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Have you ever considered buying a fire safe box, but maybe you put it off? Maybe you have one, but don’t know which items to put in it, and which ones to leave out? I had put it off getting a fireproof safe box for years because I dreaded spending money on a “what if” type of item. However, once we had children, we knew that being prepared, in case of a fire, was the responsible thing to do (instead of just sticking our heads in the sand, hoping we never had to think about it.)
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What We Keep In Our Fire Safe Box
If you have decided to get one, or you already have a fireproof box, you might be wondering, “What should I keep inside of my fire safe box?” There are many options, but the list below will help you to determine the most important items.
As I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t until recently that we finally bought a Fire Safety Box. I used to see them at the store, and I always debated it, but never made the purchase. I kept putting it off, thinking I’d get it another day. Finally, I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry, and I added it to my cart.
There are so many options – everything from fire and waterproof safe boxes to the more basic fire safe lock boxes. I bought the more basic one, but I kind of wish that I had bought this set of two fire safe boxes instead, since I didn’t realize how much space I actually needed.
Well, it sat empty at our house for months until one evening when we stopped by my brother’s house to let the kids play together for a while. Cousins are the best, aren’t they?
While we were there, my brother showed me where they keep their FireSafe Box, as well as the key, just in case I ever needed to get into it when they weren’t there, or in case of an emergency. He also showed me what he keeps inside of their box.
When we left, I was determined to get prepared. I went home to add the important things to mine, as well.
Here are some important things to keep in your box:
1). Your will and/or power of attorney… and the lawyer’s information. You will want to keep the lawyer’s info with the will so that they will know just who to call if they need it. .
2). Original birth certificates
3). Social Security Cards
4). Property Insurance info (and again, the number of your insurance company).
5). Medical information: Doctor’s numbers, prescriptions, etc..
6). Passports
7). Cash – in case of emergency
8). Titles to your vehicles and one spare key for each car and a key and deed for your house.
9). Marriage Certificate
10). We haven’t done this yet, but you need to make a DVD of the items in your home. I have heard horror stories of people that have had to try to remember everything that was in their house with the price of all of it! This would make things so much easier!
Bonus~ You don’t need to do this, but I also have a family picture in our fire safe box. You could even keep a flash drive of your pictures.
Keep your fire safe box in a place that your family can find it. Keep the key near it or let them have a copy of the key.
Lastly, show someone that you trust (that does not live with you), in case of an emergency.
Thanks for this great post! I saw it on Pinterest. I also keep zip drives with family pics in ours.
Smart!
My husband and I were just talking about getting a fire safe. Are they also scorch proof? Do they come in different sizes? The picture doesn’t really look that big. Thanks for sharing your tips. Karen
This a great tip! I have one but I need to get some essentials stored. I’m dating myself now, but before photos went digital, we used to get photos developed. I have photo negatives stored in a nice neat box in my safe. Lots of pictures saved! External hard drive and flash drives are also a good idea to keep. Oh, and my wedding proofs are in mine as well. (And wedding invitations, birth announcements, christening invites…)
In glad that the things I was planning to put in my fire safe box are on the list. I only have one key to my car so I’ve never thought to keep that in there. I’m going to save this list because it’s a great one! Thanks.
My husband often talks about how we need to get a fire safe box. I never really understood why we would need one until I read this article. It never occurred to me that there’s so much that we’ll want to save if there’s an emergency. I love what you said about including spare car keys and cash. Neither of those things immediately popped into my mind when I was thinking about what to put in. Hopefully we can get a good box soon! Thanks for the post, Becky!
Sure!
Hi Becky thanks for sharing. I would like to share with you a tidbit rhatwould help othefs. You’re welcome to share it.
Instead of storing stuffin your fire box of items in home. I simply made a Gmail account.
Taking pictures of expensive items aand seriel numbers and store them on google cloud. Free yo store and private. But I wouldn’t put personal info on it like social security numbers. I also did the same thing with medical health cards, doctors, perscriptions,meds,etc. Feel free to share
Good idea!
Sorry about the typo’s my phone doesn’t auto correct.
What about f financial info. Like life insurance, investments, all that stuff tray family should have…
I put cash money in ours when we first got married, within a few months it had gotten mold on it, I guess because of moisture. Since then, I have been hesitant to use ours for anything. Anyone have experiences the same?
Fire safety boxes keep things safe from flames, but not heat. Digital items, like DVDs, CDs, and flash drives, tend to melt when placed in a firebox. Not only is there a risk of these items being ruined, but of them ruining everything else in your box as well. Photo paper also tends to melt or deteriorate in the kind of heat a fire creates. It’s best, instead to upload photos to online services and use regular printer paper to print photos of your home content, along with notes such as price/value and purchase dates.
We had a fireproof safe that we used for all of our most important documents including our soc sec cards, birth certificates, passports, marriage certificate, and my husband’s wedding ring that didn’t fit anymore. We woke one night to flames so we got the kids and quickly rushed out of the house, which burned to the ground within 20 minutes. We never even found the fireproof safe. I know they aren’t designed to withstand a total house fire but we couldn’t even find a hint of it in the rubble. It’s like the thing vaporized. Anyway, now I tell everyone that unless you have the presence of mind to grab it on your way out, you’re better off putting those things in a safety deposit box.
These are great ideas. The only thing I have to disagree with is putting the key near it. While that makes sense after a fire, it also makes it crazy easy for a potential burglar to get at all this important, valuable stuff. Just my two cents worth.
Good point.
We keep important papers in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator. Been doing it for 35 years now.
I keep my personal journal in my safe, I appreciate the privacy and sense of security 😍
I love that-what a great idea!