It’s that time of the year again. Do you know where your life insurance documents are? What about your children’s daycare receipts, or the bill for the magazine subscription that you purchased for your office last year?
If you’re not organized, tax season can be in incredibly stressful time of year. However, taking a few simple steps to track your receipts now can make for a stress-free tax filing this year — and for each year going forward. Try our easy organizational tips below.
Find your receipts. Now.
While you’re probably dreading the inevitable search through your night stand or desk drawer to find receipts relevant to your tax filing, the time to do it is now — not right before you’re about to file your taxes. Check your favorite stash spots for wayward receipts and ensure you’ve got them all in one central location.
Shred what you don’t need.
As you’re searching for your relevant receipts, you’ll probably discover a lot of irrelevant ones along the way. The majority of people’s common household receipts aren’t needed for tax purposes. If you don’t need it — dispose of it. We recommend making a pile for shredding or secure disposal and another for items that can just be thrown into the trash. Getting rid of unnecessary clutter is one of the first steps in getting organized.
Sort your stuff.
You’ve sorted out what you need and what you don’t — now it’s time to organize all of that relevant paperwork into easy-to-manage piles. We suggest getting some large envelopes or folders to ensure that everything has a place. Take some time and think about the type of organization that makes sense for you as you organize all that you want to keep.
Make great labels.
This is an important step in the organizational process that is too often overlooked — and it applies to your tax receipts, life insurance policies and more. However you choose to sort your documents, it’s important to ensure they’re properly labeled. For tax time, that likely includes the year and an overview of the type of receipts being filed. For your insurance documents, we recommend creating a short summary on the front of the folder so vital information can be easily accessed. This includes making note of broker contact information, after hours contact information, your policy number, the type of insurance, and if applicable, the deductible on the plan.
Discover your organizational style.
If you’ve completed the previous steps above, you’re probably pretty organized now. However, we know all too well that getting organized is one thing — and staying organized is another. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution here, so it’s up to the individual to find which organizational style works best for them. By now, you’ve probably got a pretty good idea of how you plan on organizing your important documents going forward. However, if you’re searching for a few new ideas to perfect your process, checking online (Pinterest is one of many) can reveal lots of helpful organizational techniques sure to take the stress out of next year’s tax season!
Canada Protection Plan is a leading provider of No Medical Life Insurance. Call toll free 1-877-851-9090 for your no obligation quote.
