Storing Important Documents

Q: Where would you recommend filing important documents like birth certificates, passports, etc?

A:  I suggest keeping any difficult to replace documents such as:

Birth certificates, social security cards, marriage license, insurance policies, etc in clear protective sheets and stored in a 3-ring binder.  Keep the binder in a fire-proof safe.  

Another item I recommend to include in the binder, is a copy of the front and back of all credit cards you own.  If your wallet is ever stolen, canceling all those cards and remembering which cards you have is so much easier when you have the documentation and contact information on one or two pages.

As added protection, I also copy many of those same documents and put them in, what I call, a Grab-n-Go tote.  This tote would be the one thing I grab if my family and I had to evacuate our home immediately because of a natural or man-made disaster.  The remaining contents of the Grab-n-Go tote, in short, include various survival items for 7 days for all family members and pets.  

If you prefer, you can electronically store the same documents by scanning and storing on a disc.  The disc can then be placed in the safe and in the above mentioned tote.

Getting Your life in Order!

~S