Use Free Calendars to Organize Tax Information

An easy way to keep tax information together is to use one of the free calendars that stores give away. I white out Sunday on the Sunday column and combine Saturday/Sunday under one column at the end. This leaves a blank column at the first of the week for notes.

I keep this calendar in a zip up 3 ring binder that I pay weekly bills from. In my 3 ring binder I have sections such as bills, receipts, addresses and telephone numbers, bank statements and credit card statements. I separate these with clear separator sheets.

Weekly I staple all checks stubs and receipts that I will need for taxes under the respective months. I make notes about the previous week such as; motel, date, mileage to the motel from job. If the receipts are large then I will make a note on the calendar week the total amount and what the charge was for such as "Motel - $85.00. I then hole punch the receipt that does not fit and put it into a 3 ring binder.

About once a month or so I add up my taxable items such as mileage, motel, medical and write this on the top or a column that I create on the side.

At the end of the year I move all of this stuff to a folding accordion folder and label it with the year. All fits neatly into a file cabinet and the income tax document can store inside.

I can't tell you how many times I have gone back and gotten information out of a previous calendar.

Source: an extension of my 3 ring binder organization tool that I use

By Meemaw