I'm finally going digital (no more paper)

[Ace]

So i'm finally going digital, bought a scanner and adobe and I'm scanning the crap out of all these piles of papers around the house. I need help though:

-Has anyone done the same and digitized all their receipts? It's utterly pointless for me to scan all my receipts if I still need to keep the originals. I'm wondering the experiences of any fellow CP'ers who have done the same, specifically when it comes to store returns. Am I going to get the run around if I bring a scanned copy of a receipt as opposed to the original?

-Is there any software like neat receipts (or neat receipts itself), that I can buy without having to buy their scanner?

Any other advise from seasoned digital veterans?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Ace

So i'm finally going digital, bought a scanner and adobe and I'm scanning the crap out of all these piles of papers around the house. I need help though:

-Has anyone done the same and digitized all their receipts? It's utterly pointless for me to scan all my receipts if I still need to keep the originals. I'm wondering the experiences of any fellow CP'ers who have done the same, specifically when it comes to store returns. Am I going to get the run around if I bring a scanned copy of a receipt as opposed to the original?

-Is there any software like neat receipts (or neat receipts itself), that I can buy without having to buy their scanner?

Any other advise from seasoned digital veterans?

Yes, in a few years time what ever you are storing this on will be outdated and you will have to keep moving stuff around or may well lose it completely, try getting info off a floppy these days, in the end paper is still the best way to keep things you absoloutly need.

[Bertuzzied]

Where do you live? i want to test out this new industrial sized magnet i just got.

[Flabbibulin]

No more paper??

[GoinAllTheWay]

That's a phenomenal PITA IMO. I'd never completley rely on scanning everything, to much info that can be lost really easily. Unless you are vigilant in backing up that kind of data, I wouldn't even bother.

Under no circumstances would I rely 100% on digital copies of important papers.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

That's a phenomenal PITA IMO. I'd never completley rely on scanning everything, to much info that can be lost really easily. Unless you are vigilant in backing up that kind of data, I wouldn't even bother.

Under no circumstances would I rely 100% on digital copies of important papers.

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to lose papers?

Seems more likely that having paper copies of everything can accidentally get tossed out, lost in a fire etc.

Backing up electronically can be saved in various locations easily and in a "cloud" so even if your computer is stolen/broken/on fire you'll still have a source for your stuff.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to lose papers?

Seems more likely that having paper copies of everything can accidentally get tossed out, lost in a fire etc.

Backing up electronically can be saved in various locations easily and in a "cloud" so even if your computer is stolen/broken/on fire you'll still have a source for your stuff.

This is far more effort than just putting your papers in a box file in the attic.

Paper is essentially forever unless you screw it up, a digital format is at best a decade no matter what you do.

Most of what I need as essential has to be in paper anyway, court documents or insurance papers are bugger all good in any other form.

[Barnet Flame]

Many institutions insist on original documents.

Also, in respect of losing stuff, it is easier to lose paper documents, but the impact of losing digital documents is potentially far greater as you are more likely to lose everything.

Hope it works out for you though.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to lose papers?

Seems more likely that having paper copies of everything can accidentally get tossed out, lost in a fire etc.

Backing up electronically can be saved in various locations easily and in a "cloud" so even if your computer is stolen/broken/on fire you'll still have a source for your stuff.

I guess potentially but personally I can say I've lost far more digital data than paper. Like others have said above, most places prefer the orginal document (myself included). I would certainly take digital copies as a backup but under no circumstances would I destroy the original.

[Ace]

I'm suprised that most people would suggest keeping paper...my challenge is finding the paper receipt for that $50 item that broke prematurly. If I could digitize everything all it would take is a simple search on my computer.

Anyone use neatreceipts?

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I'm curious, if you're going totally paperless, what do you use after you take a big ole number 2?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

I'm curious, if you're going totally paperless, what do you use after you take a big ole number 2?

Old Blackberry's.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Yes, in a few years time what ever you are storing this on will be outdated and you will have to keep moving stuff around or may well lose it completely, try getting info off a floppy these days, in the end paper is still the best way to keep things you absoloutly need.

