NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH - DAY 10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the event of an emergency, one that requires you to evacuate your home, you will most likely need to have access to your important documents. Things like insurance policies, birth certificates, vehicle registration, and a copy of your driver’s license may be required to prove your identity or that you own the property in question.

 Is it physically possible to carry all the information that may be needed? 
Probably not…you could collect it all in your emergency binder and be ready to grab it and go, but is that the most secure way to save important documents?


#2 Flash drives. Keep it around your neck? 

 

The second option is your next logical move. You’ve taken the time to gather all the documents and place them in a binder. It’s easy to scan and save those same documents to a flash drive.  

Choosing this storage plan will allow you to access a copy of the documents at any computer.  These USB drives are inexpensive and can be found at any office supply store. Storage space of 8 gigs should be plenty for the kind of items you’ll want to save.
 
You might want to start with all the documents that are naturally emailed in the course of doing business; things like insurance policies and bank statements, and then backup all the documents that are on your computer. Jim Cobb in his book Preparedness Survival Hacks suggests creating a series of folders on your flash drive so you have an easier time of finding things.

Then you’ll want to scan, or take a photograph, of the most important documents that you might need. There is a long list of items that you will want to haves access to and undertaking this can be overwhelming. Tackle it a bit every day until it’s finished.

Download the Master List of Important Documents

Now you’ll have access to all your documents – but so will anyone else that get ahold of your flash drive. You have two options to fix this:

You can password protect all or part of your USB drive. Check out this article at UberGizmo for ideas to do your own password protecting.

 

Choose encryption software to protect the data. Encrypting your USB drive with a password is the best way to go when you need a protection that is extremely hard to break. This article from Self Reliant School – Create a Secure Hiding Place for Electronic Documents – will take you through the whole process.