Flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, all have destroyed homes and put plans on hold for thousands this year. As we watched the horrible images on TV, we may think these things can never happen to us. All those who lost homes in 2024 thought exactly the same thing, but it happened. House fires and burglaries can happen to anyone even in the most prosperous neighborhoods. Burglaries and home invasions are on the rise, especially in areas where there are large numbers of recent immigrants. It is time to consider why you need an inventory? Even FEMA now recommends a home inventory. Do you really know what you own?

Why is a home inventory important?

Natural disasters do happen. Hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and floods destroy property and can cost the lives and health of those in their path. A household inventory will move you to the front of the line when applying for government aid or filing an insurance claim. Instead of waiting years to rebuild a home, inventory can move the process along so you can be resettled in a much shorter amount of time.

Home fires are a fact of life. Many may feel they do not need to worry about a natural disaster, but a house fire can affect anyone. Your chance of experiencing a home fire is 1 in 309. We have several friends who have lost homes, cabins, businesses, or ranches due to fire. One was told they would have one opportunity to submit a list of the items they lost. If they remembered something else later – “too bad”.  Another friend was told they would have to replace their goods with their own money and submit a receipt which would then be reimbursed. Both were nightmares which could have been made easier with a home inventory.

According to the FBI, every 15 seconds a home burglary occurs in the United States meaning approximately 4,800 burglaries happen every day. The numbers have risen as the number of immigrants has risen. The numbers have risen as cities have defunded police and as laws have weakened and criminals have been released the same day they are arrested. Inflation also causes burglaries to increase as people become desperate to feed and clothe their families. As economic times get tougher, thefts become more frequent.

We are hearing of more thefts of gas from parked cars and more muggings for cash. A home inventory will help you identify items which have been taken and will also help the police identify those items if they turn up at a pawn shop or swap meet.

An inventory will also help you determine if you have the insurance coverage you really need. As you discover antiques and jewelry you own, you may discover you need separate coverage for those items. You may also discover you can no longer replace your possessions with the insurance coverage you now have. If you live outside of Utah, how many insurance agents will believe you have $1,000 in canning supplies or $5,000 worth of food storage – at least I hope you do!

An inventory will help verify losses when you are filing your tax returns. You can claim a loss even if you do not have receipts or photos to back up your claim. But, if you are audited and cannot prove your claims, that claim may be disallowed.

Discover buried treasure. An inventory is a great way to rediscover those possessions you may have forgotten about. I recently moved. I sorted through cupboards and closets and discovered items I had completely forgotten. Some have come out of hiding and are now displayed where I can enjoy them while others are in a pile for a garage sale or donation.

A home inventory is an important part of estate planning. An inventory can help avoid hard feelings. Some time ago, a family member passed away. How I wish there had been an inventory which told us our relatives’ desires for distribution their treasures. An inventory will remind you of the items you want to pass along and the stories behind those items. This is an important part of family history. Not everyone can possess the pearls your mom wore on her wedding day, but everyone can possess a photo and a copy of the story that makes those pearls important.

Then there is finding room for food storage. We all know food storage should not be kept in a hot garage, attic, or shed. As you open up space in better areas, relocate your food storage to cool, dry locations. Maybe you will discover items that you use only once or twice a year. There is no reason for these to be taking up valuable food storage space, when the less-used and less-essential stuff can go out to the garage or up to the attic.

Divorce can happen. None of us like to believe this will happen to us, but what about other family members? A few years ago, I was having lunch with a man curious about my new venture into offering third party home inventories. He asked me why anyone would need one and I was explaining that they are priceless in divorce court if a spouse should clean out a home and then claim the items never existed. His eyes got big as he explained he got home from a 16-hour shift and his house was empty. This also happened in our own family while our family member was in the hospital.

College students should inventory their possessions as well. Be sure your children who attend college have an inventory of their things. There are always a parade of friends-of-roommates through student apartments – most are trustworthy, some are not.  Student renters need a home inventory in case of fire just as much as the landlord. A landlord’s insurance will not cover the renter’s possessions.

Funerals. Yes, there are thieves out there who love to read obituaries and then burglarize homes while families are at the funeral. Awful, yes, but true. Would you know what was in a deceased family member’s home should this happen to you?

How do you conduct a home inventory?

Keep it simple.

Ideally, an inventory would be a list of everything in the house, but realistically most of us will never do that. Food storage, unlike other possessions, is perishable, and as soon as you open the next can of green beans, your inventory is outdated, and needs to be updated. Some hard data once or twice a year can help you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your food storage, and bring focus to your efforts to acquire, can, and store the things that are most needed.

