Keep Your Important Documents Organized
As we know, there are many scenarios that could cause us to have to either hunker down or bug out at any moment. Extreme weather is probably the most likely one. But there are a variety of other circumstances, including an epidemic or pandemic, an EMP, a terrorist attack, or an accident causing a long-term blackout.
We always think first about emergency food and clean drinking water in situations such as these – and well we should – but there is also the possibility that we will need to quickly access our important documents. This is especially true if we have to bug out and need to show proof of who we are, what kind of insurance we possess, whether our pets are vaccinated, etc.
Many of us are not nearly as prepared in this area as we are in many others. It’s important to rectify this situation ASAP. The key is to keep files containing all your important documents together in a safe place where you can grab them quickly if necessary. Actually, you want to have two sets of all your important documents – one at home and one in another location.
What are the most important documents to have at the ready? Well, home, auto, health and life insurance policies are at or near the top of the list. You also want to have copies of photo ID cards, including driver’s licenses, student IDs, passports, etc. In addition, you should have a list of all prescription medicines you and other family members take regularly.
One document should include all of your banking information, including the names and addresses of your banks and the account numbers for your checking, savings and other accounts, while another document should include photocopies of all your credit cards. Yet another document should contain the names, addresses and phone numbers of your physicians, dentists, attorneys and insurance agents.
Also keep copes of all of your vehicle titles, as well as copies of property ownership records. And don’t forget to include all key documents pertaining to your pets. If you have to check into a hotel that takes animals, you’ll probably need to prove they are up to date on their vaccinations.
As previously mentioned, it’s very important to keep these documents in a safe place…such as a fireproof safe, both at home and at a secondary location.
I gained a lot of knowledge reading the e-mail, now I want to seriously get prepared in case of an emergency now that I know what I need to; I am very thankful for that and I do thank you!
Just a few years ago I had a house fire. It was a small one, but big enough for my family to evacuate the home in the middle of the night. My attention was to putting out the fire than to gather up vital materials, records, clothing and family photographs, or items of extreme value. There was only enough time to get the family out and try and stop the fire from spreading.
After the fire and reviewing the damage caused by the fire and smoke; my family and I realized that we needed to do something different in order to protect ourselves from any disaster.
For records like life insurance policies, car, home, personal we made two copies. One copy was placed on a computer stick, the other was a hard copies that my wife keeps in her office desk files. All of those photographs that are hard to replace if lost or destroyed. We placed them in a fire proof chest and again we made copies on a computer stick. The chest is placed in an area of the house where it is kept dry and protected, yet easy to retrieve at a moments notice. The chest has wheels on it so that anyone can pull it out of the house.
My wife and I have been talking about getting a 6 foot tall safe. They run about $800.00 to $1000.00 depending where you get them from and what type and kind you get. I want one to store my weapons and coin collections as well as valuable documents. I want it to be fireproof, water tight, and earthquake proof should the house collapse during a quake, (I live in California). You can get a small safe that will do the same but you have to take into consideration is, if someone was to break into your home how easy would it be to carry off your safe? That is why we went with the tall safe. It is to big and heavy to move or be carried off. Also, I went with a old fashion dial instead of one of those electronic combinations. I just don’t trust the battery that is needed to remember my combination or a possible EMP, electronic magnetic pulse to occur. No I’m not expecting solar flares or an nuclear attack to take out my electronics; but, the government has been playing around with a new device that will emit an EMP to stop vehicles, aircraft, and electronics. What is to prevent someone from using such a device on my safe knocking out the combination? Besides there is a way to beat the system and open your safe if you have a electronic key pad.
Anyway, part of preparing for a disaster is to plan for any type of scenario that may occur and how to minimize the damage , harm, or inconvenience to you and your family. Plan to adapt and overcome, plan to survive, and plan to strive in the face of adversity.
Try using an “Ironkey”….a data file holder (thumb drive) that is tough and resistant to EMP, CME, etc.
Now that’s a great idea!!!