Entry 7: Receipts

the definition of amass

gather, accumulate

Receipts, oh how I love thee, let me count the ways...

The receipt I got from Wendy's...mmm, delicious calories...
The receipt I got from Costco...amass at it's heightened state...
The receipt I got from Ikea...cheap cool furniture...the memories...
The receipt from Subway...healthy justifiable lunch...sort of, depends what you get...right?
The receipt from my bank...paying off the debts. See the above receipts.

I could go on, these fine friends of mine seem to litter my desk in my room, my car, my wallet, my bathroom, need I say more, I have a bit of a problem...

If I had a penny for all the receipts I have gathered, well, I wouldn't have the money that Donald Trump has, but I would be close. (Is collection or hording money a pack rat thing to do, do we need to talk Donald? But probably more socially acceptable than collecting receipt, yes, I know, I have a problem, thank you for thinking it!)

When do you throw receipts away and when do you not throw receipts away?
I think this is a particularly good question...especially for those pack rats out there...

Receipts...what is the purpose of them really?

1. Proof of purchase.
2. Proof of purchase to possibly receive a refund depending on the terms of the transaction, right, are you already confused, I am.
3. A written acknowledgment that a specified article or sum of money has been received as an exchange for goods or services, thus says wikipedia...http://bit.ly/r9SvEo

These bad boys seem to multiple and replenish in my car and bedroom. I thought collecting plastic bags was a bad habit. I have this strange idea that I need to keep the receipt, so I can take back something to the store. Funny...
do I ever take anything back to the store...nope, it's a pride thing.

Have you ever considered how many hours of your life you have stood in a line to get your money back because of spoiled something or whatever and you had to have your receipt to get your money back? Is it worth it? How much is your money worth to you? They should be fair and provide the service, right? How many man hours go into customer service and a little paper receipt to prove you have purchased an item?

This little paper receipt is a symbol of so much. How many people are put to work to put that little receipt in your hand? The men who cut down the tree, the workers who worked the machinery at the factory that produces the paper...

If you're interested in the paper process, click here, it's kind of a cool informative You Tube video.
(So that was a little detour, back to the meat and potatoes, oh yeah!)

Different kinds of receipts & purposes for them...

An analytical person would evaluate each different situation and determine when appropriate to change the process, like my boss. What is really efficient, effective, cost effective, about a receipt? A Piece of Paper? Really? Why is it, so very important?

1. Receipts from gas pump-Keep so you can calculate gas mileage and know how many gallons you put in your car (hmm, first of all, I struggle to keep a log of my gas mileage & two, am I going to be audited? Maybe? How many auditors did President Obama hire, he did increase jobs, right?! Oh, I just didn't go there!)

2. Receipts for groceries-Keep just in case your food goes bad!?! Maybe you get baby carrots that have nasty juicy water inside, you know, that when you open the bag you can automatically tell they have gone bad. Just in case, keep the receipt!!


And then I have this mindset, "Why take things back?", first of all, I'm too proud to take anything back. I say to myself, "I spent my money the way that I wanted to spend my money and heaven forbid, I make a mistake!" Nonetheless, I have fed this false ideology for years.

Second of all, time, time, time! Do I really have time to go, drive to the store and then stand in a line for fifteen minutes waiting for customer service.

Why do I have to be a grown up...they didn't teach proper throwing away techniques for receipt amassers in high school!! Maybe they should have paper management classes 101 in college, forget basket weaving. Paper Management 101, that's what I'll be signing up for next time I decide to go to college!

3. Receipts for clothes-Keep just in case there is a ripe or tear in the item of clothing. Finding discoloration in the fabric is also a reason in which you take back a piece of clothing. (Um, this was never a problem for me because I wasn't that picky, but some people are. Welcome to America, the land of the rich, famous, and picky...well, maybe not, but we do have options! Who knows, I have never had the experience of buying some absurdly fine piece of clothing and bring it home to realize after I step out of the finely decorated store to lure me to buy some fantastic piece to cover my body, that there is some factory defect I did not notice in the store, sigh, another line! REALLY!)

Really, only if every piece of product produced in a factory somewhere foreign might make every piece of manufactured good every time they push the on button! Yeah, that is a very optimistic point of view, how did I get that? Check this out, there is even strategies to explain manufacturing processing defects, wow, what public schools didn't teach me, or maybe they did and I can't remember, I'm getting on in my years.

4. Receipts for internet purchases-Are you supposed to keep them, so you can claim taxes on them for your tax return, I'm a little confused about that one.

***Side note about internet purchases, would it be a little ironic to say that paper would be involved with the electronic, ones and zeros, that will probably inevitably replace the paper industry?! Would data streaming from one computer server to another replace the purpose for cutting down trees, save the environment, but create a new problem, where do we continually find the resources to keep our little gadgets going? Hmm...
Here's another problem, how do we keep our information safe? Many a bright mind are being paid a much higher salary than mine to keep that from being a wee problem to a colossal catastrophe.

A question for a different blog post that doesn't include hording and maybe a MUCH smarter person, in whom you can't understand half the insanely, intelligent, jabbering garble, that spews out of their mouths, should write and not me! (Awe, apparently I have a few sensitive issues here, I didn't even know I was ranting. Oh my, sigh.)

5. Receipts for bank transactions-To help you keep you records straight? Okay, haven't kept a log of my transactions in years, waste of paper, right?!! That will come back and bite me, ouch.
I can hear my mother screaming in my ears right now, "YOU DON'T RECONCILE!" Enough said.

6. Receipts for fast food purchases-Um, I really don't know the purposes for this guy except to remind you that you are eating out way too much that your budget can't afford the cost, I don't care how cheap the dollar menu really is! Unless you want to advertise, right?! Apparently McDonald's takes advantages of the back of their receipts and advertises, who thought of that brilliant idea of brain washing, or just marketing. It is about presentation right, at every opportunity?! Is that a bad idea, meh, McDonald's is a very successful company, why didn't I think of that, right?

Someone from McDonald's art department one day will read this and know that they have effected my life, because they designed an ad that was placed on the back of a receipt that tantalized my brain sensory motor system to desire a fruit smoothie via visual stimulation. Oh, my! But my intellectual, crazy calorie counting side got in the way. Sorry Micky Dee's, too much sugar in the fruit smoothie for my taste, but the advertising sure looks good! (Don't ask me why I put this in my blog, I wanted to, it's my blog, bah ha!)

I have to mention one more thought before I leave the vastness of receipts, we are now given an option to have a receipt printed after a credit card transaction.

"Would you like your receipt," cashier says to me.

My response, "No thanks, I have plenty of receipts collected in my purse, I don't need to add another."

Roommate advice: Take the receipt, I like my identity, and how are you going to guarantee they will dispose of the receipt properly.

Designing Receipts
I won't bore you with details...

Destroying Receipts
This might be a billion dollar business in itself? You think I'm being a drama queen when I say that...

Apparently, I have developed the habit of ripping them into little pieces and throwing them away. Clearly, I don't have a hand held paper shredder! (I trade mark that idea, right now, don't steal!)

You might ask the question, "Who would think of such ideas and why spend precious moments of your life thinking about this?" and I would simply say, "Think me strange, I don't know...but, I do."