What Would You Do If Your House Burned Down Last Night

By Winifred Melesh

Protect your home & family from disasters.
Prepare:The better prepared you are, the better outcome for your home & family:children, pets & aging or ill. Prevent: Strengthen the house to withstand & minimize damage from disasters. Respond:Respond to disasters, get through the aftermath. Negotiate the insurance claims maze & rebuilding process. Recover:Manage financial survival & emotional recovery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Winifred Melesh
• Release date: Jul 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9780989736602

Book preview

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my daughter, Winifred C. Melesh, Police Officer in Prince George’s County, Maryland, who puts herself in harm’s way every day in order to protect and save others.

I am honored to be her mother.

Thanks to both of my children, Jack and Winnie, for spending hours proof reading this book and giving me feedback.

I love you more than you can imagine.

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Introduction

I believe that we have a number of responsibilities as members of a family, community and nation. One of those responsibilities is that we take care of ourselves and to provide for our own safety as well as that of our family and homes as best we can and to help others along the way.

Not everyone agrees with me.

During Hurricane Katrina we saw large numbers of citizens who did not take any responsibility for themselves. Instead, they expected and demanded that the federal, state and local governments take care of them. They did not follow instructions or suggestions of these agencies. Many took no action until it was too late. The problem was, as we saw, that the government could not meet all their needs. Indeed, for a number of days to weeks the government could not meet even their most basic needs, such as food, water, shelter and sanitation.

It was all over the news media: FEMA blew it.

The question begs: While the government was struggling to get the needs able-bodied and able-minded folks taken care of, how many resources were diverted away from those who truly needed help… those people who were too sick or elderly to evacuate? Those people in our communities who suffer from mental illness or confusion, who are blind? Those people who are ill or disabled or use medical equipment at home, are bedbound or wheelchair bound?

During times of disaster emergency services are at a premium. You might not be able to help transfer a bedridden homebound neighbor to a shelter, but you can take care of yourself so the emergency personnel can take care of your disabled neighbor.

I’ll get off my soapbox now.

This book is about much more than preparing for disasters. It is about what to do to provide more protection for your home and family and how to respond if disaster does hit, from the mini-disasters to mega-disasters

We’re in the disaster business.

My husband, John and I own a structural insurance restoration company, Melesh Construction. What is that? We repair homes that have been damaged by fire, wind, water, vehicles, vandalism… You name it. The work that we do is usually covered by our customers’ homeowner insurance policies. We’ve seen a lot of damage over the years. After completing over 8,000 repair jobs we have found that there are common themes. Homeowners tell us that they should of, could of, would of taken care of a number of things around the house to maintain it properly and to protect their homes and families from extreme conditions. But they didn’t. For whatever reason. Sometimes they just were careless and caused damage to their homes themselves. Then they found themselves having to deal with the damage, their insurance company and contractors.

In WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR HOUSE BURNED DOWN LAST NIGHT? we will talk about what you can do to prevent or minimize damage to your home as well as what you need to do and what to expect when disaster strikes and causes insurance related damage to your home.

For most of us, our home is our largest asset. It really pays off to take good care of it. Sometimes, when it comes to protecting our homes we don’t know what to do, how to do it or when to do it. This book is designed to help homeowners get organized so they can protect their homes and, more importantly, their families. We will zero in on the usual suspects that most often create situations that lead to damage to our homes.

Sometimes it just seems to be an overwhelming task. But I’m going to make it easier. It’s a process. I will tell you where to start, what to do next, what should be done yearly, semi-annually and monthly, as well as when the seasons change. You don’t have to do it all at once. But every piece that you get in place provides one more layer of protection for your home and family. We will talk about daily practices that promote safety and will put a major focus on training ourselves and our families. Even small children can learn how to stay safe and how to respond when disaster strikes. I’ve included checklists to use as you work your way through the process. We will walk you through the process the first time and help you organize for periodic home maintenance and safety reviews.

Then we will talk about specific types of hazards and what you can do to prevent or minimize their effects.

And, in the event that damage does occur, we will guide homeowners through response and recovery process.

Not everyone is handy around the house. I’m certainly not. When I ask my husband to do some work or repairs he usually responds by reminding me that he does that kind of work all week. And, of course there are the kids, the dogs, the cat, the fish, the plants, the garden…. Some things can wait. Others can’t. Many of us tend to cast our home maintenance items into the it can wait bucket. I’m as guilty as the next guy. But it catches up with all of us at some point.

