Everytime I see a post that references a wife or girlfriend, it is a reminder of why I'm two months from my 40th birthday and have never married and have no children! I was telling my father the other day how nice it is to be able to purchase a tool or a new parts truck without suffering the wrath of the "significant other".
In any event, back to the subject of saving receipts. In 1988 I restored a '66, C-10, LWB, Fleetside in college that I purchased in 1983 for $1,700.00. At that time it was a lot of money for a truck that old, but it was a one owner with 58,000 original miles. The previous owner kept it garaged and treated it like his baby.
After sinking another $1,700.00 in materials and new parts during the restoration, I had invested approximately $3,500.00 in the truck. I heard a story from a guy in my class about insuring restored vehicles for the amount invested, in lieu of the book value. Soon after the project was complete the truck was stolen and considered a total lose by the insurance company.
Since I had saved all of my receipts and a copy of the bill of sale, I was able to get a payoff from the insurance company for the total insured amount. For this reason, I believe in saving receipts. Additionally, if you sell a vehicle it is very beneficial to have receipts for the prospective buyer. Also, I purchased my '66, C-10 and '66, K-10 as company fleet vehicles, so I am able to write-off the majority of materials and services as vehicle maintenance expense.
I'm not a tax expert, so consult your tax preparer prior to attempting to do this. Save your receipts for one or all of these reason, but for nothing else it is nice to look back at all of the hard work and effort put into your vehicle and be reminded of the date you did it.
