Organizing Receipts

[Lizina Green]

I was wondering if anyone can share how they organize the mountain of paper receipts during a renovation? How long do you hold on to those receipts?

Thanks

[Linda Weygant]

During a renovation, I keep a very large envelope in my car like this one:

Since I'm usually shopping for stuff and then meeting contractors at the house to write checks (the checkbook goes in one section), everything can then just go into this tough folder.  You can't see it in this picture, but the ones I buy have a folding cover, so nothing can spill out of the top in case I end up doing a hard brake in my car and things go flying.  This also helps me find receipts in case I have to take something back for a refund or exchange.

Once the project is complete, I go through it and do a final organization on it, sorting all kinds of paperwork on the project.  If I had bills that came into the office, such as utility bills that stayed in the office, I add those to the file as well.  I include the closing documents for the property in there, write the name of the project on the front and file it for 10 years.  I keep it in my office for two years in a filing cabinet and then it goes off to storage after that.