HOW TO ORGANIZE RECEIPTS: Organizing receipts can be both messy and challenging because of their awkward size and shape. Often, we buy things and aren’t sure if we should hold onto the receipt or not.

To err on the side of safety, I usually end up hanging onto those paper receipts for a few weeks or even months, depending on the purchase. Today, let’s explore how to organize receipts and end the clutter for good.

Need to get your finances organized? Get my free printable financial planner pages to help you get your money organized. It is a free digital download for you to print at home. You can see the sample pages below. You can find that here. Or, find my Bill Due Date Printable Calendar Page here.

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know my first step is always to declutter. Recycle or shred anything that is no longer useful. That should include receipts that are past their return date, receipts for items you no longer own, or receipts that contain private information you should keep confidential.

For those confidential receipts, I recommend using a paper shredder to protect your personal data. That is the best way to ensure your data isn’t compromised.

HOW TO ORGANIZE RECEIPTS

After you’ve decluttered, you are going to need to separate your receipts into categories. I prefer to separate mine according to the store where we made the purchase. You can also organize them by color-coding if that is your preference.

Next, you’ll need some plain cardstock file folders and a pair of scissors, as seen in the photo below.

Once you have your file folder and scissors, you will need to open the file folder and cut it in half, right down the crease of the fold.

You will then need to fold each piece in half to create a short and wide folder. Use the photo below to see an example.

You can do this with both pieces. Repeat this process to create several folders like the one shown below.

Next, we are going to label the folders. I labeled mine according to the store name, but you can do whatever works best for you and helps you keep track. The best way is the way that works for you and that you can be consistent in keeping. Then, you’ll want to use a shallow basket or something like I am using to create a file system. See the photo below for how mine looks.

Bonus Tip: I store all of my tags inside the folders with the corresponding receipt. This way, if I have a return or exchange to make, I have everything filed in one place. See the photo for an example.

You can follow the same practice to organize your business receipts and printed email receipts. For digital receipts, I like to screenshot them from my phone or scan them and then save them to my files on my phone or to Evernote. Evernote is a good option to organize receipts electronically. You can do this with your credit card statements as well.

On my desktop, I download my bank statements monthly. I also like to keep a record of my earnings and expense reports, since I am self-employed. Make sure you label them by month and year as this makes tax time so much smoother. You can also back up your desktop on an external hard drive to free up space.

If you are a small business owner, follow the IRS guidelines for business expenses so you will be ready for tax season each year without fumbling to find all your receipts. Also, consult a certified public accountant for specifics on tax deductions, what counts as tax receipts, and how long you should keep old receipts and canceled checks.

Good record keeping makes it easier on yourself and others and especially if you have a bookkeeper that you typically hand these items off to. If your record keeping is disorderly, it could end up costing you money if you aren’t keeping track of where your money is going.

When you are trying to clean out your file cabinet and go digital, Evernote is a great option to eliminate all of the paper clutter. Keeping paper receipts can be a hassle, so going digital can free up a lot of space. There are many mobile apps to help you get organized.

Whichever plan you use for receipt organization, just be consistent and form a daily or weekly habit of doing this. I do my business accounting monthly at the end of every month. This was you will have a better chance of locating everything if you reconcile those expenses on a routine basis.

I hope you have found this information on HOW TO ORGANIZE RECEIPTS beneficial and now have a better idea of how to organize your receipts and save time doing so. Subscribe to my blog for more tips and tricks for cleaning and organizing everything in your home.

As you are filing and organizing those receipts, be sure to read my post on how to organize your purse here. I also have an office declutter checklist you can find here.

Decluttering your home? You can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home.

You can find that here. 2022 update: The year long thorough declutter series is on video now. You can subscribe via youtube through the video shown in this post.

Struggling with the daily housekeeping chores? Check out my ebook on this topic, entitled Make Over Your Homemaking. Use this link to get it at a discounted price.

Need to deep clean? I have lists for you to guide you along.

My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.

My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.

My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.

My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.

My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.

Also, to keep up the general housework, you may need to create a daily housekeeping schedule that suits your specific needs. To do so, I have created a helpful series you can read here.

Need to Declutter Every room? I have declutter checklists for every room and every space in your home to guide you along below.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.

How to Declutter the Guest Room or Your Kid’s Room checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Laundry Room and Patio checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Coat Closet/Hall Closet/Linen Closet checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Home Office checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Attic checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Garage checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Living Room checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Kitchen Checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Entry/Foyer/Mudroom checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Clothing checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Bedroom checklist can be found here.

How to Declutter Your Bathroom checklist can be found here.

Need some Inspiration to Declutter? Join us for the Year Long Through Declutter Series by subscribing by email below. To subscribe, leave a comment below.

The Year Long Thorough Declutter Series is designed to help you declutter every room and every space in your home. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You can sign up here. It includes daily tasks, so you can track your progress. It also includes detailed lists to declutter each room and each space within your home. Subscribe below to receive your daily task. To subscribe, leave a comment below.

Happy Decluttering!  

New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:

Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can sign up here.

Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.

Step 3:   How do you remove clutter?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.

Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered. 

Interested in becoming a full-time blogger like me? Check out my blogging series. At the top of every page on my blog, you’ll find a drop down menu. Just select the BLOGGING category.

Check out the most popular posts on deemiddleton.com: 

14 Things That Make Your Home Look Cluttered

How to Do A 1 Day Declutter

How to Create a Daily Housekeeping Schedule

How to Clean House When You Are Completely Overwhelmed By Clutter

What is Preventing You From Getting Organized?

Also, check out a great post on decluttering over here from becomingminimalist.com. Joshua Becker has some great tips on decluttering and minimalism.

For further reading, check out the fly lady here. She has some great cleaning and kitchen decluttering ideas plus excellent organization tips to get you started.

I hope you have benefitted from my post on How to Organize Receipts. Leave a comment below to subscribe to my daily declutter task email series.