The problems go beyond that. Many of our customers have told us, If I only knew…

• what insurance coverage I had. I found out that I wasn’t covered for sewer backup after I filed my claim."

• where to start when filing a claim."

• what information I should have collected and preserved."

• what my responsibilities were. How would I know what to do when there was three inches of water in my house?"

• what my contractor is responsible for."

• who is responsible for paying for the repairs.

• how to work through getting the repairs done"

• what kind of paperwork I should expect to sign."

• how to get payment for the repairs from my insurance company."

• what the most common causes of property damage are and how I could have prevented it."

Then, of course there are personal issues when disaster hits:

• Surviving the event

• Dealing with the loss, trauma, fear and anger that often follow

• Helping your family members and neighbors cope

• Keeping your sanity

• Restoring or replacing your home and property

• Recovering financially

• And, the one we hear most often, I just want things to get back to normal!

I started this project with a plan in mind. I wanted to share what we have learned at Melesh Construction about damage to homes, as well as how to prevent it, and the impact on families since my husband and I started working in structural insurance restoration in 1989.

• How to prepare just in case.

No matter what we do, we cannot prevent all disasters. Sometimes Mother Nature is just too powerful. You can’t steer a hurricane away from your home, but there are some things that you can do to get ready for the event and its aftermath.

• What homeowners can do to prevent damage to their homes.

There are some kinds of disasters that we can prevent, such as most home fires. But even if we are the path of a storm, tornado or earthquake, we can disaster ready our home to a degree and provide some level of safety for our family and durability to the structure.

• What homeowners can do when disaster strikes.

Sometimes you need to evacuate. Sometimes you’re stuck at home during and after the disaster. Sometimes you’re trapped. We will talk about each of these situations.

• What homeowners need to know and need to do in order to negotiate their way through the insurance claims maze in order to get their property repaired and their lives back to normal.

Filing an insurance claim is just the beginning of the recovery/restoration process. We will walk you through the process from the first call to your insurance company to completion of rebuilding and payment.

But as with so many other things this project took on a life of its own. As I was doing research I found a lot of useful information that extended beyond the scope of what we do at Melesh Construction. I’ve included a lot of that information in this book so that just about everyone will have information they need in one, easy-to-use reference source. Since the focus of this program is the home, I have also included a lot of information for families with children, as well as for seniors and those who have disabilities living at home. Of course, we include planning for our animals.

Some information in this book appears in several places. My hope is that you will read the entire book. However, some readers might view this book more as a reference book and read selected parts. With that in mind I duplicated some important information. I encourage all readers to go through the whole book because you never know when you’ll encounter a situation while traveling or otherwise in which information from this book could make all the difference in surviving and recovering from an event. I believe you will find this book helpful in protecting your home, and more importantly, yourself and your family. In the event that disaster does find its way to your home, I hope that I can offer some information and support that would help you better maneuver your way through the process and get your life back to normal.

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Unit 1. getting organized

CHAPTER 1

Getting the Paperwork Organized

How lucky do you feel?

Disasters happen every day, everywhere in the country. When people find out what we do for a living they often have tales of disasters of their own to tell. The odds are that all of us have had some kind of insurance related damage to our homes or have a friend, neighbor or relative who has. Many of us cope with the fear of having something terrible happen like having our house burn down by convincing ourselves that it probably will never happen to us. It only happens to the other guy.

Are you sure?

When it comes to damage to homes I know the odds. And they aren’t good for homeowners.

Getting Started

You’ve got a big job ahead of you. It’s a very important job. It’s one that will help you protect yourself, your family and home.

Integrate disaster prevention and preparedness into your everyday life. Sometimes we get a wake up call…a fire in your neighbor’s house, hurricane season starts, an earthquake in California. These events motivate many of us to get off dead center. Unfortunately, because human nature being what it is, research has shown that this motivation generally lasts about six months to a year. Then we slip back into the denial mode. We know it can happen. We just don’t believe it will happen to us.

Where should you start? Getting started takes the most time and effort. Once you’ve got everything in place then it’s just a matter of doing some maintenance work from time to time and incorporating safety practices into our daily lives. We will talk more about that at the end of this unit. But first, let’s get up to speed.

