gzz wrote: 4. How are you all

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[quote=gzz]
4. How are you all saving receipts?

Home Depot receipts start to get semi-illegible after a year or two. I enter the receipts into excel, but not every item. They read like:

12/15/15 – Plants for landscaping and basement finishing materials – $103.25
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sign up for “pro-rewards” at home depot!

http://www.homedepot.com/c/Pro_Xtra

for example, when I check out at home depot I tell the cashier my phone number (AKA “pro-rewards” #) and I am sent via eMail my receipt

also when I pay with a business-credit card, I am asked if I want to give the “receipt” a job description/name

as you mentioned its helpful to keep purchases in a spreadsheet (what I do also is have broad classifications like:

gardening/landscaping
materials(paint)
materials(plumbing)
materials(electrical)

in a spreadsheet column, so at the end of the year I can quickly sort and classify everything for taxes (and is a quick way to make a P/L statement if you are doing a re-fi at a bank)

FYI I also use a spreadsheet for all rental related bank deposits (which also is useful I’ve found out to show the tenant when they move out exactly what they paid in rent/security deposit)

As to the rest of the questions I consult a tax professional (BUT with spreadsheet showing what you income/expenses are it should make answering these other questions much much much easier)