Getting ready for taxes can be very stressful, especially if you are one of those people who just toss your receipts into a box or a drawer all year long. Here is a way to help.
At the beginning of each year, buy one of those big expandable file folder boxes (the ones with 12-16 sections and a handle on top) for around $10 at your local office supply store. Label each section:
Bank statements
Credit cards (I mark one file for my husband's cards and one for mine)
Medical/insurance bills
Tax materials (receipts from dropping off items to Goodwill, W2s when they arrive, articles about new tax laws that might apply to you at tax time, etc)
Telephone Bills
Utilities
Education receipts
Office Supplies
The idea is to have one place to keep the papers that you will need at tax time and do a presort on them. Then when you have to settle down and get ready to do your taxes, all the papers are in one place.
After you are done with your taxes, label the outside of the box with a big label stating the year and just store it away.
This saves HOURS of time and helps reduce the stress at tax times.
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