I read a post some time ago about keeping your important documents safe. I have a number of documents that I consider to be important yet I do not think that I have stored them in a safe enough manner.
I keep my documents in a plastic filing box that I got at WalMart. Now while this is okay for protecting my important papers against dust and small amounts of water it really does not do the best job possible.
In order to really protect those important papers you have two main choices:
A safety deposit box
A fire proof safe at home
You can keep items like birth certificates and marriage licenses in a safety deposit box at a bank in order to give them the highest level of protection possible. This can be costly and if you are looking to save money while you are protecting your documents then this might not be the best choice for you.
Alternatively you can invest in a fire proof safe and keep your documents at home. This will benefit you if the items are such that you do not use them on a regular basis but it would be nice to have instant access to them when you do need them.
Both of the methods listed above protect your important papers not only from dust but also from theft and water damage. Now of course I have chosen the third option right now of using my sturdy plastic box from WalMart. It has so far protected my papers from dust and water in small amounts. If (God forbid) my apartment were to flood then there is a good chance that my papers could become damaged if water got into the box. I would really like to have a small fireproof safe so that I could provide safer environment for my important papers but for now this will have to do.
How do YOU keep your important papers safe?
I’ve been meaning to do something like this for a while. Like you, I keep all my documents in a file cabinet, although I opted for the metal one instead of plastic… still wouldnt offer any protection against fire heh.
How much is a safety deposit box at a bank? Ive never checked into those…
I keep copies in my safe deposit box at the bank and in a fireproof box at home. But I’ve also been meaning to scan the documents and back them up on a flash drive and putting it in with our emergency supplies. You might consider giving a flash drive w/ copies of your docs to family who don’t live with you just in case something happens to your house.
http://tawodi.org/2007/07/07/what-to-keep-in-a-fireproof-safe/
Posted about just such a thing recently.
Shawn…..I have no idea how much a safety deposit box is at a bank. I think I would just go with the fireproof safe at home and leave it at that since my plastic box has worked so well all these years.
CFO……I started to scan some stuff (but I am lazy) so I just gave up on that. I have also been considering the part about family members having your information in case something happened to you but again….being lazy I just never got around to it. I guess I also want to think that nothing bad will happen so this will be unnecessary.