Documenting the house.

[Ceashels]

Monkeywrangler's thread title got me thinking.....

I haven't done it since moving into this home but at my last 2 apartments I took pictures of each room as a way of archiving my belongings.

I got this idea from a jeweler who only sells his items, either 200 purchases or 2 years before retiring the item. If after that time if I lose my jewelry I need to prove that I owned it before he will cast me another one. So I have/had pictures of my hand with my ring since I love it so much.

But if for some reason you were burgled or had a fire and lost your stuff, the insurance company would want a list of what you had and the cost of replacing it. How on Earth am I supposed to do that after having lost part of my home and security?

So I'm thinking that as I continue to declutter the house and fix my rooms I'll take digital pics, put them on a CD and make a copy for my Mom to keep. It wouldn't hurt and can only help if such a horrid thing happened.

Has or does anyone else do this? What prompted you to document your possessions? Did you ever need to use the information or was it just something to feed the security gland?

[mauimagic]

I knew that I had an extra glad lurking around there someplace!!

Mahalo for bringing this up - I need to update ours with pictures - Have a list, but that's really not enough.

[nuisance26]

~I have always meant to do this but I'd really prefer to have nothing that was so valuable that I would want replaced to begin with. Unfortunately DH doesn't agree.
We have nothing of value really anyway, just some jewelry(I'd like to sell it as I prefer costume), some video games, a couple of antiques and a few art pieces. Our computer is so old is isn't worth $50. The laptop is new from last year but it was a black friday special. Besides the jewelry I don't think a thief would get even $1K from robbing our house.
So for us I don't feel like it's all that important in the case of theft. Although for fire replacement purposes it would be quite helpful!~

[Ceashels]

Yeah, its funny but my ring only cost me $35 dollars (sterling silver Celtic knot) but the fact that he won't make me one without proof!!!

But for insurance purposes, when our friends had extreme water damage and lost half their house, it was the replacement value that the insurance was paying!

So what is the cost of a new bed frame, mattress, box spring, dresser, clothes, lamps, night stand, pictures, mirrors, dvds, pots, pans, curtains...... It can add up to the thousands for just some basic things even though each item might not cost all that much. And I don't want to be wracking my brain after trauma like that to come up with a list.

[monkeywrangler71]

I've started and stopped this many times, and never really got much done. I don't really have much that I would take pictures of, no jewellery or art, but I really need to be recording serial numbers for our electronics and such.

I have library software where I started to record our books but never finished, the DVDs are done though. They might not be that valuable individually, but when you have a lot they add up quickly, especially for replacement value.

I was thinking of recording things as I pack (which was what kind of prompted my other post) but can't quite figure out how to structure it. I'll need the list anyway for the move, thought I would just make it extra detailed for insurance and my own reference while I'm at it.

For off-site storage, I use our safety deposit box for computer backups (photos and financial docs.) and would probably do the same for inventory pictures/lists.

[pollypurebred39]

Ceashels,

This is a great idea! We have somethings of value that would be a good idea to have record of, but more the everyday kind of stuff that would really add up in the event of a fire/or whatever.

Thanks for posting this!

[MrsOptimistic]

Oh this is a fabulous idea! We have a list of some things but this would be much more handy. I'm going to do this.

[monkeywrangler71]

Just an update - I have been doing a total inventory while I pack. I'm using Bento, a database program for Mac made by filemaker (that is in no way an endorsement for the application, in fact, I despise it but could not find anything else to use). I have been entering all our books into Bookpedia as I pack them.

It's tedious, especially with only a week to go before we move. One unexpected benefit of recording everything as I pack - I have been purging a lot of stuff that I was unwilling to purge before, just because I'm tired of typing it all in . I even got rid of books - especially old books with no ISBN numbers, because it is such a PITA to search by title.

I'm keeping a backup of my database in Dropbox, which is a free online file storage service. Really easy to use, it just looks like a folder on my computer but is accessible from anywhere.

[Ceashels]

That's a lot of work MonkeyWrangler. I would hate to input all of our books into the computer. I might be willing to scan the cover though but I'm not that willing just yet. lol

Great job on the diligent purging!

[monkeywrangler71]

I can scan the bar codes, but honestly it's faster to type in the number than hold it up to the camera and wait for it get a fix on it.