The simplest way to establish and record your home inventory – at least for insurance purposes – is to get out your video recorder or phone and start rolling. If you do not have a recorder, then take lots of digital photos.

Now that you are ready, begin. Start in the attic and work your way down. As you proceed open every drawer and take a picture of the contents. Open all closets and take pictures. Be sure to remove the items at the front of the shelf so you can also record the items at the back. Look under every bed and bring everything out to create a record.

Create an inventory chart or spread sheet. You will want a column to record the item, a brief description, serial number, price paid, where it is stored, where receipts and appraisals for those items are kept, and notes for family history. If you are recording your inventory, as you discover family heirlooms make a verbal commentary on the items as you tape them.  If you are taking still photos, list items on your inventory sheet so you can write a history later.

Continue your inventory going room to room, taking pictures and recording important information. Do not forget the bathroom. You may think a guest bath with no cupboards does not need your attention. Wrong. In the event of a fire, you will need to replace the fixtures, towels, soap dishes, trash cans, and moldings, when you rebuild, and you will want those items paid for by the insurance. Take pictures of everything!

I know the garage can be a problem as, unfortunately, this is too often just a storage unit where your car used to sleep. Garages are too often piled high with all kinds of stuff. Be brave and tackle the mess. When you consider the cost of tools and auto supplies, you realize you cannot afford to skip this area.

Don’t forget to video your food storage. Food is expensive and you want a good record of what you have. Even if you only have a small shelf of food storage, take a good inventory. To inventory food storage, take a current picture as an example of what is normally there. If you are in the process of building your food storage, take a new photo as you add a new shelf full of food.

A video inventory is a great start, but a paper record should also be created with thumbnail versions of your photos. This is the form an insurance company will look at and quickly get processed.

In other columns and posts, I have written about the wisdom of choosing a contact person who lives at least seventy miles away as the person who will hold an envelope with copies of your important papers and phone numbers, who is a person you would trust in a crisis to provide you with a place of refuge. Once your inventory is complete, send a copy to this contact. You may also want a copy in a safe deposit box but be aware that after a community disaster the banks may be closed for several days or weeks. Place a copy in your Five-Day kit. Fireproof safes are wonderful but during a house fire the temperatures will destroy recorded discs and negatives. Always have a backup plan, and that means one or more backups of each important document. An inventory represents your work and property, and you do not want to lose these.

Third party inventories

Third party inventories offer an added degree of protection as you now have a person, completely unrelated to you, who can confirm your inventory is a true representation of what you really owned. Inventories of your own possessions is difficult as you have an emotional attachment. An inventory professional knows what is important to document in detail and when it is sufficient to simply take a photo. Be sure to get referrals and be sure they are bonded.

There is still one more thing to do.

A home inventory is never complete. Each week we add to our possessions: there are important mementos from loved ones, a new purchase of food storage, some new clothes as the children grow, and some replacements for items which have worn out. Add these items to your chart or spread sheet and take a picture. Every six months, maybe at General Conference time, update your previous inventory and send a copy to your contact. Inventories need backup, the same as computers need backup.

If time runs out.

I have a friend whose home now lays under 50 feet of lava on the island of Hawaii. She and her husband were in the prosses of moving and making a trip to the mainland to finish winding up a few details. As she left Hawaii, she remembered a class in which we had discussed a home inventory. She took out her phone and began taking photos around the house. A few days later the volcano began to erupt, and friends called to ask if there was anything they could go and rescue. Our friend’s home was being threatened and the neighborhood was under an evacuation order but residents had permission to go in for 15 minutes. Our friend got out her phone, looked through the photos to remind her of items she would be sad to lose but may have forgotten, and told her friend where to find the items to be saved.

We do not know the challenges ahead. Well, not exactly. But we have a pretty good idea from prophetic counsel that preparation is overdue, and we must catch up. A home inventory is a great way to assess our situation – to arrive at conclusions, set goals, simplify, verify, and move forward. It is also one of the most valuable things to have in the event of loss due to a major event such as a house fire or natural disaster.

Consider all those people you watched being interviewed after losing their homes. How much easier their recovery would be if they had spent an hour or two for a few days inventorying their home and possessions.

For help in meeting all your self-reliance goals join Carolyn at http://facebook.com/TotallyReady or her blog at Totallyready.com. Help with weekly challenges for preparing and storing food and disaster preparation are available on both sites. Carolyn’s Totally Ready Emergency Binder is available to purchase and download at Totallyready.com and can be purchased complete or one section at a time. Message Carolyn at the Totally Ready or Operation Ornaments Facebook page.