy these items online, so there actually isn't a paper copy for me to keep. Business trip expense receipts get tossed after I get my reimbursement. All other receipts get tossed immediately.

3 moms found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

My husband keeps every freaking receipt. He says he does it because he needs them. Granted he has piles of them and never looks at them but he needs them.

I don't keep receipts unless I need them. Like big ticket items that I may need to return.

3 moms found this helpful
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K.L.

answers from Washington DC on

I have 3 envelopes in my kitchen drawer labeled 1) Visa, 2) Target, 3) Kohl's (for my 3 credit cards). I keep all receipts until the bill comes and then I match the receipts with the bills to make sure everything is good. Once I know the credit card bills are accurate I throw the receipt out unless I think I might return something. I keep receipts for things like my kids' clothing for about 2 months. My girls and I did a little shopping today. I'm not convinced my daughter loves some of the things we bought her. I hung those things up in the closet, put the receipts in an envelope. If she doesn't wear that stuff I'll bring it back (within 30-60 days) In the past I've wasted too much money buying them clothes they don't end up wearing, so I started this new system a couple of years ago. I don't return much, maybe a couple items per season.

2 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

I have an envelope in my purse that holds my receipts for the month.

I go through them at the end of the month when I balance my checking account to ensure all figures match. Once they are matched and it was nothing with a warranty or anything that has a problem - I shred them.

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L.G.

answers from Austin on

Yes, I have to keep all of our receipts. Because of our tax status, it is a bigger tax deduction for us to claim all of the sales tax we pay than to claim the state and local income tax. So I literally add up the sales tax on every receipt. We have other deductions as well for which I need receipts.

Because I keep track of all of our deductible purchases by month, my receipts are also organized by month. I keep them for 3 years and then toss unless it was something that added to the value of our home. I keep those until I have filed the return on the sale of the home, plus 3 years. 3 years is the statue of limitation on tax forms unless you fail to claim income, fail to file, or file fraudulent forms. None of those apply to me so I don't have to keep my general receipts any longer than that.

Check with your insurance company to see if you need to have receipts for any of your belongings in the case of a claim. I have receipts on all large items.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Whenever a purchase is made, there is a receipt that prints out. From a cash register. Even if it is a cash purchase.
Some clerks will ask if you want the receipt. I say yes, and take it with me. I don't want, the receipt to be just tossed somewhere or kept, by whomever works there, because receipts that are purchased by credit card or debit card, will sometimes have the last 4 digits or your card printed on the receipt.
Sure it is not your entire card number, but I don't want the receipt floating around somewhere.

Once I get my receipt, depending on what type of purchase it was, I either throw it away at home/shred it, or I keep it just in case I have to make a return or there was an error.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Tampa on

I do get a receipt since I use my checkcard for practically everything. Once I have logged the charge in my check register, I toss them...Usually I update my checkbook about once a week.

1 mom found this helpful
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D..

answers from Miami on

I'm terrible with receipts. I put them in a big drawer and leave them there just in case I need them. Once in a long while, I clean out the drawer and throw away those I don't think I will ever need. If it's a big thing, like an appliance or work done on the house, I put those receipts in a file (hopefully to never look at again!) For anything that can be used for taxes, I throw in my tax drawer and then give them to my husband once a year.

My M., on the other hand, uses her receipts every month to check against her bank account and her credit cards. She is great with that. I can't stand doing it, though I think it's really smart.

Don't know if this helps you or not...

Dawn

1 mom found this helpful
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L.M.

answers from Peoria on

I usually toss them unless I've bought something I think has the potential of being returned. I save receipts for gifts I've given for a while, just in case, but the day to day stuff gets tossed.

1 mom found this helpful
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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I keep big ticket item receipts like for a tv taped to the manual.

I keep receipts for gifts I buy for 30 days (or for the amount of time the
receipt states the return policy is for) then throw them away.

For Christmas presents, I keep them for 90 days.

Loan paperwork for a car? I keep for as long as I own the car in a file.

Receipts for tire rotations, oil changes? I keep them all in a file until I sell the car to show the upkeep of the car.

Gas receipts? Only for 2 wks until I reconcile my bank statement then
toss.

1 mom found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

i only keep receipts for things that are big-ticket, or that might need to be returned. most receipts (grocery store, gas, horse feed) get tossed.
appliance and electronic receipts get kept for a long time.
clothes and shoes until i'm reasonably sure they're going to work out (or until they've been laundered and we're stuck with 'em<G>.)
khairete
S.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.O.

answers from Detroit on

I usually tell the clerk not to give me one since they have BPA on them, that's absorbed in the skin. Or I throw it out. If it's a huge purchase I keep it.

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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

My husband used to be independent and we had to save receipts so I just got in the habit of saving. I have a box that I put all them in and sometimes I have been glad I did because I have needed to go back and track something. I do use credit cards but sometimes I needed the actual receipt. I put them in with all the tax stuff at teh end of the year and hold on the same way I do everything else.

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