Pages

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Doing a home inventory is eye opening

I finally started doing a home inventory and in the process discovered that I had done one about 15 years ago and forgotten all about it LOL. It was handwritten and very out of date and incomplete but interesting to double check.

My reason for doing this is to add it to our fire safe as documentation in case of a fire or burglary. However it is sobering as I count the electronics, furnishings, linens, chotskies, etc. Why do we have so many of anything such as 3 leashes for the dog (we bought one, were given one, and one is a training lead) when we only use one? Once you buy or are given something it is very hard to let it go. Of course the moral is to not let it in the house in the first place but I'm dealing with what is already in!

I am hoping that the secondary purpose will be to decide to let some of these things go out into the broader world. Tonight I'll be discussing with Hubby how many blankets we actually need and whether we can let that training lead go.

And then there are the odd mismatches of use and need. We have 15 wine glasses, 12 drinking glasses and 20 coffee cups/mugs. We only a few people over at a time and never need 20 coffee cups. Of course 8 of those are cups and saucers that came with our dishes but really! However due to breakage over the years we keep running out of cereal/salad bowls with only 2 of us in the house. I think the kitchen will get a rethinking as part of this process to see if we can better match need and quantity without buying much. We expect not to move most of our dishes as they are old and showing the wear.

Have you done a home inventory and, if so, to what level of detail? How did it help you beyond documentation for insurance purposes?

6 comments:

  1. I haven't done an inventory for 17 years. Even then, there are some boxes I have no opened since 1991!
    It sounds like a good idea. Maybe that will be done soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We don't have unopened boxes but we have the stuff of having lived here for 16 years although I declutter regularly. Most of it does get used or was used regularly when acquired. What I am noticing is how much I would forget if I had to file a claim so it is a good exercise.

      Delete
  2. I am working on one, slowly - it's been in progress for over 3 months now (weekends only). I am housecleaning and decluttering as I go. My stuff is fairly organized but I still have way too much of it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your effort inspired me to start! Ours is pretty well organized too but I am amazed at how much is not in my brain LOL.

      Delete
  3. I've not done an inventory for a while but I have been doing a major house purge and have been shocked but the duplication and wastage we have accumulated. We have three dogs of very different sizes (from Newfie to Jack Russell) so they do need different leads but 9? Actually that's the same ratio as you. Maybe there is a lead norm of 3 :) It's the inherited things that have caused us the most angst. Four bone china tea sets of 60 to 40 pieces each. Two silver coffes sets, four silver tea sets, more embroidered linen than I will ever need in my lifetime and 5 single duvets and covers when we have no single beds. Off it goes.

    ReplyDelete

Thriving Thursday Week 12 - Spring is here and so are bugs

Welcome to Spring!  It was a nice sunny and warm week so we took a scenic drive exploring parts of Berkeley near the campus and the hills be...