Do you keep receipts for everything?

[PeterJohnson]

If you order something online e.g. shoes or a coat. Do you keep the delivery and invoice papers which come with it? Do you scan and throw? Do you do neither as once you've worn it, you cant return it? What about email confirmation of orders, do you keep them?
DH throws everything. I was taught to keep everything but I'm drowning in probably useless bits of paper and saved files!

How do you manage this stuff?

I don’t keep any actual paperwork. I keep some of the email confirmations but there’s no rhyme or reason to it.

Anything I order over the internet I can log on to my account with the retailer and get details of the order via the website.

God no, life is too short. I scan in important invoices etc (e.g. for building work or for expensive purchases where receipts are needed for insurance purposes or for appliances) to my cloud drive then throw everything away. Why would you keep receipts for years??

I keep receipts for major purchases, such as white goods, in a folder. Sometimes it’s interesting to see how much they cost in the past.
For other purchases such as birthday and Christmas gifts I keep the receipts, in case of fault or the need to change.
Recently a piece of jewellery given to my granddaughter for her birthday, last Autumn broke. Fortunately I had the receipt and the jeweller exchanged the item.

@whirlyhead I was always told you need to keep everything until you don't use the item any more. Of course, I have so much random papers I wouldn't have a clue where to find anything anyway. Paper or digital.

Keep receipts for big purchases and electrical stuff. Not for clothes etc. I presume the company will have a copy in ‘my accounts’ section on their website (if ordered online).

No. The only receipts l keep are ones from post office or couriers who return parcels.

I have a digital trail. Why do l need a paper one instead?

Only until I know it's ok and I'm not returning it or of it's a expense item, or something that is a larger purchase with a warranty.

I wish there was a way to opt out of emails for online shops TBH. I don't need seven emails per order and I can check delivery in my account etc.

I don't save or scan any paper work for anything bought online. If I have a problem, I can find the email again as I don't delete any emails. Same for instruction books, everything is online. On the rare occasion that I buy something significant from a shop I would keep the receipt, but that's hardly anything really.

What purpose will a five year old paper receipt for a kettle serve? Or the delivery note.

If it breaks they aren’t going to give you your money back.

Ah yes the email confirming the order, the receipt, the notification that the item has left the warehouse, then the courier notification and tracking info, then the delivery timing, then the email saying it’s been delivered. Then the email requesting feedback!

Its awful!

Things like clothes and shoes I keep until the return period is up then either throw away or delete the email receipt, in case I change my mind about them

If it's very expensive I would keep the receipt especially stuff that might get stolen like a laptop as you might need it for proof for an insurance claim. Anything that is likely to break keep receipt until guarantee is up, I have a Kitchenaid kettle which has a three year guarantee also it is the type of thing that might stop working so I flagged the email receipt so it doesn't get deleted.

Nah, straight in recycling. Email invoices and receipts get filtered into a folder and marked as read so they don't clog up my inbox, but are there if I ever need them. Other than that, bin.

I had a mooch at my mam's receipt box the other day just out of curiosity and she had a bloody Woolworths receipt from 1991 in there.

Two kinds of people.

I've still got payslips from 2008.i tend to keep all sorts of shite in various drawers and cupboards.

I keep everything at first but then weed out regularly and ditch paperwork for stuff I don't have anymore or that is well out of guarantee/warranty periods.

I tend to note on the invoice/receipt the length of the retailers/manufacturers guarantee/warranty period which really helps, both in terms of knowing when to ditch it and for reference when things go faulty so I can quickly see whether it's still under warranty.

At the moment, I've got receipts/invoices for items such as a kitchen pan set (lifetime warranty), heat pad (manufacturers 3 year warranty), electric shower (manufacturers 5 year warranty), laptop (one year warranty), and lots of other things like that.

For online returns, I keep receipts and proofs of postage until I've checked the refund has been paid. For things with shop's 28 day refund policy (M&S, Argos, Wickes, etc)., I keep the receipt until the 28 days are up. For supermarket shopping, I keep the receipt until I've eaten/used what I've bought which enables me to return for refund anything that's gone off within a day or two of purchase etc (typically fruit and veg these days!).

Obviously "big" stuff, I keep virtually forever, such as house completion statement, invoices for home improvements, car purchases, insurance documents, etc.

That's not to say I keep paper copies of everything - for online purchases, I'll just save the pdf of the invoice to the cloud rather than printing it off and keeping it. I wouldn't trust hoping to recover from old emails or online suppliers websites etc as there's no guarantee you'll be able to access them in years to come, hence saving PDFs to the cloud which is under my own control.

It depends whether there's a five year guarantee/warranty on it, or sometimes they even have lifetime warranties for higher end items.

I have specific space in my filing cabinet for various receipts. White goods/large items along with the warranties in 1 slot. Online clothes purchases in another. Mainly so I don't buy the same poorly fitting blouse again. I only keep day to day shopping receipts if there is a higher value item where I might need if there is an issue with it.

No one is going to give you a 5 year warranty for a kettle.

You can buy a 5 year warranty extension when you buy a Bosch kettle!

But why would you bother.

What? Do you mean why would anyone bother with insurance/warranties?? It's pretty obvious really - a very small upfront cost to save much higher costs of repair/replacement in a later year. Just like any form of insurance. Presumably you have insurance for your home/car/foreign travel etc???

I keep all order confirmation and dispatch emails. Paper invoices, I throw away if I can use the email or keep for a short while until I know everything is OK.

But those are either legally required or potentially have massive consequences if something goes wrong.

For things like kettles (and washing machines, dishwashers, TVs etc etc) if you insure everything you buy, those 'small upfront costs' add up to the cost of several new appliances, such that you'd have to have loads of things break before 5 years old in order for it to be worth having the insurance.

We never insure anything like kettles so have probably saved hundreds, if not thousands over the years, which we have available to repair or replace our appliances, which we've hardly ever had to do because it's rare that we've had anything break before about 10 years, and after that, well we can't argue about having to buy a new one.

I have two little file folders, each with 6 tabbed pockets. Each pocket has a month as its name. At the beginning of each month, I shred the receipts in it, which are from last year. And fill it with this month’s receipts. My receipts go back one year before they get purged. If there’s a really important one, I keep it in the pocket for a few years.