Nah. PDF, as an example, is an ISO standard. With governments settling on PDF as a standard, there's almost zero chance you'd be unable to handle one in the next 50-100 years.

In terms of storage media, there's no need to worry about that either. Keep it all on live media (that is to say, media that is a current standard, such as a hard drive today), backed up in multiple spots (duplicate physical media copies, and another stored in the cloud somewhere), and just keep dragging it along with you as you go - when you upgrade from hard drives to holobyte storage, or whatever is hot in 20 years, just copy the data to the holobyte, and away you go.

Unless you're a professional photographer or film person, we're basically at the point where you are unable, as an individual, to create more data than we can comfortably manage and maintain indefinitely these days.

[4X4]

I don't see what's so outrageous about the OP's idea. Really, how many papers are so important that they require originals? Probably not even a file worth for any normal person.
As far as receipts and whatnot, it's pretty darn smart to do it that way. If you commit to scanning for say 20 minutes on lazy old Sunday night, you can probably get all your week's gas and miscellaneous purchases scanned and filed and backed up, with plenty of time to check out CP afterward. It's really just a matter of starting it. Sounds like the kind of thing one would commit to starting on a calender year, since most people probably have their purchasing lives bundled up in yearly tax bundles.
Not a bad idea at all.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Old Blackberry's.

ouch

[Jimmy Stang]

Like others have already said, my only concern would be whether a store would accept a printout of the original receipt when returning an item. I personally believe that the data on the paper is the important part, and not the paper itself, but I just wonder whether a store would agree.

I forgot to print my pre-purchased movie tickets before going to the theatre one day, apologetically showed the PDF tickets to customer service on my iPhone, and I was good to go. Not the most efficient way to get into a theatre, but the data on the receipt was analyzed, not whether it was with ink or pixels. Now try that with something more than a $15 movie ticket and see if it works.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Like others have already said, my only concern would be whether a store would accept a printout of the original receipt when returning an item. I personally believe that the data on the paper is the important part, and not the paper itself, but I just wonder whether a store would agree.

Staples does this. I don't recall what it was I returned or exchanged, but I had a photocopy of the receipt, and all they needed was the barcode. No issues.

As for going paperless, I've often wondered how my family doctor does things. Everything about me is stored digitally and has been for the last 10 years. I don't even know if he has my paper files from before that or backups.

When I see him every few months, he brings his lap top into the exam room, pulls up my files, reads anything received from specialists, etc., looks for updates, and types some stuff, which I presume is about me--unless he's just updating his Facebook status.

Any prescriptions/lab forms/whatever are already printed when I get back to reception.

It's a slick system, and I sometimes wish I had something as efficient in my life. I hate paper: no matter how organized I am or think I am, the paper always catches up to me.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Nah.PDF, as an example, is an ISO standard. With governments settling on PDF as a standard, there's almost zero chance you'd be unable to handle one in the next 50-100 years.

In terms of storage media, there's no need to worry about that either. Keep it all on live media (that is to say, media that is a current standard, such as a hard drive today), backed up in multiple spots (duplicate physical media copies, and another stored in the cloud somewhere), and just keep dragging it along with you as you go - when you upgrade from hard drives to holobyte storage, or whatever is hot in 20 years, just copy the data to the holobyte, and away you go.

Unless you're a professional photographer or film person, we're basically at the point where you are unable, as an individual, to create more data than we can comfortably manage and maintain indefinitely these days.

I fail to see the advantage of this over just setting up a file for your paper really.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I fail to see the advantage of this over just setting up a file for your paper really.

Redundancy would be the biggest benefit. One fire and all your papers could be gone but if your data is backed up off site you won't lose any of it.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Redundancy would be the biggest benefit. One fire and all your papers could be gone but if your data is backed up off site you won't lose any of it.

Indexing and instant search/recall being the other. I can, for example, call up every single January Enmax bill in less time that it takes to type this sentence, to compare costs year over year. Not as easy to do with paper.