Making every dollar count... means filing

I've been going through a lot of papers lately - determining what to keep and what to throw away. I always seem to do this about this time of the year - just when tax time is over and I want to make next tax time easier on myself. Over the last few years, I've been experimenting with different filing systems for my receipts/papers etc. Some have been dismal failures, others have been "okay". This time round, I think I've finally hit on the filing system that suits me.

The biggest thing that's worked for me is to finally understand the main reason *why* I'm keeping papers. I know that sounds really simple and obvious but to be honest, it wasn't until I got this light bulb moment that I finally realised why my filing was such a mess. I kept papers that were not necessary (but looked important) and as such those unnecessary papers just cluttered up the whole thing to the point where I couldn't find anything!

The main reason for my filing system is to make every dollar count. For me, this means using my system to keep receipts for tax refund claims, welfare claims and for insurance/warranty purposes.

The next big thing I've learnt is to keep it simple - for me this is essential. While I love the look of date-ordered, colour coded, cross-referenced, ultra organised files I am just waaaayy too lazy to keep up with the effort of making it look pretty. Better to have something that works as opposed to having something that unnecesarily creates work that I don't like doing. (NB: I do know people who *love* organising by month, colour coding/cross-referencing their receipts/docs so its not necessarily yucky work to them - my point is to have something that you don't mind maintaining for a long time.)

Of course, I also have a file for those important documents - such as my will, citizenship papers etc, but that file is left relatively untouched. As such its not really included in my "system".

So for me, my filing system now consists of three large folders - one for tax; the other for the Family Assistance Office (FAO);

In my tax folder, this is where I would literally throw in receipts for:

• children's education expenses (if you are receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A you can claim up to 50% of your child's extra education expenses, such as stationery, running costs for computer etc etc - see this fact sheet for details)
• my own self-education expenses
• work related expenses such as subscriptions to journals/magazines relevant to work etc
• Diary notes for any work-related travel I've paid for myself (just a scribble on a piece of paper noting expense and/or kilometres, date and reason for travel)
• medical expenses, including optical, dental and cost of prescription medicines (one thing I've learned is to KEEP those Medicare receipts! See this info for details of what other receipts to keep - at the end of the financial year, if the cost is *not* over $1,500 then I throw this component away)
• donations to registered charities over $2
• receipt of computer/office equipment (to claim depreciation)
• group certificate(s).
  

In my FAO folder, I would throw in:

• all the letters the FAO sends me; and
• all my childcare receipts.

In my insurance/warranties folder, I would throw in receipts, insurance papers and warranties of MAJOR items only. eg: my car, my house and my whitegoods. Everything else is covered under my house insurance (or is worth a lot less than my excess to bother claiming) so I no longer keep them.

And finally I have a *small* folder where I would throw in the receipts of monthly bills I've paid (and can't claim under tax), and small purchases if I'm likely to return/exchange those items. The aim of this folder is to throw all of the receipts out of this folder at the end of every month.

So that's my filing system for this year. I've realised that by keeping my receipts in order, I am able to easily claim everything I am entitled to for my tax refund. I am also able to reconcile my claims to the FAO and finally, if major things break, I have proof of purchase and warranty.

Oh and one final ESSENTIAL thing for this filing system (and this is a reminder to myself more than anything) - EMPTY OUT my car and handbag every day so I *can* put those receipts into the folders instead of losing them. Unfortunately this is where I seem to fall down. Having said that, since I've done my tax, I've been pretty good at doing this (2 months so far) - if anyone has any tips for keeping this up, let me know!

I would also love to hear what others do around their house for their receipts.
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Related post: Budgeting - its really not like cleaning the toilet

Related site for tax refund claims: http://www.femail.com.au/tax-tips-to-help-boost-refunds.htm
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