We’re over a month past that dreaded April 15, the time of year when you vow that “This will not happen again next year.”  So, how’s it looking so far?  Do you have a new system in place and no stray receipts laying around?

If you are still looking for “your” perfect solution, there are lots of options.

1. Scan in your receipts with a scanner like NeatReceipts, for about $199.  You can also categorize as you scan so that everything is already divided up according to tax codes.
2. Have someone else scan in your receipts with a service like Pixily.  With this document-management website, you use a prepaid envelope to mail in your documents, and they do they scanning.  Prices start at $14.95 per month.  Another possibility is Shoeboxed, starting at $9.95 a month, which also provides statistics and exports receipts to Excel or Quicken.
3. Online budget management tools from your bank will categorize purchases.  Wells Fargo has “My Spending Report” and Bank of America offers “My Portfolio” where you can see all accounts, including those from other institutions, on one page.
4. Paper filing is never out of style.  It is actually quicker at the beginning.  The trick is to make sure you have the appropriate file categories already set up.  You might combine this with Quickbooks or Quicken for tracking your payments and generating an end-of-year summary report.

Whatever method works for you is fine, as long as there really is a method.  If you haven’t done so yet, take the time now to get organized, setting up a system.  You can start with new items, keep up with those, and then gradually catch up with the backlog.  Do not feel it all has to be done at one time, or it will overwhelm you and keep you from getting started at all.