Receipts

WHEN: June 10, 2000 WHERE: 6301 University Ave., Cedar Falls, IA Do you know what you bought ten years ago today? I do. I bought 2 pairs of gym shorts, a whoopee cushion, and a pool flotation...among other things. How do I know and why do I care?? Glad you asked!

Receipt for my gym shorts from June 10, 2000

For over a decade I have been retaining/saving/hoarding my receipts and keeping detailed records of everything I've bought. For everyone in my family this is no surprise and for those outside my family, our friendship may currently be in question. I understand. On June 10, 2000, I finally decided to keep track of my money and numerous other things that a barely 17 year-old who just finished his sophomore year of high school need not be wasting his time on. But that was me. I don't really recall what started it but I think it had to do with yard work. In a recent post I described how much I love working in the yard and have since I was a young'n. I did so much yard work that I felt I should keep track of everything that I did each year. "Recording" my work was always an idea but never materialized. That is until January 1, 2000. I thought, what better time to start recording things than on the first day of a new millennium. I was 16. I know, I know - I needed a girlfriend! It started only with noting one or two events of each day for the first couple of months. There was no semblance of any real "record keeping" but for a sophomore male in high school it was something. I wouldn't be embarrassed to say I kept a journal, but this was not a journal. It was 25-50 words of chicken scratch per day, written in mechanical pencil in a random notebook left over from my freshman year. A quick synopsis of the day, it highlighted the main (usually useless) events that I felt needed recording for future nostalgia. I will admit it may have turned "journalish" between 2002-2003 but was highly abbreviated once again after college started and time became scarce. I have kept up with this "journal" since January 1, 2000 and have made note of daily events for over 10 years. I had a notebook/s I wrote in for each year until I started "writing" digitally (Word/Excel) in 2004. It is quite entertaining to look back on what happened 2, 5, 10 years ago, and laugh at what I thought was worth noting. It can be time consuming, but I'm glad I have a copy of the last one third of my life.

The notebook that started it all!

Doing my records on November 14, 2002

On June 10, 2000 I felt the need to record more than just what had happened each day. I guess beginning my first day at my first substantial job (Hy-Vee; a grocery store chain) on June 1 and turning 17 on June 8, gave me reason to start recording what I bought and the money I made. It wasn't long before the term "records" became part of every day lingo with me and my parents and, eventually, my girlfriend. Yes, even through all my hours spent recording every detail of my life, Stacie Jo dated me for 6 years. I knew this girl was a keeper ;) Today I keep all my receipts and hard-copy "records" in three filing cabinets (I mean, it's confidential - I can't tell you where they are housed) and the rest are digital. I probably have around 3,000 receipts and that's not counting bills, check stubs, and the like that I have kept. Perhaps it's a threat to personal security/identity to keep all these documents but like Pringles says, "Once you pop, you can't stop!" I've tried. But how do you wean yourself off of a "habit" you've succumbed to every day of your adult life? At least I developed this habit and not smoking.

The oldest receipt I have in my possession (July 21, 1998). It was for my first and only fishing pole I bought when I was 15.

Receipt for balloons and flowers I got for Stace for our 1-month anniversary. Steph, you may or may not have sold these to me? You did an arrangement for me at one point when Stace and I first started dating.

My first check stub from Hy-Vee in June 2000

I have tried to scale back through the years but it's kind of been a struggle of "one step forward, one step back". It seems as soon as I stop "recording" one thing, I find something else to replace it. This really is starting to sound more and more like a smoking addiction. Yikes. I've stepped up the battle this year, however. For one, I figured, I started this madness in 2000 so I might as well start anew in 2010. I have cut back or "dumbed down" many facets of my records this year and I've received involuntary setbacks elsewhere due to our new computer we bought in January. Windows 7 and Office 2007 made sure that most of my records were plagued with unwanted changes and I have made neither the time nor care to change them. But I'm OK with that. I've always known that too much of my time was spent recording (mostly) nonsense, and that work, marriage, and (eventually) children should not have to compete for my time. I'm learning. I'm fighting. I'm changing. If you would like to contribute to my fight against this disease, please call 1-800-GET-HELP to send money (or just get me a paper shredder). If you would like to exacerbate the problem, please express interest in my records or ask me to provide a receipt from some time in our past together. Either option would be acceptable. POST SCRIPT Steph - this post was conceived with you in mind. You asked for receipts, you got 'em (although your request also seemed a slight). I forgive you :) And when you're the lone commenter on my blog, you're kinda the boss.