Keeping Household Records

Keeping household records is very important. You never know when you will need a document to sell your house, car, etc. Learn about the important documents to save in your house. Where do you preserve important property information? Property records are meant to be saved in a safe place in case you need them years later.

As new roles come in our life, so do more records to keep. Have you recently been married, divorced, had a baby, purchased a house, attended college etc? These are all great responsibilities in life which require keeping personal records. As a business owner, it is especially important to keep records, so I am speaking from my own experience as an entrepreneur and a home owner.

From keeping your credit clean, to paying and saving on your taxes, it is vitally important to keep your household records in one place. As it is Spring cleaning time for so many people, I have found myself lately going through files and household records. Do not just let things pile up on a desk thinking you will get to it eventually. Make sure you at least save your papers that cannot be reduplicated in a fire and water proof safe.

Make a Family Time Capsule for Keeping Household Records to Pass on to Your Children

For everything else, make sure it is in a dry place where moth and mice cannot destroy. Create a file cabinet specifically for keeping household records. If it is papers that will get passed on to future generations in the family, make a Family Time Capsule (from the “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule seen here), and save the papers in there for 20, 30, or 50 years.  A Time Capsule and file cabinet are for papers that can be duplicated somehow if needed.

Household Records to Save:

PROPERTY

• Real Estate
  • Save the title insurance policy number, title company, what city it is recorded in, date recorded, deed information, previous owner, date purchased, price purchased for, cash paid, and balance.
  • Also save the mortgage information, amount, number of years, loan number, when payments are due, etc.
• Automobiles, Boat, Motorcycle
  • Who is the name on the title, location of title, make, model, year, serial number, color of vehicle, engine type and size, identifiable marks, dealer or salesman, address, purchase price, warranty period, location of service receipts, bank or lender, amount of loan, interest, and date of loan, number of payments, when due, monthly payment, etc.
• Burial Lot Deed
  • Remember to keep the number of plots in your records

INVESTMENTS

• Stocks
• Mutual Funds
• Municipal and Industrial Bonds
• Government Bonds
• Other Investments

LEGAL

• Birth Certificates
• Death Certificates
• Marriage Certificate
• Divorce Decree
• Adoption papers
• Citizenship papers
• Military service papers
• Living Will
• Copies of Social Security Cards

FAMILY

• Report Cards
• Diplomas
• Employment achievements, records, and resume
• Insurance policies
• Important family contacts and phone numbers
• Medical History information

As you can read, keeping household records is an important process. It is so much easier and faster to find that document you need when they are all in one location. Why not make this activity of organizing these documents fun, and make a Family Time Capsule to save them in for years. Check out the “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule here to get started turning it into your own Family Time Capsule.

What other documents can you think of that you should save? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie