Documenting possessions in pictures

Although I DON’T feel like the stuff we have makes our house a home- I would be devastated if a natural disaster or fire robbed us of the things we own. We’ve both worked hard to be where we are today, and I feel like being a good steward of our money includes documenting what we have so that if God-forbid something were to happen, it won’t be such a crisis at that time. Of course most of the things we could never replace are the things that mean the most (Luke’s artwork, love notes, wedding album, etc…), but I do feel like having the basic things documented is a wise move (furniture, dishes, clothes, jewelry, etc.) Also things that are in garages, sheds, and attics should be included too.

When I had this as an idea to add to the list, I originally thought about taking pictures of everything. But as I was doing some research online of what to include, they suggested doing a video diary of everything. So that’s what I did. Of course I’m not going to post the video online, because that’s personal and I’d rather not advertise to the world what’s in our home.

The information I found online also suggested to write everything down along with serial numbers. I’m not going to do that, but I did say brand names and the sizes of things (computer, TV, etc…)

These  need to be stored in a safe place, and seeing as a natural disaster could take everything from your home, your house isn’t a good place for it. Although a safe deposit box is ideal, we don’t have one- but we do have a fire proof, waterproof safe that we will store this in. It has a copy of our wedding CD and other things that we feel the need to protect. It literally weighs a ton, so we’re not too worried about it blowing away. Also another idea is to store a copy at your house and at a relatives house (under the assumption that one house will be ok, if the other isn’t)

I plan to update this video yearly or as often as we feel necessary. And BONUS- this is #91 off the list!

Here are some of the websites I used:
This website is the one that suggested the video. Genius.

http://cashmoneylife.com/home-inventory-insurance-documentation/

This website had a great idea that suggested using drop box to “drop” your photos onto a friends computer so they are not all stored on your main computer.

http://financefreelancelife.com/2010/03/01/how-to-document-possessions-insurance/