Why own a scanner? Simple answer: To scan in important documents. Namely, receipts. Receipts for everything. For the electronics you buy, for the service on your car, for when the ‘cable guy’ fixes your on-again/off-again internet connectivity – all of it.
A flatbed scanner is bulky but there’s really no way around that since it has to be big to put paper on. You’ll be more than happy to deal with the bulk however when all your receipts and other important documents are digitized as searchable files.
Cheap, and worth it
A flatbed scanner these days starts at around $60 new when ordered online, such as through NewEgg. All of them have ridiculously high DPI (they start at 2,400dpi) and ultra-high quality so all your scans will be super-crisp and clean every time you use it.
Connecting the scanner is super-easy because of USB, and for you greenies out there, the power consumption is next to nothing. When in use, it’s under 3 watts. During standby, under 2 watts.
Even better is the fact many scanners now are one-cable. One USB cable handles both the power and the data at the same time.
Believe me, it is worth it to get one to escape the sea of unorganized loose paper; you’ll be glad you did.
Need OCR?
You’re covered: http://www.freeocr.net/
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A lot of vendors and others who issue receipts require the original receipt. That’s why I have a small file cabinet. A cheap one costs about the same as a scanner and it will never lose your data.
Still never hurts to scan them. Even if you can’t use them with vendors, it’s nice to have a good back up of your spending habits, especially if you’re doing your taxes or something.