1) Name brand and model of television(s) in your house or apartment. 2) How much did your computer cost, and where did you purchase it? 3) What is serial number on your camera?

Could you answer those questions without looking? Now imagine how difficult it would be to come up with this information for ALL of your belongings while dealing with stress of a fire, burglary, or natural disaster. In such a case, you may spend countless hours trying to remember everything only to realize what you forgot after your claim has been processed. You might not even be able to produce required proof for claim to be accepted.

How can a home inventory help?

In unfortunate event of a major loss, your insurance company will need a lot of information to process your claim. If you’ve already created a home inventory, this process will be much easier and should be completed faster. Otherwise, you might not be able to account for everything, and if you’re unable to provide required information, you may receive less than full compensation for your loss.

Also, depending on your situation and tax laws where you live, this information may also be required for a tax credit.

And finally, if you file a police report for stolen items, having model number and serial number will improve your odds for recovering stolen property.

What you’ll need to start

Although you could pay a service company to come in to your house to conduct a home inventory, many people do it themselves using either a home inventory booklet, or a software program for recording their home inventory. Some people also include photographs, digital pictures, or video tape.

Whichever you decide, you’re going to need to record following information about each item:

•Description •Brand/Model •Serial Number •Condition

In addition, you’ll need to record information about value of each item. Depending on whether your insurance company pays claims based on “replacement value” or “current value”, you’ll need to record details such as:

•Purchase Price •Replacement Cost •Current Value •When/Where purchased

The other day I was introducing myself to a group of busy professionals. I told them I especially loved to work with women who feel they are overworked and have no life; and lack balance between their work life and their personal life.

As I was heading out door to my next appointment a woman from group stopped me and said she really wanted to work with me, and she could totally relate to being one of those out of balance women.

Neither of us had our calendars so she took my business card and promised to be in touch to set up an appointment. She seemed inspired about finding balance in her life and I was excited at prospect of a new client.

Days later when I hadn’t heard from this woman I began to wonder why she didn’t call. She seemed so ready and enthusiastic. I casually mentioned it to a friend who reminded me that she was probably too busy and overwhelmed to even follow through with scheduling an appointment. It was clear evidence of how much she really needed some support. “Duh”, I thought to myself.

Most of us are in same boat, we all live in same demanding culture…some of us work, some of us raise families; some of us do both. We juggle a million details, we manage best we can and still barely have time to breathe. We often have to beg, borrow and steal for personal time. Can you relate to this?

Here’s my bottom line. You have a CHOICE about how you want to live your life. Whether you work for a large company, own your own business or are a stay at home parent how you live your life is up to you. This might sound like a no brainer. You know you have choice, but do you really feel like you have one?

I want to challenge you to take a step back and look at your life. Evaluate your priorities and ask yourself if you are living by choice OR by default? Is your life in balance? I believe first step in restoring balance and living your life by choice is to acknowledge that you’re not.

How do you achieve a balance between your life and your work?

First, identify obstacles or excuses that keep you from changing anything. The most common excuse I hear is, “I’m TOO busy”. Are you willing to break “I’m too busy” excuse in order to have more balance in your life?

Second, set up some very simple structures in your life that will begin to make difference.