Anyone who owns “things” should keep an inventory of all those “things.” I haven’t really updated my inventory in a while, and the beginning of the new year would be a good time to do so. The Insurance Information Institute has a website from where you can download free software to help in your recordkeeping.
Microsoft Money does a horrible job in managing a home inventory. I’ll try out the software offered by I.I.I. and post a review at some point. I like the ability to include photographs and receipts with each item.
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1:08 am (reply)
Hey, this software looks useful! I’ve installed it and started tinkering with it. Thanks!
3:45 pm (reply)
I’ve downloaded this as well and have started to inventory our stuff.
The structure/organization of the input is user friendly and focuses me on what’s important.
The date input is not very user friendly though.
Couple of other things:
Be as thorough as possible on the first pass of your things: try to get maker, model, serial number, manufacture date. This is req’d by the software and makes getting current replacement costs/price estimates (w/o receipts) easier when online.
Focus on the big things first: electronics, major pieces of furniture, appliances. Generally these are worth more, easier to inventory, and gets you started.
The Internet is invaluable in getting current esimates. However, these prices may be lower than store/retail (ie don’t shortchange yourself).
Consider supplementing the inventory with a video walkthrough of your residence and burn all onto a CD rom and give the CD to a relative (keep offsite).
Document the methodology used to estimate prices in the description section in the info/setup and the mo/yr this was done.
All in all, a great tool.