MAKE SURE YOUR HOME'S CONTENT LIST IS UP TO DATE HUMBERTO CRUZ
SUN-SENTINEL

Two years ago, after hurricanes Frances and Jeanne blew across Florida
and did minor damage to our Vero Beach home, I began to update such a
list, but never finished. (We all get busy with other things, don't we?)
But now, spurred by the home inspection, I am nearly done with the list,
including photos of items and copies of receipts and proofs of purchase.
If you are determined, you can do this with pen, paper and camera, and
maybe a copier. But if you are comfortable with computers, I recommend
the Quicken Home Inventory Manager I am using. This is a new stand-alone
program by the makers of the Quicken personal finance software (list
price $29.99, information at www.quicken.com).

Besides insurance companies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and
other government agencies urge us to maintain a record of household
possessions to back up loss and damage claims. But only about 30 percent
of Americans do, according to a Quicken survey.

"To stand in the rubble of what was your house and try to write down
everything you owned is impossible," said Chris Repetto, a Quicken
spokesman. Problem is, compiling a list of possessions for that
eventuality "is tedious and it's not something you want to think about,"
said David Wolbert, a Quicken executive.

The software makes the job less tedious and much faster by presenting
pre-selected choices you can click on to build your list (for example,
locations in the house including laundry and utility rooms and patio
decks, and categories of items, such as office equipment and hobbies and
crafts). You can add your own locations and categories.

My favorite feature: You can drag and drop images into your inventory
list, such as scanned photos and receipts, up to five images per item.
You can back up the information to a flash drive you can take with you,
or for a fee starting at $9.99 a year, back it up online.

"The last thing you want to do," Wolbert said, "is spend the effort [for
the inventory] and find can you can't access it" in a disaster or
emergency.

For a more cheerful purpose, you can print reports that document
everything you own (and if you kept a receipt, what you paid for it),
giving you a more accurate picture of your net worth. The value of your
possessions can be imported into the recently released Quicken 2007
personal finance software.

I am a fan of personal finance software because it helps users get a
handle on how much they are spending for what. (Again, you can do this
with paper and pencil, but a computer program makes the process easier
and faster). While the software has gotten increasingly sophisticated
over the years, adding investment and tax-related features, its core
purpose remains managing cash flow.

In that regard, the redesigned Quicken 2007 home page is much improved
over the 2006 version, showing by means of side-by-side panels labeled
"+ in," "- out" and "= what's left" the money coming in, the expenses
coming up, and what's likely to be left to spend or save for the month.
You can download account information from thousands of financial
institutions with just one personal identification number and password.

Quicken's competitor, Microsoft Money, has made budgeting more
user-friendly in its 2007 software release. It also introduced Money
Essentials, a downloadable program targeted to users who mainly want to
track account balances, get a handle on their spending and pay their
bills online. Different versions and prices for the products are
available at www.quicken.com and www.microsoft.com/money.

Humberto Cruz can be reached at AskHumberto@aol.com or c/o Tribune Media
Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo, NY 14207. Personal replies are not
possible.

CORRECTION

A RECENT EMAIL TO THE MEMBERSHIP SUGGESTED CONSIDERING THE QUICKEN  HOME INVENTORY MANAGER

UPON DOUBLE CHECKING WE FIND THAT THE PROGRAM IS NOT AVAILABLE  FOR THE MAC