Receipt archaeology

Spread every single receipt from the past year across our living room floor thinking I’d be methodical and organized about this whole tax thing.

Receipt archaeology

What actually happened: discovered I apparently bought coffee 847 times, saved receipts for things I definitely threw away six months ago, and found what appears to be a grocery list written on the back of something that might be important.

Jake’s been practicing guitar in the corner, providing soundtrack to my slow descent into tax madness.

Mystery receipt number 47. What even is this place?

Every few minutes he stops playing to ask if I need help, which is sweet, but unless he can explain why I have three receipts from the same gas station on the same day, I’m pretty much on my own here.

The best part? I started this thinking I’d be done in an hour. It’s been three hours and I’ve successfully categorized exactly twelve receipts. At this rate, I’ll be filing an extension and calling it a victory if I find my W-2 by midnight.

Note to future Elena: maybe don’t keep every single receipt in a shoebox and call it a “filing system.” Just a thought.