Inventory your property

Your house was just broken into, or lost to fire or another disaster. Do you know everything you had inside? If you'd been in the home for a while you probably accumulated a lot of things, all of which could be replaced by your home or renter's insurance, but you have to remember them to be able to claim them. There are a few ways to go about this.

1. Make a video recording of all the contents of your home. Go systematically from room to room, narrating your video by talking about everything you are seeing. Use a new video cassette and take as much time as you need to see everything. Put the tape into a safe-deposit box or fire-proof safe in your home. For added security and ease of access, upload to an online video service that allows private videos (i.e. Google Video).
   
2. If video isn't your thing, take still pictures of everything in your home. Open every drawer and closet and take photos of all your possessions. Store the photos in a safe deposit box or upload them to your favorite online photo site (see previous post).
   
3. Make a paper or electronic list of all your possessions, room by room. This can be time consuming, but your list would be ready in the event of an accident and a claim could be made sooner.
4. Become a reality TV star, letting them video tape every moment of your dull existence. When the show is finally cancelled, ask them for all that seemingly wasted footage of you hanging out with all your junk, which now serves as your property inventory.
   

As someone who was recently robbed, I can attest to the utility of this type of preparation. My wife had wisely taken photos of all our possessions just a few days before and this helped us quickly identify what was missing, including some things we probably would have forgotten. Got any other ideas, you can post them below.