I just wrote a piece for the soon-to-launch “Little PINK Book” newsletter (part of PINK magazine). Unless you’re already supremely organized, you may find it useful.
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As spring approaches, thoughts turn to shorter hemlines and outdoor lunches. (So long, mercilessly dry skin! Hello, sunscreen!)
Almost as quickly, though, another feeling surfaces and this one isn’t all sunshine-and-happiness. Because isn’t spring also tax season? And weren’t you planning to come up with a better way to organize receipts by now, only you never did?
Paper receipts still litter the bottom of your bag, like the lining in some mama bird’s nest.
Solution: Turn to one of these nifty services for cataloging, organizing and accessing receipts.
- Shove them in an envelope and mail to Shoeboxed.com. The service scans your receipts, then allows you to securely search for them online by store name, date, total and so on. Cost: Beginning at $9.95 monthly. Another service, Pixily.com, is similar. Cost: Beginning at $14.95 monthly.
- Scan your own receipts with a NeatReceipts scanner and software. Bonus? It lets you divvy up purchases according to IRS tax codes. Cost: $199
- Want the fast and dirty (and free) solution? The Evernote application lets you snap photos of receipts then automatically synchronizes them to your desktop. Text within photos becomes searchable, so you can find and view what you need later.
With a better plan for organizing receipts, you may find that spring in your step after all.
(Photo from Shoeboxed.com)
3 comments
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January 29, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Gwen Bell
Met the Shoeboxed guys a year ago at their offices. Great team, really fun idea. Always kinda freaked me out to think about sending tiny, private bits of my life through the mail. So I didn’t do it.
Also, signed up for Evernote & just haven’t given it a fair try. This would be an AWESOME way to use it. Logging in now. Thanks for the kick in the a** — a reminder to do taxes now. Not April 15.
January 30, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Mom
Do people really have that many receipts? That they need to save? The horror … the horror. Maybe we could all just buy less stuff. [am I beginning to sound like someone who's living through an economic depression?]
ps – I’m glad you know me so you know I’m being ironic.
February 11, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Lizzy
I’m simmering the idea of turning each months accumulated receipts into collages. The problem is if they turn out well it might drive me to buy more stuff to get more receipts.
Just read through – good stuff Alice – Yay, Alice’s blog!