A House Hold Inventory Can Save You In Many Ways

In researching for a program on Creating House Hold Inventories, I learned that a house hold inventory is important for more than being able to prove a loss.    

Having a good inventory will help you with:

• making a will or trust 
• establishing your wishes for disbursing personal property
• preparing your taxes
• passing an audit
• obtaining warranty repairs 
• determining your net worth

 If you get in the habit of updating the inventory when you make a purchase, you might reap the extra benefit of having the information you need at your fingertips if an item needs a warranty repair.

 According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (2012):

• Fifty-nine percent of consumers do not have a list of their possessions.

• For the ones who have a list of inventories, there were many inventory list inadequacies:

    – 48% do not have receipts,

    – 27% do not have photos of their inventories, and

    – 28% do not have a backup copy of the inventory that is kept at a location outside the home.

There are apps to help you or you can create a computer spread sheet or a handwritten form.  It is best to start with the basic information for the majority of items and then add additional information later.  The information you need for every item is:

• the item name
• original price
• quantity of goods
• serial numbers
• year purchased

  If you are doing this on a computer you can even add images of your product and receipt

Additional information that may be helpful:

• room location
• current value
• replacement cost
• model number
• place of purchase
• location of receipt
• condition
• expected life
• depreciation

There are booklets available from insurance companies, forms on the internet, and even new apps for cell phones to help you.  If you rent, an inventory is even more important because the value of your personal possessions determines the amount of insurance you buy.

My inventory is very out dated, so I have decided to start from scratch, and work on it a little each week.  Who knows, I may find some valuable items that I forgot about.