I keep receipts mostly out of habit. We have folders for each month of the years that they get filed into, and that’s it. Occasionally we need to go back and find a receipt for something for a return or a warranty, and we typically know right where to go. But now I’m cleaning up my office ahead of the new work year, and some questions arise:
- How long should we keep receipts? Why?
- Should we shred them once we decide to get rid of them?
- Should we even bother keeping them in the first place?
- If we decide to continue keeping them, should we do so digitally?
I’m inclined to say 3 years (for no good reason), shred, continue to keep receipts, and digital is overkill, respectively.
Do you keep your receipts? What is your system? How would you answer those questions for yourself?
I just finished my turkey trot 5k (and beat my goal pace of 8:30 minute miles by a good margin - finished at 25:53, or 8:23 minute mile pace). I don’t plan to race again until the spring, at which time I’ll build up my mileage and do more speed work. But for now, I want to maintain a reasonable base of running fitness, keep my metabolism up, and build strength over the winter. I also want to cross train a little bit with some swimming in the mix. The other constraint is that I want to have 2 rest days per week.
So this is what I’m thinking each week:
- 3 runs per week totaling 10-13 miles
- 1 swim per week, 0.5 to 1.5 miles in a session
- 2 days of endurance weight lifting (I have a routine, but I would love to hear suggestions about how to vary or replace it)
Already I’m booked up 6 days a week with just that schedule. So should I replace a run with a swim each week? Or a weight lifting session? Or should I alternate?
I do best when I have a well thought out plan that lives in my calendar…so I need to get this together soon! I’d love to hear any suggestions you may have.
Democrats:
“The Senate majority leader said his party is putting together a “$2.7 trillion deficit reduction package that meets Republicans’ two major criteria: it will include enough spending cuts to meet or exceed the amount of a debt ceiling raise through the end of 2012, and it will not include revenues.”
Republicans:
“It will require some of you to make some sacrifices,” Boehner told his colleagues on the call, according to a source who participated in the call. “If we stand together as a team, our leverage is maximized, and they have to deal with us. If we’re divided, our leverage gets minimized.”
Source: CNN - http://bit.ly/qEzkhs
Is it just me, or is Boehner more concerned about politics? Or is CNN making things up when quoting unnamed republicans? Or is CNN not as independent as I think they are?
Get something done already. This is ridiculous.
“ You’re mad as a box of frogs!
Graham Adcock
About 1 mile away away from our house, driving home from our last event of this very busy weekend, the “check engine” light that appeared about a week ago finally manifested itself in a tangible, bad thing happening. Something smelled like it was burning and we assumed it was the 18 wheeler three cars in front of us. When we got home, the hood was leaking some minor smoke.
So I had to turn my 1997 Honda CRV into the new family car, moving the two child seats into it. Unfortunately for me, the car is so old that there is no “latch system” in it, which makes child seat installation really easy. Also, the seat belts are not auto-locking, and therefore I had to use locking clips. What a pain in the ass! It took me an hour and five minutes to get the two seats installed, but I those seats weren’t even budging a millimeter when I tested them.
So what have I learned?
- Leasing brand new vehicles every three years would mostly ensure that you won’t have any “check engine” lights showing up. Not the most financially sound decision in my opinion, but probably the best driving experience overall.
- I now know how to install child seats in three different ways.
- What is that saying? Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans? I always hated that saying because it implies that life sucks, which is far too pessimistic of a meaning for my liking. But man, I had other plans for tonight and tomorrow morning, and instead, that time will suck. So maybe the expression has some merit.
On the flip side of all of this is the idea that good preventative maintenance might have helped me avoid these headaches. Ever since I’ve started driving, I’ve felt like I didn’t have a good solution to that problem. I never really knew what to do and when, whether the manufacturer recommendations in the owner’s manuals were REALLY necessary, or if it was all part of their sinister plan to build a pipeline of service revenue, or how best to easily discover and stay abreast of good preventative maintenance for my vehicles. I’ve previously thought of this as a great problem looking for a solution, and I can already envision a full fledged web site/web service with associated mobile apps, APIs, and integrated partner services. But my question is this: am I crazy, or do other people think about the need for a good preventative auto maintenance solution? Or are most people simply reactive to their car problems? Are there solutions out there already that people use? If so, what are they? Please share your thoughts, I really am interested to hear them!
From the WSJ article today entitled “SAP’s Web-Based Software Struggles to Get Off Ground”:
The German software giant promised at the September 2007 launch to have 10,000 customers by 2010 for its Business ByDesign offering….Today analysts put the number of such SAP customers at closer to 100. “It was not as successful as expected,” says Rainer Zinow, SAP’s senior vice president for Business ByDesign.
That’s a pretty major understatement Rainer…
