Many Cincinnati homeowners are finding themselves underwater in more ways than just flooding.

Preparing for the worst is becoming more proactive documenting all the “stuff” you have inside your home.  If you were faced with a disaster would you be able to remember about everything you owned?

Whether you are covered by Homeowners Insurance or Renters Insurance, it’s your responsibility to provide documentation about the contents and date of purchase.  Most of us can remember lots of things but detailing everything in your home or apartment is a huge project.

Recently John Matarese aired a segment on Don’t Waste Your Money featuring some apps to help capture information.

The idea is to capture everything in pictures and store in a safe place.  After reading some articles about how insurance companies value items, it might be a good idea to also take a picture of receipts on more expensive items.

The apps are one way to store information.  But since lots of us already have cloud storage available for free, think about uploading a house file.

Many email providers also allow space for extra storage.  Since I’m guilty of not having enough documentation I’ve started a folder on Google Drive labeled “Home Contents”.  To make it easy I added subfolders broken down by rooms.  I can add (or delete) pictures anytime.  To save space, I’m using lower resolution photos from my phone.

It doesn’t matter how you keep track of “stuff”.  Preparing for the worst requires taking the time to itemize your belongings -just in case you need to replace them.