Shoeboxed for receipt organization Jan23 '08

Shoeboxed logo

Shoeboxed is a service that helps you organize your receipts. When you sign up, you are provided a unique email address which you use whenever you shop online. This way, the email receipts are pooled into the Shoeboxed application.

You can also scan in receipts and upload them to the web site.

A new feature allows you to mail in receipts, instead of scanning and uploading on your own. All you have to do is put your receipts in a pre-paid envelope, and mail them out. Your receipts will then appear online, presumably a few days later.

This is a cool idea, and I'm always open to new ways to improve lifestyle or workflow. Having all of my receipts collected into a single application would be a great way to stay organized.

Trouble is, I'm still not buying this idea.

Providing an alternate email

Cons: Providing an alternate email address at every site I shop is not practical, as I'm often already registered and would have to update all of my accounts with the new email address.

Pros: OK, maybe I'm over-exaggerating. I typically only shop at Amazon, anyway, so I'd only have to update one account. Even better, I could use my existing email address, and simply forward it to my unique Shoeboxed email address.

Scanning and uploading

Cons: Having to manually scan and upload my receipts could become painful after a while. For one thing, my receipts usually never make it home in one piece, as I stuff them into my pocket or wallet, I'm lucky if I can still read it once I get home (near a scanner and internet connection).

Pros: Perhaps I'm exaggerating here too. I suppose it wouldn't be a major inconvenience to try and preserve my receipts until I get home, and somehow develop a quick way to scan and upload.

Mail-in

Cons: Cost. $20 a month is quite hefty for a simple receipt organizer. I mean, I like to stay organized, but not at that cost! Maybe a one-time $20 fee, but per month is ridiculous.

Pros: This, by far, has the most intrigue surrounding it. I like this idea, since I wouldn't have to bother scanning anything. I could just email everything and be done with it.

Room for improvement

I believe there's some missing aspects here. For one, why can't I SMS my receipt totals in? When I'm on the road, and I make a purchase, I should be able to record that immediately. If I wait until I get near a scanner (or mailbox), I risk losing receipts.

It's far too easy to mash a bunch of services together and come up with your own receipt organizer.

Drop.io would be a good spot to organize receipts. You can call them in while on the road, or upload while at home.
Create a private Twitter stream and text in receipt totals.
Use TextMarks to SMS receipt totals to your own application.

Overall

Again, I like staying organized, and I enjoy trying new services that make it their sole purpose to help people achieve clarity and peace of mind. Shoeboxed is a great example of a service willing to push the limits of traditional approaches, and offer entirely unique ideas.

But I'm still hesitant to spend that much money on something that I can do myself.

Categories: Organization , Services

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Our envelopes for Shoeboxed Receipt Mail-In can hold hundreds of receipts. For just $20 a month you get all of those scanned in, itemized, and sent ... Read more.

matthom is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from Chicago. Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.