Collecting Information: Taking Care of Documentation

Much of the preparation for disasters has to do with collecting information. I can’t tell you how many times homeowners have told us that they wish they could turn back the clock and take care of some things before disaster struck.

They wish they:

• Knew what their homeowner insurance policies covered.

• Had an inventory of the items they had in their homes.

• Knew what personal documentation was essential and how they should have protected it.

• Protected their cherished, irreplaceable possessions.

• Knew how much money it took to run their households each month.

Insurance Policy Coverage

One major mistake that many homeowners make is that they don’t know what insurance coverage they have on their homeowner’s insurance policy. In fact, most homeowners don’t know. In addition a 2004 study found that 61% of US homes are underinsured. One of the reasons that many homes are underinsured is that homeowners do not keep their insurance agents informed about any changes or improvements that have been made. So their policy coverage has not kept up with the current replacement cost of the house.

The first thing to do: Pull out your insurance policy. Read it. Write down any questions that you have. Then call your insurance agent and schedule a time to review your policy. Have you made any improvements to your home, such as adding a deck or finishing the basement? How about the hall bath remodeling that you did last year? Be sure that you have adequate coverage to provide for replacement of what you have now, not what you had eight years ago when you bought your home.

Basic homeowner policies do not cover for a whole list of things. You can add coverage for excluded items by purchasing riders to your policy. Do you have coverage for sewer backup? Earthquake? Flood? Acts of Terrorism?

Some policies have payout limits. It might cost $273,000 to rebuild your home but your policy might max out at $185,000. In that case your insurance company would be obligated to pay no more than $185,000. Find out what the payout limit, if any, is on your policy.

Do you have any detached structures? A gazebo? A storage shed? Is your pool covered by your policy? How about fencing?

Many policies do not cover for replacement of art pieces or jewelry. Find out if you are covered for these items. If not, find out what you need to do if you want the extra coverage? Are you covered if you lose your jewelry outside the home?

Does your policy cover your expensive electronic equipment? How much would it cost to add that coverage?

What about pets? You can get coverage for damages caused by your pets such as bites.

What about the other contents in your home? Some people assume that what’s in the house is covered when they buy insurance for the structure. Not so. You need to specifically purchase coverage for contents. How much coverage should you buy? What would it cost to replace all of your furniture, clothing, dishes, etc.? Later on in this chapter we will talk about doing a home inventory. After you’ve done that, you’ll have a better idea of what amount of coverage you will need.

What about renters and condo owners? If you are a renter your landlord most likely will have insurance coverage on the building (a master policy), but that does not cover your property inside your apartment. Don’t forget about flood insurance on your apartment. Condominium insurance policies differ from one another. Condo association will have insurance on the structure. Usually that policy will cover damages to the building up to the drywall/plaster in each condo. Everything inside the drywall (cabinets, appliances, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, etc.) generally isn't covered under the condo owner’s policy. However, there are situations when a condo association does cover some installed fixtures in the unit like cabinets. Again, check with your agent to find out exactly what your coverage is.

Think about alternative living expenses. How long could it take to rebuild/restore your home after a major fire? Six months? A year? How much would it cost to house your family during that time? You can substantially increase your coverage for alternative living expenses for pennies a day.

Many older homes were built to standards that no longer meet local building code requirements. If you own an older home talk with your agent about adding coverage to bring the structure up to code. Without that specific coverage your insurance carrier is not obligated to pay for the upgrades. You will have to bear the cost of the upgrades to bring the building up to current codes. Be aware that repairs done to your home will most likely need to pass inspection by your local Planning/Zoning/Building department. Repairs will not pass building inspection unless they are up to current codes, regardless of who has to pay for them.

If you work from home, even for a few hours each week, let your insurance agent know. Discuss your options for coverage. Your homeowner’s policy might not cover you in the event that a client, salesman or delivery person visiting your home office is injured. Your policy might not cover your computer, fax machine, scanner, copier or any of the other items in your home office.

Some policies offer coverage for data recovery in the event of damage to your computer. If you rely on your computer to a great degree it might be worth the cost of the additional insurance. But you won’t know until you talk with your insurance agent about it.

What about flood insurance? Over 34.6 million people live along the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines. Discuss your options and costs with your agent. Even if you do have flood insurance, talk with your insurance agent about penalties on flood damage payments if the property is underinsured for floods.

