All was quiet on the blog-front last week…(Sorry guys!)…And thank you for the reader emails and messages of concern. #Thanksformissingus! (That was sort of cool!) Anyway we had a couple good excuses for no Sunday morning blog post. The first and biggest was our water heater met an untimely death, and flooded our basement. We lost several boxes of photos, books, craft supplies, wine, electronics and a desktop computer. We also had a massive amount of cleaning, and lost hours of our lives dealing with the home warranty company plumbers. Yet in the end we have a new water heater and some new knowledge about home insurance policies.

  Home Inventory Checklist printable

Create a Home Inventory Checklist

In the midst of damage control you may have forgotten what was in those boxes or rubbermaid containers. Whether it was a storage closet, a basement, or even in a room we often don’t remember what we were storing away or had in the first place. Essentially print one checklist for each room and itemize all valuables, furniture, etc, in it. Don’t forget to list whats in the closets, basements, garages, guest houses, and attics.

Make a Home Movie

Walk around your house with the video camera. We often narrate and describe the items we are recording. Luckily we do this every year usually around New Years and/or tax time. There is a reason for the timing, 1) we normally have some new things after Christmas, and/or 2) taxes always brings out the organizer in us and when we finally pull out that ol’ receipt file.

Don’t Leave them at the Home

Store your video and home Inventory checklist off-site from your actual home. This can be with a trustworthy family member, or in a safe security box at your local bank. We chose the later, because our bank offered a safe security box for free to us anyway, and what should happen if that family member has their own fire or flood?

Hopefully you will not need to use your Home Inventory, but as we all know…Life happens.