Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different.

How would you have handled this situation? is a good question but can be tough to answer. Without being in the situation makes it more difficult to say. Would I physically confront them, slap them in cuffs, lynch them or the like, well no. But I'd *like* to think I would have spoken up then and there in some manner, whether I'd clear my throat, say WHAT THE??? or something. Guess it's a had to be there thing. And really, if for some reason I felt threatened in a store, I think I'd have been leaving the store before the incident anyway. Why would I stay where I don't feel safe? I certainly can shop stores where I feel safe. I don't judge what you did or didn't do with the exception of applauding that you did call later. It may have helped. Good for you. The reality is that there's a good chance that at least one of those jars went home with someone. Hopefully they used it right away since I doubt many people would pay any attention to whether it had a tight seal. I'm generally one here who says let's get the whole story, more facts or something before jumping to conclusions on a lot of things but on this one, I too cut them no slack. Theft is theft. Vandalism is vandalism. And their vandalism could affect other people. Most things in a grocery store are not guaranteed sale items meaning the store buys it and can't return it for credit so any broken jar, stolen jar or opened one that has to be written off is a cost to the store, which means a cost to every customer since those losses are simply passed on. I know these things go on in stores. What people do is often so disgusting. People open up boxes of things, switch them then seal it up and head to the checkouts. I always check the seals on jars and I check boxes and bags. I'll often open the top on a jar with inner seal to see it's intact. I also check that the eggs aren't cracked! And I generally make a wide path around those self-serve bulk bins where people are so often grazing! On a different note, what bugs me more is when people hide behind the lines like "You never know what they'll do" or "They might____". It's code for "I don't want to get involved" and that's why some criminals walk free, some thieves go unpunished, taxes go higher, insurance prices soar and other costs go up. I feel we often have a responsibility to stand up for what's right. If we witness something, do something, watch out for your neighbors' homes. The "everyone for themself" is long obsolete. Cops can't be everywhere. We have to be their eyes and ears. What each person can physically do of course varies. As far as the cameras, so what? Yeah they have cameras but are they really going to be expected to take security personnel, sit them down to watch video and try to find the incident? What are they supposed to do then? Launch a search for them? It's a petty theft so it's not worth the cost for the store to waste the time of doing this. The time to do something is when it's happening. Then all that really would be done is to ask them to leave. And casually telling a cashier on the way out is effectively worthless too. At least take the time to go to customer service. At that rate, even calling them later was a far better option than mentioning it to a cashier on the way out. A cashier is too busy to stop checking people out to go alert Customer Service, which is what they'd need to do and then hopefully they were able to get the info from you accurately, which could be questionable if they're concentrating on cashiering (or other things job or non-job related). Telling a cashier would be fine in a convenience store but not a mega store. It's been a long long time since I've shopped in a Walmart. Do they have any customer service call buttons or phones scattered as do some stores? That could be a possibility. I keep a digital notetaker in a case on my belt at all times. I take notes on it often, record phone calls, conversations etc since my memory is getting challenged more as I age. When I'm driving and remember I need to do something I don't have to fumble for pen and paper to make a note for later. You could have used this to get a description of the people, time, details etc. About 2 weeks ago I was at a target and just getting ready to leave when I saw a woman pull in to a parking space in the next row. It caught my eye because she was *so* far over instead of being centered in the lines. Then I saw the vehicle next to her sort of "shake". Obviously she hit it. She got out of her car and I was by then recording the vehicle description, her description and the 2 digits of the plate that I could see. She got back into her car, backed out and drove off. I decided I couldn't live with myself to let this go so I followed her but all she did was move down 2 rows and park way at the end. I got her full license number, better vehicle description and then debated what to do. Didn't want to wait so I decided to leave a note on the affected vehicle. When I got over there I couldn't see any damage. Where she had to have hit it had the side guards which apparently is what she hit. I even got out and took a close look and there was no damage so I let it go. But I felt good that I did what I did. I look at it this way, if I won't get involved, why should someone get involved if something happens to me? BTW, the lids on many jars have instructions to tell how to check the seal.

Hi powerful in Zion, You like to spend money a lot? Where did you learn that? At home - and were your parents rich? Or from TV? Those advertisers want to convince us to buy stuff ... that'll make it worthwhile for them to run those ads. If the folks who watch the ads don't spend enough to make the increased profit more than enough to pay for the ads ... they quit advertising. So who pays for the ads? You do! Do you like being poor? Many don't. But ... if you want to spend, spend, spend ... ... get used to being poor ... cause you'll likely be that way all through your life. I'd recommend a suggestion that has been made several times, here. Keep track of every cent that you spend, for a while. Separate the spending out according to category. Don't tell us about it ... just look at it yourself ... and see whether that's the way you want to trade your time (i.e. the hours that you worked to earn the dollars that you traded for all of that stuff). By the way, everyone ... ... every one of us has a home-based business. And - we have employees. Most of us, as the usual kind of employee, expect to get paid for the time that we invest where we work. If we don't - we don't stay at that place long! Or, if we're an employer and don't pay our employees, they won't be around for very long! But, in your second business, you have employees, but you don't have to pay them! As a matter of fact, most of the time ... ... they _ pay _ you!! I tell this story to kids, to help them understand how money works, and I tell them that if they send a couple of their employees out to buy ice cream, the ice cream tastes great. But ... the employees that they sent out to buy it - stay at the ice cream shop. They're gone. They won't work for you any more. But if you hang on to some of those Dollar-employees, they'll work for you as long as you hang on to them. With one exception ... if you put them into the mattress ... they go to sleep! Same with the ones in your wallet ... they're not working. And, if you put them into the bank, they only work an hour or so per day! Your job, as usual employers, is to make your employees work smart! You want those invested Dollar-employees to bring in nickels and dimes ... that eventually grow into more dollars like themselves. If you don't have Dollars invested ... you don't have that home-based business that supplements your regular income! On the day that you started work ... you had brains and hands at work ... and no money. On the day that you retire ... you have brains and money at work ... and no hands. If you don't have money at work ... you can't retire! Good wishes for learning how money works ... and putting some of it to work for you. Working smart, too. ole joyful

" you don't need to get them into presentable order unless you are audited." You are correct. For annual returns that's something accountants tell stories about over drinks after work. "What's the biggest mess anyone dumped on your desk today?" Accountants are accustomed to seeing records in shoe boxes. That's how i did it every year til he so kindly pointed out what my time was worth compared to his. January first my records might be anywhere between desk,shoe boxes,glove compartment to bedside stand. Before I turn them over to the accountant I've organized them in files and transfered #s to spread sheets. In the case of say a rent house,I give him a single amount for repair and maintainance,depreciable purchases for each period,travel milage and so forth for items I'm certain go in that catagory. If I'm uncertain where the expense/income fit's,the actual reciept is attached to a sheet of paper with hand writen note(s) if nessary. Very few and sometimes no reciepts,checks and other documents ever go to accountant's office. Tax preparation fee dropped a bunch after I started that. That's not an audit but sure is good rehearsel in case one ever must be dealt with.