When you talk to your agent about flood insurance find out whether or not your property is located in a designated flood hazard area and whether or not your community is participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). If your community does not participate in the NFIP find out how that affects what types of damages are covered and what are not. Then you can make some decisions about filling in any gaps.

Where can you find out whether or not your community participates in the NFIP? Talk with your insurance agent or go to The National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book at http://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program.

Flood insurance can cost you as little as $129.00 per year.

But why should you get flood insurance if you live in a low to moderate risk area? Because over 20% of NFIP claims as well as one-third of disaster assistance come from outside of high risk flood areas. You never know when you can be hit.

What is the difference between NFIP payments and Federal Disaster relief payments? Federal Disaster assistance usually comes in the form of low interest loans to help cover the loss from floods and other types of damage. These loans must be repaid along with the mortgage.

Keep in mind that there are limits to the amount of flood coverage you can get. For a one to four-family structure there is a limit of $250,000 for the structure and $100,000 limit on contents. In the event that you don’t think that is enough coverage many private insurance companies offer excess flood protection policies.

How can you be sure that your home isn’t underinsured? One way to determine the cost of rebuilding it is to have a reputable, local contractor give you a price to rebuild your home as is. You can use a per-square-foot price or detailed room-by-room estimate. Either way, be prepared to pay for the estimate. In order to do the estimate properly, the contractor will have to come to your home to inspect existing materials, fixtures and design features. It takes a lot of time to write large estimates. The contractor deserves to be paid for his time and expertise.

If you don’t want to spend the time or money on getting a detailed replacement estimate done, you can guess-timate and use a per square foot price. You can check with local builders or contractors to find out what the range is in your area per square foot.

Saving Money on Your Homeowner’s Insurance Policy

On the other hand, it is possible to be over-insured. Some homeowners buy homeowners insurance policies that cover the value of the home’s purchase price. But that price included not only the structure, but also the land. What you need to know when buying homeowners insurance is the replacement cost of the structure. That is, how much will you need to pay a contractor to restore or rebuild your home as it is now?

Ask your agent about other ways to reduce the cost of insurance. Are there some products or designs you can use in your home that would reduce your premium amount, such as installing hail resistant roofing? Some owners reduce their premium costs by increasing their deductibles. Your deductible is the part of the repair cost that you pay directly for; your insurance company will pay the balance of the repair cost. Lately there has been a trend where owners are opting for higher deductibles. Years ago we found deductible amounts of $250 to $500 were typical. That has changed. It is not uncommon to find homeowners with deductibles of $1000 to even $2500. Remember, that you will save money on your premium, but if disaster strikes you’ll have to come up with the cash to pay for your part of the repair cost. High deductibles are a good choice for owners who decide that they will use their homeowner’s insurance policy only for large losses and would be able to come up with the money if the property is damaged.

Ask your agent if your insurance carrier gives discounts for:

• Monitored fire and burglary alarms

• Fire extinguishers

• Deadbolts on all exterior doors

• Fire suppression (sprinkler) system

• Fire resistant and/or hail resistant roofing or siding

• Double or triple pane windows and sliding doors

• Incorporating designs and other products that make the house more disaster resistant

It’s up to you to decide what insurance coverage you want on your home and how much you are willing or able to pay for it. But make an informed decision. Your insurance agent can discuss your options with you and give you information regarding the costs and risks. At the very least, you won’t be blindsided when you file an insurance claim on your damaged property.

Filing a Claim

Homeowner Responsibilities

Many homeowners don’t realize that they have responsibilities to meet in order to maintain their insurance policy other than paying their insurance premiums on time. Ask your insurance agent what your responsibilities are in the event of a claim. Is there a time limit when the policyholder can file a claim? What would happen if the policyholder did not take measures to keep the damage from worsening?

Consequences of Filing a Claim

What happens when you file a claim? Many homeowners do not realize that homeowner’s insurance is meant to pay for large losses. It is not designed to pay for little repairs or for consequences of poor home maintenance.

When you call a claim into your insurance agent, that report goes into your claim history file. There are two national databases that record the vast majority of claims that are filed: A-PLUS (Insurance Services Offices, Inc.) and CLUE (Choice Point). Ask your agent how your insurance company handles that information. Will it increase your premium? Will it make it more difficult for you to renew your policy or buy a policy from another insurance carrier? Could your coverage be canceled?

