Creating a Home Inventory — Protect Your Assets

Things have been pretty crazy around the Dekker house lately.

To make a VERY long story very short — we’re moving! I’ll share more about the old, OLD farmhouse we’re buying later!

I’ve never really moved before…this is totally new territory for me.

I lived in the same house my entire life. Sure, I “shuffled” a few of my belongings to and from college each semester, but I never moved. Even when I got married, we hardly had anything to move. However, over the last 4 years, we’ve managed to accumulate a nice little stock pile of stuff! Can you relate?

I’ve already started purging and as I was going through some of our stuff I remembered a recent conversation I had with our insurance agent.

She asked me if we had an up-to-date home inventory — I answered “No”. She went on to explain how important it is to have an accurate home inventory to protect our assets in the event of theft, fire, flood, or other natural disaster.

So I started thinking; since I will be going through all our stuff anyway, now might be the perfect time to create a home inventory. I’m not going to get all crazy and document every single thing {our stuff isn’t THAT valuable!} But I did create an Excel spreadsheet and I’m planning to take a bunch of pictures.

Apparently a home inventory can make a huge difference on an insurance claim — and like knowing that we are protected…just in case.

Here are a few helpful tips from our insurance agent:

• Conduct a complete home inventory every year or two
• Document everything in writing, with photos, and/or with video
• Organize your assets by category (clothes, electronics, kitchen, tools, vehicles, etc)
• Include serial numbers and other important phone numbers or certificates of authentication
• Take pictures of every closet, cabinet, and any valuable collections
• Pay special attention to antiques, jewelry and other highly valuable items
• Keep all information, pictures, etc. on a USB drive and store it in a fire-proof safe
• Make another copy of your information and store it outside your home (a relatives home or in a safety deposit box)

Here are a few helpful resources from the web:

• What is a Home Inventory?
• Getting Started — How to Create a Home Inventory
• How to Make a Video Home Inventory
• More Tips for Making a Home Inventory — some great tips!
• Make a Home Inventory and Declutter Your Home
• Quicken Home Inventory Software ($29.99)

If you don’t have a home inventory,  take some time this weekend to create one. Hopefully you will never need to use it…but it’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Photo Credit