4 of the Best Ways To Spend $150 or Less To Get Your Finances Organized Before Tax Day

Heather Altamirano

Mon, Mar 31, 2025, 5:01 AM 5 min read

Navigating tax season is overwhelming for many Americans, but it doesn’t have to be. There are several tools and tricks to avoid last-minute chaos. By adopting a few strategic planning practices, you can save time and money.

Getting your finances in order before Tax Day creates an opportunity to increase savings and boost your financial well-being. Why? Disorganization costs money. When you’re searching for receipts stuffed in drawers and rushing to make the deadline, write-offs are often missed.

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However, there are simple fixes. Taxes are due by April 15, 2025, and if you haven’t filed yet, there’s still time to prepare and get your documents in order. Here are four ways to get your finances in shape before Tax Day for $150 or less.

A digital vault allows you to store important documents like birth certificates and tax paperwork into the cloud for safekeeping, and it’s something Peter Diamond, a federally licensed tax, accounting, real estate and structure expert and a Certified Bankability Expert, recommended doing.

“Most people scramble to find receipts, deductions and paperwork when tax day rolls around,” he explained. “That’s how you overpay the IRS and leave money on the table. That’s why you should keep everything in a vault that you can easily access on Tax Day.”

According to Diamond, you can “store your documents in real time as you acquire them, not at the last minute! Then, at tax time, you’ll just have to pull everything out!”

The best part is it doesn’t have to cost you much. According to Pacific Life, digital vaults cost about $4 to $10 per month.

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To stay organized throughout the year, Shoeboxed is a service that keeps your receipts together so that when you’re ready to file taxes, you’re not looking everywhere for them.

It’s something that Michael Schmied, senior financial analyst at Kredite Schweiz, uses for himself and clients.

“It’s built specifically to organize receipts by digitizing them in bulk. You can mail in your physical receipts using their prepaid envelope. Their team scans them, extracts key data and uploads everything to your online account,” he said. “What I like is that it creates a searchable archive.”

Schmied pointed out the several benefits to Shoeboxed.

• It turns every receipt into structured data you can use. You don’t have to keep folders or worry about faded ink. It tags every expense into tax-related categories automatically.

• There’s a clean audit trail tied to every purchase. That removes friction during both loan applications and tax prep.

• For anyone who needs to stay ready for audits or financial reviews, it’s a fair trade for fewer headaches.