Do you keep your purchase receipts?
For how long if you do?
Or do you only keep certain receipts (IE; DVD's big purchases, or 'uh-oh I may need to return this' types)?


I keep them all until the end of the month, even gas purchases and little purchases. I just have a business size envelope on my desk and I put them all in there.

Doing this gave me a better idea of what I was spending and on what. Plus it helped if I forgot to write down something on my spending journal..I could go back and see if there was something from that date.

Most of them I throw away at the end of the month (gas and food purchases) but item receipts (DVDs home improvement etc, I do hang on to a few months....just incase.

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A great friend gave me an idea that she does. I keep a plastic shoe box that is where i put all my receipts not gas or eating out..but like grocery and everything else.
Then once a month i go through it and weed out ones i no longer need to keep.

this has been really helpfull to me to keep them all in one place.

I don't keep any receipts from Target...I LOVE their policy. If you paid with a debit/credit card they can look it up in their computer...LOVE THAT!

All other stores, I keep receipts if they are gifts or toys for either my kids or someone else. I keep them for about a month. The tags stay on if they are from stores that still tag their gifts (TJ MAxx, Kohls, etc)

I keep mine for so long! But they're organized in a shoe box, with envelopes for the stores I frequent more often (Kohls, Target, Walgreens). I have found that I go back well past a month and if I need to return something, at least I can get a credit to the store, without that receipt, I would get some obscene low price. As long as my shoe box is organized, its not overwhelming. I do not keep the grocery or gas ones...too many!

I have a tight control of the expenditures, so I don't need receipts for that. I keep debit and credit receipts until I see them on a statement. Then toss them unless thay are for an item I keep like clothing or furnishings. I buy so few of those kinds of things that I think I only put maybe 4 or 5 receipts a year in that box. Every year or so I look through there and see if I no longer own any of those things.

I do this as well. As soon as the charge appears on my AMEX statement online, I toss them. I will keep receipts for the big purchase items ~ I staple those to the Owner's Manual.

DVD receipts, I keep until we view the DVD once and it plays ok. After that, it's tossed.

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SAHM of 4

July food budget: $500 Total spent: $46.00
June food budget: $500 Total spent: $625

I used to only keep the receipts that pertained to taxes or big ticket items. After the start of the FTJ project I now am keeping everythng. I keep them in envelopes labled. I also am putting things down in my notebook but it is really eye opening to see what I have spent and on what. It also has made making some returns much easier because I have a receipt.

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i keep mine for 1 year in folders based on what they are in a single file box at the end of the year i keep out the ones for large purchases.

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Anything that has a warranty I staple the receipt to the instructions - I actually just got a new iron because it quit within the first year and I could actually FIND the receipt to send back.

All other receipts I save for a few weeks (until the check clears or the CC statement comes if applicable, or until the return period is over).

I'm the same.