My Home Office

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Started 10 months ago by ninakk
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ninakk
Member

I'm jumping back and forth in the book and for the past couple of days have been concentrating on establishing a household manual. I wanted to share what I've found elsewhere on-line:

http://www.erikdewey.com/bigbook.htm (free, rather amazing)

http://organizedhome.com/time-money/tap-power-of-planners
http://organizedhome.com/household-notebook/dividers-for-household-notebook
http://organizedhome.com/household-notebook/printable-pages

http://lifehacker.com/software/top/organize-your-familys-essential-information-in-case-of-an-emergency-264969.php
http://lifehacker.com/5817021/in-case-of-emergency-how-to-organize-your-important-records-in-a-master-information-kit
http://lifehacker.com/5816576/plan-and-put-together-your-network-from-start-to-finish

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/once-a-month-cooking-productivity-hack-or-overrated-time-suck.html

I grabbed an empty three-ring binder and a few sets of dividers to cover the unique needs of our household. So far I've thought mostly of the over-all structure but have printed a few pages to start filling them out, as well. I am making my own pages to customize them as much as possible (no need to print a huge amount of things that will remain empty or that don't quite fit "my" information), but the links above have provided me with many ideas.

I am about to open up a company the size of a one-woman show and realized I have to start keeping things separate as well as "like with like" to an even greater extent than what they already are. Plus, after DH moved in and we fused our paper wars, it's been a bit chaotic, so the timing is perfect now that I have a few months in total to take care of it all. I just keep returning to that bus that might hit me tomorrow or when I'm grey-haired and realize I don't even have a testament yet.

Posted 10 months ago #
Maura
Member

These are great links that I will refer back to during the next week or so as I, too, am in the process of creating a "household reference book" of sorts. I had one on the kitchen shelf, for the longest time, when the kids were little. The key was to go through it, purge and update on a regular basis.

Now that my kids are basically on their own, our needs have changed and so I am creating a new one.

Thanks for posting -- very useful, and perfect timing!

Posted 10 months ago #
Irulan
Member

Those are some interesting links! One thing I wonder about with regard to home manuals is how to guard them from theft. Where could you put something like this so that it's both accessible in an emergency and hidden from prying eyes?(Just thinking out loud on that one.)Can you break it down so that you can hide the component parts away with your other valuables when you travel? Or are these types of things inherently at odds with security?

Posted 10 months ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

Perfect timing for me as well. I just started a project like this when I dismantled the household binder.

Love the 'big book'.

Posted 10 months ago #
luxcat
Member

Along with Irulan, I would like to hear how others keep their info safe. I have collected some items together in case of emergency, but it's hard to keep them in a place easy to access as I am fleeing the building, but not easy to access for a thief who would then have the keys to the kingdom so to speak. I have solved this issue digitally, but not physically.

Posted 10 months ago #
Ella
Member

luxcat: Last month I bought a fireproof box for my most crucial hard-to-replace documents. They are in ziploc bags held together with a binder clip... easy to grab and flee the building, leaving the heavy box behind. Or if I'm feeling strong, the
14-pound box has a carrying handle. If a fire should occur while I'm away from the building, the box is fireproof for 30 minutes, and then the ziplocs will protect the contents from water damage. The small nondescript locked box is in a corner of my bathroom, well hidden under a stack of magazines.

Posted 10 months ago #
ninakk
Member

I am probably jinxing something now, but there usually are no fires and thefts in the area that I live in. I've decided to see how much paper we're talking about saving in physical form and only thereafter think about proper storage. Until then the household manual will sit tight on a normal shelf. Again, probably am jinxing it now :(

Posted 9 months ago #
ninakk
Member

A useful compilation of the most important documents in a "death dossier":

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303627104576410234039258092.html?KEYWORDS=The+25+Documents+You+Need+Before+You+Die

Posted 9 months ago #
ninakk
Member

I love the power of procrastination, which is why I'm assigning the project of a "Shit-hit-the-fan" folder to mom's bank vault for February 2012 as one of the special projects in the home. I will also update the household manual. Will keep track in this thread.

Posted 3 months ago #
EraserGirl
Member

whether what you are storing is paper or digital, a fireproof, waterproof box is well worth the investment. and don't buy a cheap one, the reviews online for the inexpensive ones locking mechanisms failing scare me. my next one will be big enough to hold my external harddrive.

I do a lot of online work for other people and non-profits so i put all their login data into a small black address book which i store where it can be found if something happens to me.

Posted 3 months ago #
ninakk
Member

Sorry for not replying, EG, it is a good point you have there!

Posted 3 months ago #

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