Many homeowners do not realize that a poor (or long) claim history can affect the value of the home and its sale-ability. Your home’s claim history is available to other insurance companies. If the property had some types of damage, such as fire, water, mold or mildew damage, a buyer for your home might not be able to find an insurance carrier who will insure the property.

TIP: If you’re in the process of purchasing an existing home ask your agent to check on the claim history of that property to be sure you can get insurance coverage for it and how much it would cost before you sign the contract.

Shop around for an insurance company. Like many other companies and services some are better than others. You will have to decide what elements of the insurance companies’ product are most important: price or service. JD Power has information available on the results of their 2012 US Property Claims Satisfaction Study that is available online.

Bottomline:

Find out what coverage you have. Make changes to your policy to get the coverage that you need. It is always a trade-off. How much can you or will you pay for coverage? What kind of risks are you willing to take? That’s for you to decide. But make sure that you have adequate information with which to make your decision.

Personal Documents

Can you imagine having to remember all the credit cards you have? And, the account numbers? The customer service numbers? How difficult is it to get an original birth certificate? What documents do you need to get a replacement driver’s license or passport?

Unfortunately some of our customers know the answers to these questions. They found themselves running out of their homes without anything except the clothes on their backs. Sometimes we can prepare for evacuation, as in hurricanes. But some catastrophes come upon us without a moment’s notice…like a fire, earthquake or tornado. So, be prepared.

Some disasters are truly catastrophic, such as Hurricane Katrina. Many homeowners found themselves in unimaginable conditions. How do you get cash from an ATM when there is no power? How do you prove who you are?

There are a couple of ways to handle these potential problems:

• Store documents in an off-site location, such as a safety deposit box.

• Store and pack copies of documents and cash for quick transport during an evacuation.

• Scan documents and photos then upload the files to an off-site storage site.

Off-Site Storage

Place important original documents, such as, birth, death, and marriage certificates along with any deeds or titles, including car titles, military records, passport and Social Security card in a secure off-site location, such as a safety deposit box. You should be able to rent a safety deposit box for less than $100 per year. It is one of the best investments that you can make and is tax deductible if you use it to store stocks, bonds and other investment documents.

Before you store these documents in a safe place, make some copies. We’re going to pack some of them for quick transport in the event of an evacuation.

Make two copies of all of your credit cards, front and back. The back of the card includes customer service numbers. Make two copies of your driver’s license. Place one copy of each in your safety deposit box. We’ll pack the second copy for quick transport. We will talk more about that in a few minutes.

You might want to copy important data from your computer such as digital and scanned images as well as data files related to work, personal finance and taxes onto a disk or other type of data storage device and store that backup information in your safety deposit box. Another off-site option is to store computer files with companies that provide secure, off-site storage. Copies of digital photos, scanned images, as well as any other kind of computer file can be transferred online for storage. Again, it depends on what you can afford to do and how valuable those items are to you.

Quick Transport

Let's talk about "Grab and Go bags. This involves packing documents, survival items, and personal items in backpacks, rolling suitcases or other containers that are easy to carry and transport. These grab and go" bags are stored in a central, easily accessible location and are ready to go when an emergency arises. We will talk about what to pack in what bags as we go along.

Your personal information and documents should be protected against loss or theft while you’re staying at a shelter or other temporary housing. Pack these items in a bag that you can carry on your person easily, such as in a bag or fanny pack that snaps around your waist. That way you can keep them with you at all times. You’ll have what you need on hand and you will protect them from getting lost or stolen.

For now, let’s look at documents that should be ready to grab and go in your Document Bag.

Make copies of the important original docs that you put in the safety deposit box:

• Birth certificates

• Death certificates

• Marriage certificates

• Deeds

• Proof that you live at the property at the time of the damage: electric bills, real estate tax bills

• Car titles

• Boat title

• Car registrations

• Boat registration

• Military records

• Passport

• Credit and debit cards, front and back

• Drivers license

• Statement from bank or brokerage with stocks, mutual funds, etc.

