Flu Shot

Bob and I got our flu shots this afternoon. The line was not long. The nurse said it had been a steady flow of people all day.

The local Visiting Nurse Association posts their shot schedule on line by suburb. We were in Aurora IL last year but today worked well for both of us and the pharmacy hosting the event is not far from our house.

The shots cost $25 each. Neither Bob nor I qualify for Part B Medicare coverage so we wrote a check for $50 to cover both. I will keep our receipts in a file folder marked Medical 2008. To qualify for medical deductions on Schedule A of our 1040 we would need many more expenses than we normally incur so the exercise of maintaining these records all year long is usually worthless.

However, I am in the habit of stuffing the folder which I keep near the phone in the kitchen next to the green plastic envelope. We stick charitable receipts, real estate tax bills, and safe deposit box receipts in there.

We use a green envelope because those expenses are deductible or may be deductible on our taxes. I keep an exact envelope there that is red for receipts from Visa charges so I can reconcile the monthly credit card statement.

It's a very simply system that works for us. Red for monthly outflows via Visa. Green for deductible expenses and a file folder to house medical receipts and reconcile insurance claims with medical invoices.

'til later