Methods Madness Marathon!! Receipts!!

Your homework today is going to be quite easy!

Here is what you need to do:

• Go get 12 business size envelopes.
  
• Write a different month of the year on each.
  
• Take them out to the glove box of your car
  
• Leave the January envelope in your center console

OK..DONE!

I know, you are wondering why I am telling you to do this, so let me explain.

Keeping your receipts organized and checking them after every sale will save you quite a bit of money each year. Last year, I received $100 back thanks to having my receipts, AND I was able to get $1,000 refunded for a product that was a year old and there was a recall. Since, I had my receipt organized, I was able to go pull it immediately and the store gave me a full refund ( I did NOT want another of the product ).

Yesterday, I received $5 back. Before the Holidays, we decided it was time to move my 4 year old to a new booster seat. The one she was in was 5 years old and had reached it's expiration date. So, we shopped around until we found one we liked.

We got a good price on it, but when it comes to some products, you don't always buy the "cheapest" product. You look at other features, safety ratings, etc.

Well, I was shopping the same store yesterday and noticed her booster seat went on sale for $5 cheaper. Now, stores will do price adjustments at times, but it usually needs to be with a week or two after you buy the product. But, they will usually return products and give you a refund for approx. 3 months after you buy a product.

Since I was not able to get a price adjustment, I rebought the product at the new lower price. Then, since I always have my receipts categorized by month and in my car, I was able to pull the original receipt. I then immediately wheeled over to customer service and returned it with my old receipt. Thus, I got $5 back!

I will say, I do only keep 3 months of receipts in my automobile. After that, I move the 4th month into my file cabinet in the house. It just gets to be too much otherwise. But, I always keep 3 months, because I know I can return at most stores for that long.

Why else do I like my receipts organized? You never know when you will stumble upon a rebate for a product you bought and was within the date range. You can, again, quickly pull your receipts and mail in your rebate and get money back.

Finally, as I leave the store and head to my car, I ALWAYS read over my receipt before I get to the car and put it in the month's envelope. From restaurants to stores, I scan them all. It is amazing how many times products ring up wrong, are scanned twice or an item was missed.

In fact, I have an XBOX 360 game in my console now that I need to take back to Target and pay for...yes, it got missed and didn't get rang up. I had searched the receipt looking at prices to make sure they were right, not if something was missing. So, mistakes happen both ways.

As I mentioned yesterday, Kroger has a scan right guarantee and I utilize this quite frenquently. So many times, items ring up wrong. And, when that happens, I get it free. But, even if you aren't getting your item free, you still want the overcharge refunded. That is your money!

I know this is a super easy and straightforward method, but I honestly think people forget that just a small bit of organization can ultimately affect your finances. So, get those envelopes put together and out in your car!