• Bank account information, including account and routing numbers, branch, manager, address and phone

• Cash and/or Travelers Checks

• Prepaid phone card

• Passcode for retrieving voice mail message from remote phone

• Phone number and address of the families Central Contact People (Chapter 2)

• List of prescriptions (name of medication, dose), doctor’s name and address

• Living Will

• Monthly Cash Worksheet

• Copy of your home inventory. We will talk about that in the next section.

Should you carry a copy of your Social Security card in your wallet and/or in your Grab and Go bag? The Social Security Administration advises against doing so and advises to carry it with you when you only when you need to show it to an employer or service provider. Perhaps your Safety Deposit Box is the best place to store it.

However, one thing to consider when you pack your Grab and Go bags is that you might lose the bags or they might even be stolen while you are in a shelter or other temporary living location. You don’t want to create a new problem (having your identity stolen) in an attempt to prevent other problems. It’s up to you to decide what you want or are willing to risk taking with you when you evacuate. Consider scanning documents and use off-site computer data storage services. If you need to destroy copied documents in your Grab and Go bag you’ll have access to them once you can get to a computer.

TIP:

If you live in a high tornado hazard area you might want to store your essential Grab & Go bags, like your Document Bag, in your Safe Room in the house. Tornadoes often come upon us so quickly you might not have time to grab the bags and carry them to the Safe Room. If the house has been severely damaged or destroyed by the high winds the document bag could be taken by the winds.

Inventory the Contents in Your Home

We specialize in helping our customers rebuild their homes. That’s the easy part. Some homeowners lose many possessions in a disaster. Some lose them all. Insurance policies usually cover for repair or replacement of the contents in a home. But how do you remember what you had? Often, you don’t, especially in a crisis situation. How do you remember how many sets of sheets, or suits, or wine glasses you had? It is very difficult to reconstruct what you had after the disaster. So gather that information now.

Start in one room in your house. Take photos or videos of the room. If using videos, describe the room and its contents as you go. Open up the cabinets, draws and closets, and record the contents in them. Many pieces of furniture have the manufacturer’s name somewhere on or in it. Take a photo of that. Count the number of china place settings. Take photos of your appliances and their model numbers. Record furniture, drapery, lamps, rugs, as well as all those knick-knacks.

Do one room at a time.

It might seem overwhelming at first, but if broken into pieces, taking a complete inventory is manageable. It doesn’t have to be done all at once. Go from room to room. It’s a good idea to compile a written list of contents in each room along with the video or photo record. That helps you remember better how many of a particular item you had. How many lamps? How many serving bowls? That way you’ll be able to hand your adjuster your inventory list and have the video as backup.

Then, when you’ve finished the interior of the house, go to the basement, garage and attic. Then record the exterior of the house. Be sure to note the trim work, decks, light fixtures and any other special features.

Keep your receipts to document price and age.

It’s a good idea to keep receipts on large items. But, if you don’t have them make a note about where and when you purchased the items and how much you paid for them. If something was a gift, note when it was given to you. You won’t be able to remember everything, but do the best you can.

FYI:

Insurance companies check the inventory information that you give to your adjuster. They go back to retailers and other information sources to check on the information that you provide. Be honest.

Home inventory services and software

There are software products to help you organize your home content inventory. There also are companies that you can hire to do your home content inventory. For many of us with little time to spare these services can be the way to go. Either way, be sure to keep copies in several safe places like off-site computer backup and safety deposit box.

Check with your insurance company to see if they have a product that could help you organize and safe home inventory information.

Cherished, Irreplaceable Possessions

Sadly, there have been times when we worked with homeowners who had suffered catastrophic losses to their homes. Many deal with the loss by focusing on what they do have rather than dwell on what they have lost. They focus on rebuilding their homes and lives and look toward the future. But sometimes it is the little things that cause the most grieving. Some things carry memories with them. They are irreplaceable...Things such as cherished family photos, heirlooms or the family bible.

Many of our customers cite these kinds of losses as the toughest ones that they have to deal with.

Now is a good time to consider some options for protecting and preserving these cherished possessions. You might store cherished photos and other heirlooms in a rolling suitcase for quick grab and go transport. Make copies of photos and give them to other family members. Scan the photos so that you have a digital file that can be stored in multiple places and shared with friends and family.

You might consider storing precious original photos in a safe location and displaying copies of them in your home. And think about keeping your older photos in one location and the negatives in another.

Figure Out What Your Monthly Income and Expenses Are

Why do this now? If