In this episode, we continue our Storage Series by tackling the often-overlooked task of taking inventory of what we own. From seasonal bins in the garage to off-site storage units, it’s easy to lose track of what we’ve tucked away. We explore why doing an inventory at least once a year can bring clarity, save money, and reduce stress.
To make this practical for every lifestyle, we share three different inventory methods: one for detail-oriented people, one for those who like a balance of efficiency and detail, and one for anyone who needs the absolute quickest approach. No matter where you fall, you’ll leave with simple strategies to know what you own and why it matters.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why taking inventory of storage spaces at least once a year matters.
- Three different ways to take inventory, from detailed to super quick.
- How annual inventory helps prevent clutter, duplicate purchases, and hidden stress.
Mentioned in this Episode:
- The Storage Series episodes covering the hidden costs and benefits of storage.
- The Fix It or Free It challenge, a monthly practice of repairing or releasing items.
- Seasonal storage examples like holiday décor and inherited belongings.
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hey friends. Welcome back to another episode here at Organize and Cherish. So this week I'm going to start the episode with a little story because it has to do with how to take inventory of your stuff, which is the theme of today if you've seen the title. But I think the story will help you realize why it's so important to take inventory of your stuff.
Do it without losing your mind and it actually being helpful to you. I think when we hear inventory, we hear, oh great, I have to like go and, you know, go take notes or open boxes that I've been avoiding. How is that helpful? So I'm gonna share a story and then we're gonna get into my tips on how to take inventory without the overwhelm.
So this September when I'm recording this, well yeah. Around the time that I'm recording this, my son was very ready to bring up the Halloween and fall decorations. And of course that meant digging into our storage bins. We pulled them out and uh, sure enough, there they were. All the items. And there's about, about a third of the boxes are devoted to my department, 56 Halloween Village pieces.
They're really beautiful. I love them. Been a fan of them for over a decade. I think two, you know, two decades at this point. They're a little porcelain, little houses and collectibles, and I've been collecting them again since like my early, even twenties probably when I finally had some free luxury money, if you will, and I'm a big Disney person, so it was perfect, right.
There's, uh, actually an entire episode that I talk about this in the fix it or free it for the September Fix It or Free It Challenge, which is I ended up picking, fixing my porcelain houses. So I talk more in detail about that because I was still in the subject matter. I thought, let me, let me share this story again and how important it is to take inventory.
So here's the thing. Some were broken, right? Again and again, I just, uh, I kept them because I wanted to fix them and I am fixing them finally, which is part of the fix it or free challenge this year. But this was also a reminder of something else. So often what we keep in storage becomes out of sight and out of mind, and we've been talking about our storage series this year as well, because storage, whether it's on your property or off your property, the type that.
You rent from a storage facility becomes out of sight and out of mind. You pay for it month by month. Then Intel. Either you can't afford it anymore or you're ready to give up. You never looked into it. You, your intentions were pure and thoughtful, but you never actually took action. And eventually you realize you are spending way too much money.
So you threw everything away. You called the junk hollers, you just sold it for, for a very low price, and you just never really followed through with what your intention was. You know? And so suddenly it's not really out of mind because eventually. You do have to open the box. You have to sell the items, you have to pay for them, whatever, you know, if you're paying for the storage every month, it's like that reminder every month that the bill comes.
So when you go looking for something, maybe you're moving, you know, you have, again, you haven't checked the off storage, uh, unit. You go and open it. Right? And that's when today's topic comes in. Taking inventory of what you own, including what's in your storage area, because you don't really realize what you have until you do, because you have to open the boxes.
And we're trying to avoid the anything that you have to do because that's when overwhelm comes in. When decisions start, you start making decisions based out of desperation, and I'm trying to help you not to get to that point. To make it more intentional so it feels as good as possible. Sometimes it's still going to be hard to let go of things or find out that you have been storing things that were really not worth it.
