Hot off the heels of my previous blog about Blippy (part 1 of our stalkers paradise trilogy), a site that allows users to share their credit purchases online with other people, comes a quick look at Shoeboxed – a web page that scans and saves copies of your personal and business receipts.
I’ve recently begun packing my stuff up for a move, and it’s taught me 2 important things about myself:
1. I have way too much junk.
2. I’m the most unorganized person on the planet. Or at least in Southern California.
Okay, I pretty much knew these things already, but that second point didn’t really hit home until the other night when I opened my desk drawer, where I keep most of my old receipts and other documents and saw the random assortment of papers that threatened to fly out. I muttered something about needing to get organized for the thousandth time, then started pulling papers out and tossing them into a box.
“Netflix for receipts?”
As I tried to sort through the pile of papers, many of them so old they were barely legible anymore, I wondered if there was any way I actually COULD organize all those receipts. Glad to have any excuse to stop packing, I fired the internet up and started looking for a way to back up important receipts and documents digitally.
A quick Google search later, and I stumbled upon Shoeboxed.com, a site that’s been described as a sort of “Netflix for receipts.” I guess because they ship you a giant envelope to mail your receipts to them, only Shoeboxed is blue to Netflix’s red. You put any receipts you want saved (for big purchases and business expenses mainly, unless you want to hold onto a copy of that Starbucks receipt for future reference) into that big blue envelope, then send it in to be scanned and uploaded for your perusal. They’ll even organize them for you in personal categories.
How it works
Unlike a social site like Blippy, Shoeboxed charges a monthly fee for their services, from $9.95/month for a basic “Lite” plan to $49.95/month for “Business” class, which offers 500 scans a month compared to the Lite’s 50. Sounds like a decent enough plan.
Here’s my problem with it though; I’m not too crazy about mailing my receipts – even copies of my receipts, personal or otherwise – out to a third party. I’m not trying to accuse Shoeboxed of trying anything suspicious, but even they can’t guarantee that nothing may happen to your receipts while they’re in transit.
The site also claims a turnaround time of 3-5 business days from when Lite members mail in their receipts to them being scanned and posted online. So what happens when I suddenly need the receipt I sent in yesterday today?
Just do it yourself
Shoeboxed does offer the option to scan and upload as many receipts as you want on your own, and this is a method I can get behind if you want to digitally back up any big expense or business-related receipts. Even though, by law, most receipts don’t contain critical information like your social security or credit card numbers, in a time when identity theft is so rampant and people’s credit histories are more important than ever to maintain, I’m more than a little hesitant to recommend sending any kind of personal financial information out into the open.
Save yourself the potential hassle, buy a scanner, and start scanning your important documents yourself. Not only is it a great way to keep track of your receipts, you can also use this as a tool to create a personal monthly budget for yourself by reviewing your previous month’s purchases and adjusting accordingly.
Other Articles & Blogs:
- Blippy – an identity waiting to be stolen
- Was cash for clunkers a failure?
- My Credit Group recommends Mint.com
