I just found out that you CAN actually save your audio files (imported and recorded) in their own folder WITHIN the project folder automatically. All you have to do is open the project settings dialog box, and in the "Audio settings" tab type the name of the folder you want REAPER to create in the "path to save media files" box. Then make that the default setting for new projects. REAPER will automatically create a folder of that name INSIDE the project folder for every new project. Just to be clear: I typed "Audio" into the "path to save media files" box. Nothing more, nothing less, just "Audio" without the quotes. Now REAPER automatically creates a folder called "Audio" inside the project folder the first time I import or record media. Unfortunately, this ability isn't available for Renders, Backups, or Reapeaks so currently I save Reapeaks in an external folder and create a "Renders" folder manually for each project. Until these are addressed I won't call this feature request done.