Scavenger hunt, anyone?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-1999
Scavenger hunt, anyone?
7
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 4:50am

I was thinking that some of us may be sending the kids out for an Easter egg hunt this weekend....so why not send the adults out on a scavenger hunt (at least a scavenger hunt of the mind?)????

Please let us know how you did!

Items on the list:

1. October 2004 electric bill

2. March 2004 credit card bill for the card with the biggest balance.

3. The receipt for the last thing you charged.

4. June 2004 Checking statements.

5. Bank receipt of your last deposit into your emergency fund.

6. 2003 Federal Tax paperwork.

7. Your last Retirement account/401 K statement.

8. The latest version of your resume or last job performance review.

9. Your birth certificate.

10. Your current auto insurance policy summary.

This may or may not be easy to do....see what you can come up with. The point of the scavenger hunt is to get you thinking about:
-how you are organized or not organized
-how prepared you might be in an emergency
-to gauge how aware you are of your situation or how much you are avoiding defining your situation

Good luck! Littlesbigs

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 8:38am
Littlebigs,
I think you are crazy : ) Seriously, who keeps all that stuff? I used to keep old cc bills, but now pretty much as soon as the stuff posts to both my cc account and my bank account, I shred them. Why would i keep old utility bills??? Sheesh, i'm doing good if I can find this months bills among the clutter : ) Which is EXACTLY why now i do 75% of my bill paying online. So I could definitely organize a lot better, but hey, then it just wouldn't be me. I can clean up a corner and less than a week later, it will be full of clutter again. This is why i throw things out!!! So anyhow, most of the things on your list I would not be able to find!!! Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-21-2004
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 4:45pm
I have most of that. It's either in my filing cabinet or in envelopes in boxes caterogized by year and subject, ex: cc statements, checking account, paystubs, etc.
I wouldn't have any reciepts or utility bills though. I also don't have have a resume. I'm so lazy I never keep one around. I might find one somewhere looking through stuff but I don't know where it is. Geez, I really should make one just in case. I just recieved my car ins policy a week ago so that's pretty available. I think I do pretty well keeping organized.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2004
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 4:52pm

I shred everything too.

The entire car insurance policy is in the car
(some states i've heard like FL, if you can't
show the entire policy and you crash, they arrest you).

Tax stuff is in my office.

Resume is updated LOL as of 3 weeks ago.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 5:58pm

I'm a shredder too. I know exactly where my birth certificate, insurance info and resume are. But all the cc statements and utilities are long gone.

Christie

P.S. Welcome Mike - Boys can post here too :-)

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 7:51pm

Okay - I have all cc statements and bank statements; I keep all statements in individual folders for each card or account for the current year, and then, at the end of the year, I staple the year's worth of statements together per account, and put them all into a large yellow envelope, well-labeled,

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 8:13pm

I can pretty much put my hands on most of that, or some equivalent.

My filing system mostly consists of a folder with sections for each month. At the beginning of each month, I go through the papers from the previous year, throwing most of it out but returning to the file anything that needs to be kept for longer.

Into the month's files go all my statements, receipts, and other financial documents.

Very simple, very elegant. Works great.

What I don't have, though, is a credit card receipt for the last time I charged something. Because the last time I charged something was over three years ago. :)

My birth certificate is in our fire safe.

And as for a resume... well, I don't have one. But, I do have a brochure, website, cards, portfolio, client list, and proposal template for my business. Does that count? LOL I hope to never, ever need a resume again. My plan is to never have to work for someone else again.

Thanks for the mental exercise. Whew. I'm exhausted. Gotta watch Idol now...

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-06-2003
Fri, 03-25-2005 - 9:33am

LOL...this was fun!

The hydro, cc and the receipts all bit the shredder; once I check the usage and items charged to see if it adds up and once I get a confirmation on-line that's it's been paid they get shredded.
I have gone paper-less for bank statements as I view them on-line to minimize paper and also because I download all transactions to MS Money on a weekly basis.

I have a special place for our Tax returns, very organized and easily accessible.
Also have the RRSP statements, birth certificate, last job review and recent resume, and current auto ins. policy in my filing system.

I need to be organized or else I'll freak out if stuff is not in order and if I can't locate it in less than 1 minute :)

Kassandra

Kassandra

"It is said that life has its peaks and valleys.  The challenge is to accept them equally and experience them