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In today’s digital age, it’s easy to forget about paper documents. But, there are some things that you just can’t go digital with! You need the original document or a physical copy of some of your most important information.
A fireproof waterproof file safe is the best method for storing important documents to keep them safe at home. Keep reading because I’m sharing all about why this is a really good idea, what to keep in your fireproof safe, and how to organize it all.
Before we begin, I want to give this disclaimer:
Fireproof waterproof boxes are NOT 100%. They DO fail. Some of them do, some of them don’t. This is NOT a guarantee. Many of them are only rated for a certain amount of time in a fire. Ours is rated for 30 minutes. So basically, if it is consumed in flames for longer than 30 minutes (up to 1550 degrees), our stuff will be toast anyway. Even the flood protection is only good for 24 hours.
And even then, I have heard of them failing. So where this is not a 100% slam dunk, my personal feeling is, it’s better than nothing. If I am going to do the work to gather all of my stuff, I want to do everything I can to keep it protected. However, I would STILL recommend digitizing all of the things in your box, and keeping copies of them off-site (for example: a relative’s home). But again, I would rather increase the odds of saving the original documents if possible.
To protect your important documents from:
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A note on taxes: How many years should you hold on to?? This is directly from the IRS website, January 2024: “Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction.”
This is also entirely up to you. I have included our personal list below, as well as an explanation of how I have ours organized. But this is your safe, so do it in a way that makes sense for you and your family.
I have 2 sets of hanging folders. The front set of 5 hanging folders is red and the back set of 5 hanging folders is blue.
Some of those hanging folders are the only file folders for that category. For instance, our Medical folder doesn’t have a ton of stuff in there, so I just lumped it all together and didn’t separate any of it into subfolders.
Other colored hanging folders have quite a bit of stuff in them, so I put normal file folders inside them, to help organize the documents further. An example of when I did this is our Insurance hanging folder. I subdivided this into 3 folders:
*Important Info – I decided that rather than putting one of each of our bills in this box, I would rather have ONE document with everything like that listed on it. We have a password-protected document on our computer, with all of our important information in one spot. Account numbers, company customer service phone numbers, web addresses, usernames, passwords, etc.
Gosh. I see another post coming…let’s make it Emergency Preparedness Step 5 ! Anyway, that’s what is at the very front of the box. I print out an updated copy of that document every six months and replace the existing one in the firebox.
**Home Inventory – we will cover this SOON in a future post!
There are a few things to consider when deciding where to put this box.
FIREPROOF
WATERPROOF
LOCKS
It seems silly to go to the work of gathering all of these things, and to spend the money on a box, if you aren’t protecting these things from everything you possibly can. So I would highly encourage you to get a box that does all 3 of those things.
Small: They do have boxes that are quite small, that aren’t as tall as a file folder.
Large: I’m talking about the ones like mine, that can hold file folders
If you are going with a larger one, I would recommend wheels. I got one without wheels and really regret it. This sucker’s HEAVY! It would be really awesome to have it on wheels when I need to pull it out to get something out/put something in. And imagine grabbing it and getting it to the car for a quick evacuation. One word. WHEELS!
I got mine at Walmart on a rollback for $60ish. Other places that would have them: Target, Staples, etc. Mine is the older version of this one on Amazon. If I had to do it over again, I would get THIS one on Amazon. It looks like better quality and it has wheels. It has great reviews and looks like a solid buy. But, that’s just me. Just to be clear: I have NOT tried this box. But I am very tempted to upgrade to it.
This is easy. Do not let the long list of documents overwhelm you. It goes a lot quicker than you think. I promise.
Decide on the size box you want and order it today. That is your first step. It’s easy. If you are getting the larger box and you don’t have file folders, you can order those on Amazon as well. Those are the only “supplies” you will need.
If you would rather go to a store to purchase these things, go put them on your Target or Walmart or Staples or whatever list. (If you don’t have a constant list going for one or all of these stores, check out my Store Lists post to get you organized!)
You can split this up and gather a few documents a day, so that by the time you have your box and file folders, everything is ready to organize. Or, wait til you have the supplies, block out a morning or an afternoon one day this week, and GET IT ALL DONE IN ONE SHOT!
Okay, so now for reals. Here is the checklist:
For a helpful post on digitizing photos, home movies, journals, and other important memories, read this post HERE!
For other Emergency Preparedness posts, go to the EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS tab, or click HERE.
There will always be things we don’t think about before we encounter an emergency. But, I’m here to help you think about some of the non-food storage items you might want to keep on hand for the next rainy day.
Why you should schedule an emergency preparedness weekend every 6 months, and what you should be doing, reviewing, rotating, and maintaining. Free printable checklist!
Berkey water filters are THE BEST water filters, not only for emergencies, but for everyday use. They are so good, they are classified as a water purifier, which is a step up from a filter!
