Be smart. Back up!

I read this post recently and my heart broke. I have this terrible (although I believe quite rational) fear of fire. It’s not that I have this unhealthy relationship with my stuff (I’d like to think) … I just can’t imagine losing all the memories. The written notes from middle school, the yearbooks, the journals, the photos ….

I dream about having a giant safe tucked away in our house somewhere where we can store all the aforementioned items for eternal preservation. But, until that day comes (because good gracious they’re expensive!) there are just a few things we can do to prevent disasters.

If you have photos on your computer that are not backed up stop everything you are doing and back them up RIGHT NOW! I own an external hard drive that is 1 TB in space that sits on my desk. You can easily set your computer up to automatically back-up every evening - easy peasy! Once you’ve done that, put your images on DVDs and store away from your home OR subscribe to an online service where you can store everything that is on your computer (this is in case of a flood/fire/disaster of some sort that would take your computer AND your  external HD) away from home.

Lastly, while I’m on my soapbox … do you have you camera and gear insured? Did you know it’s really easy to do and quite inexpensive? So, while you’re at it - do that, too!

Step by steps for you:

1. Do a little research online to find the best external hard drive for you. Find it. Order it. Back-up and sleep peacefully.

2. Find an online service where you can back-up files and pictures (and music, too!) for safe-keeping. I use ElephantDrive and although I loathe how slow my computer works when it’s uploading to their server it is by far the best price for unlimited storage.

3. Call your insurance agent and tell them you want to add your camera (and computer - if you want) to your personal articles policy. I have close to $15,000 worth of stuff insured for less than $500 a year. Totally worth it. If you break into my car and steal all my stuff, State Farm will replace all of it.

4. Reward yourself for being so proactive and responsible and order yourself one of these amazing prints. (I’d like one of each, please. Thank you.)

Happy Monday!

jc