Well, Spring has sprung. Since it is that time of year when many people do Spring cleaning, I thought I would post some ideas to help you get your “financial” house cleaned.
First thing is to purge your house of any unused/unwanted items. If you intend to donate these items, make a detailed list of what you are donating so you can properly deduct them on your tax return next year.
If you intend to sell the items, there are numerous ways for you to do it. Yard Sales, Craig’s List, and eBay are just a few ways for you to do it. Not only will you be cleaning your house but you’ll also be padding your wallet.
The next thing is for you to organize. This is an area that is near and dear to Steph’s heart because she L-O-V-E-S to organize.
While you are organizing, get your financial papers organized as well. Are you currently beating your head against the wall while doing your taxes, because you can’t find that “all important” receipt that you KNOW you kept?
Here is what I do to alleviate myself from that physical and fiscal headache. I utilize large manila envelopes. Each envelope is labeled with the appropriate tax year. Within the envelope, I paper clip the receipts together by income or deduction. I do that throughout the year in order to save time and frustration come tax time.
I know a lot of people utilize the “crowd favorite” shoe box. Think about it, if your are trying to save space, what takes up the least amount of space, a shoe box or an envelope? Remember, you need to save your receipts and tax returns for seven years in case you are “lucky” enough to win the IRS “lottery” and get audited.
Lastly, I’m sure all of us have piles of old bank statements. If you haven’t kept them in some sort of fashion, then now is the time! In order to save space, I have recently gone digital. I’ve utilized our Printer/Copier/Fax/Scanner/Coffee Machine (oops, went to far on that last one), and scanned in the old bank statements. I’ve also done this with all of my investment statements as well. You can then back up the data to a CD and put it in a fire proof box or safe deposit box. All it takes is one minor household disaster to ruin a bunch of paper. If your piles of financial paper get destroyed, some of it won’t be recoverable.
Don’t get caught unorganized. When trials happen, being organized will help you weather the storm.
Thanks SO much Bob and Kathy! We love you both very much! Onward and upward we all go…
thanks for the tips–I was encouraged to see I was doing something RIGHT! I too or we too also use the manila folders for the taxes. The bins look like a great idea–I guess I need to tackle the shopping phobe thing to purchase them to begin the task–we solved the holiday thing but by not buying any and throwing old stuff away just to ignore the organizing! The “elephant” in the room! I recommend a book, the House that Cleans itself–same ideas, so it is a confirmation to me; I think God is encouraging me to get organized–I just wish the thought of it didn’t make me break out in a sweat!!!
We copied the one about a Will–we praise God for the article because we are discussing or at least we printed and it is on our priority of things to do someday–this is something we ignored now for almost 20 years. We appreciate your upbeat and non judging way about you two! Thank you for this and all your weekly articles. Getting it a bit at a time all the time works!