Blog Money Whore

Chances are you have at least one credit card and a giant pile of statements. If you’re like me, then you have something more like ten credit cards and a figurative pile of electronic statements. What do you do with all of them? You know that the proper thing to do is to check all your receipts each month and to save all your statements for the last seven years (the IRS can audit you for up to seven years). However, it’s a giant pain in the ass, and many people don’t bother.

I’ve read about and seen all sorts of credit card organization systems. However, none have ever worked as well for me as this one that I devised. Everyone’s different, though, so take what you need and forget the rest.

First, buy a 5″ x 8″ index card file. A cheap one from Staples is $4.48. I also got tab organizers, though simple index cards will do. Then, create a file for each credit card. I’ve also added all my bank accounts.

The index card file holds the actual credit cards (and ATM/debit cards) and all the associated receipts. If I buy anything in a store, then I always get a receipt and stick it in the file. As for, receipts for online purchases, save them in your email client using a similar directory structure as described below.

Next, on your computer, create a folder that mimics your card file, and inside each folder set up directories called “Statements” and “Payments”. All electronic documents from your credit card company go here. I then save the documents as PDFs with the naming convention year.month.day.pdf. Here’s an example directory structure for two credit cards:

• Money
  • Citi Diamond
    • Statements
      • 2007.12.21.pdf
      • 2008.01.21.pdf
      • 2008.02.21.pdf
    • Payments
      • 2007.12.24.pdf
      • 2008.01.12.pdf
      • 2008.02.23.pdf
    • Chase Visa
      • Statements
        • 2007.12.22.pdf
        • 2008.01.22.pdf
        • 2008.02.22.pdf
      • Payments

When I receive the statement from the credit card company, I immediately print or save as PDF and reconcile my receipts against my statements. If there’s a mistake (and I’ve caught them before!), then I contact the company and get it fixed immediately. Otherwise, I feel free to shred my receipts, though I generally save them anyway. Of course, definitely save anything you need for your taxes.

If I need to make a payment (I generally don’t as I’ve set up autopay for just about everything), then I print out the electronic receipt as a PDF and save it in the Payments folder.

The one question I suspect you may have is: how do you print as PDF? Well, most credit card companies offer the ability to download statements as PDFs. If yours doesn’t or you need to print electronic receipts as PDFs, then you need software like PrimoPDF for Windows. If you’re using a Mac, then just print like normal, except click “Save as PDF” rather than “Print”. And if you’re using some other OS, then chances are you can figure it out for yourself!

And there you have it! A simple way to organize your credit cards!

These days a number of business services offer free health insurance as well as other deals like home insurance. Of course all this is not mentioned on their business cards.