Karen Howe
Ever wonder what to do with all those manuals, warranty cards and receipts for the items in your home or associated with it–hot water heaters, lift chairs, durable medical equipment, televisions, computers, lawn mowers, beds, telephones, vacuum cleaners, stoves, toasters, household furniture, etc. Often they are laid in drawers, stuck in a catch-all file cabinet, but ultimately disappear. When these items are needed, they can’t be found. Is there a way to keep these organized and easy to find? According to Karen Howe, The Sketchley Law Firm’s probate paralegal and guest blogger, there is a quick easy way to maintain these records:
I keep a binder in which I store all the manuals, receipts, warranty cards, etc. for every appliance, yard tool, lawn mower, item of furniture, etc. that I purchase for my home. If there is a problem with the item I know where to go to find the information quickly and efficiently.
To create a HOUSEHOLD binder, you will need the following items:
A LARGE three-rin
20-30 Top-load clear plastic sheet protectors;
a stapler, and;
several zipped baggies (snack size found at any grocery store).
To organize the binder, do the following:
Make a copy of the receipt (because the original will fade over time) and staple the copy to the inside cover of the manual.
Place the manual inside one of the top-load plastic sheet protector.
If there are small extra parts, place them in a zipped bagged and add that to the plastic sheet protector.
Put the plastic sheet protector in the three-ring binder.
If you have several of these, consider getting tab dividers and organizing the binder according to the rooms of your house: Kitchen, Durable Medical Equipment, Garage, Outdoor, Furniture, etc. Now when you need information about a particular item in your home, it will be at your finger tips! REMEMBER TO THROW AWAY THE DOCUMENTATION OF PRODUCTS YOU NO LONGER HAVE.
