Elizabeth Dodson is the co-founder of HomeZada, a cloud-based home improvement and organizational software tool.

Our garages can sometimes become the storage location for all things not currently displayed inside our house. This can mean in addition to cars, lawn equipment, hand tools, power tools, sporting equipment, holiday decorations, crafts, building materials and if you own your own business, business related items. This is a lot of things to stay on top of and remember. Keeping all of these items in your brain can get exhausting and quite possibly forgetful. Taking a documented inventory of your garage contents can remind you of the contents you have in your garage accurately without having to recall from memory. There are several reasons when a home inventory of your garage can come in handy.

1. For those just in case moments when an unexpected situation like a natural disaster, flooding or fire could cause significant damage to your garage and home. If you need to place a claim on these items will you be able to recall every item from memory? A documented inventory will give you complete visibility to all the items you own.
2. Should a theft occur and you need to recall the items in your garage in order to document your claim, a prepared inventory will make this process easy. If you track serial numbers in addition to model numbers, you may actually recover your possessions once the authorities are involved.
3. Maybe you operate your business from your home. Businesses like construction, organizing services, and computer companies have equipment and marketing materials that are used to perform their services. To document supplies for your company that may reside in your garage in order to accurately secure an insurance policy to cover your business assets is good practice.
4. Knowing what you own will help you manage your budgets. Money is wasted often by homeowners who are buying duplicate items not realizing they already had what they needed at home.
5. Maybe you own multiple homes or have a home and a storage unit. Managing multiple items in multiple locations can be challenging if you cannot remember what you own. Maybe you have items in your garage and other items in a shed or storage unit. Maybe you have three homes but only need one lawnmower to mow the grass at three homes.
6. Ensuring you have the proper coverage for all the items in your home. Often there is equipment like lawnmowers, trimmers and power tools of significant value that may not be covered in your insurance policy if you have not properly documented them. Identifying what you own will help you secure the accurate amount of insurance.
7. Taking an inventory can help to get you organized. Maybe you realize that there are multiple items in your garage that perform the same tasks and you have an opportunity to sell these items to make room in your garage. Understanding what you own will help remove what you do not need and creating a better functioning space.
8. Preparing for a yard sale. Documenting what you own will help you understand what stays and what goes.
9. Reduce pain and stress of not being prepared for the unexpected. If a theft or damage to your house occurs, will you be prepared to handle the amount of questions that will come your way and be able to recall all the details of the items in your garage.
10. Getting yourself ready for estate planning is a valuable reason to prepare an inventory. Transferring or designating items to family members or charities can take the burden off your family when the time comes.

To get started on taking an inventory of your contents, visit HomeZada to use their free home inventory functions.