Realizing that you've been storing things that are very sentimental, so the process may still be hard and sometimes very physically hard. You have to actually declutter and, and bend over and, and do the work, but I'm trying to avoid having you feel. That guilt, that really, really heavy guilt feeling because if you do it with intention, give yourself some time to actually, you know, be thoughtful about your decisions.
Hopefully it just will feel a little bit better, more satisfying. Okay. Even though it might still be hard, it hopefully will feel a little bit easier and lighten up the load. So it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to be detailed. But doing this exercise of doing your inventory will allow you to not be surprised every time you open a box.
So let's get to it.
Welcome to the Organized and Cherish podcast with the Organized Flamingo. I am your host Stephanie, your compassionate and deficient professional organizer. Whether you are part of the sandwich generation helping a loved one declutter, or just trying to simplify life, this is the place for you. Together we will tackle those overwhelming piles of stuff, uncover purpose in what we keep, and let go with dignity and care, because it's not just about throwing everything away, it's about respecting memories and simplifying life.
Sound like a plan? Let's jump in and get organized. Okay, so let's talk about why inventory matters. It matters enough so that I have devoted an entire episode to it. Well, first of all, it will save you money. I can't tell you how many times clients find that they already own three sets of camping chairs or enough gift wrap to last five Christmases.
Without knowing what's in storage, duplicates will happen fast and it will get you to start spending money that you could have saved because you had a duplicate. I had a client not too long ago, uh, when we were doing their move, realized that they had about, oh, I don't know, it was probably about six years worth of toilet pepper.
So taking inventory, it's not just about the holiday stuff or the home decor stuff, it's the everyday items as well. Second, it reduces overwhelm, so inventory gives you that clarity. You know what you have, where it is, and what condition it's in. If you're starting this for the very first time, you've never done an inventory exercise, this might be confusing because you know it's supposed to bring you clarity, but instead it is giving you more overwhelm because it's giving you reminders.
Of the decisions that you made to get those duplicates to spend more money and it doesn't feel great. I will tell you what, if you keep doing this exercise, it gets easier and easier and gives you more clarity over time. Okay? So if this is your first time ever doing an inventory of your stuff, then I understand that it might be overwhelming at first, but it will become easier.
And actually at the end, even though it gave you some reminders of things that you did not want to bring up, it will give you some clarity, and clarity feels good. Third, it protects you in emergencies, whether you know you're moving, maybe there's a flood in the basement, or even some family transitions.
Having a record of what you own is incredibly helpful. Insurance huge for that. If you need to, um, you know, heavens forbid that something were to happen, that you have to call your insurance and give them what you, you know, you have, or what they need to cover when you take inventory. That allows you to know what you have, have pictures of what you have.
And give it to insurance company or any of the agencies that may need it so that they can refund you. Very important and will help you down the line if anything were to happen. And if it doesn't, that's okay. That's why they're emergency and miss and may never happen. But it will give you peace of mind that you have that information.
And then if, um, the other one is that it keeps sentiment, sentimental items visible. So if you have inherited things stored away and inventory helps you revisit those items intentionally instead of letting them sit forgotten, sometimes those items do not, or they don't need to be displayed or you don't want them displayed, but at least you know that they're there and it it at least you've, or you're taking that type of visual inventory.
So then the question becomes how do you actually take inventory without it becoming this massive project? Now I will say that there are people that hire us or people like us to take inventory of their stuff. I've had people that, um, where their family has had to downsize or move to a, like an agent facility and, or they've passed and they just, they don't even know what's in there in the house and they're overwhelmed by everything.
So they'll hire us to take inventory. So I've done that a few times, and so you can of course outsource that, but if you are trying to take this on yourself. Here are the three types of inventories, uh, according to where you are in life, that I think will help you be able to do it on your own, at least start the process on your own.
Here's kind of the three different approaches, because not everyone has the time or personality to take this on. So I'm kind of breaking it down to first the detail oriented person, like the comprehensive method. Whether you have time or not, you are a very detailed oriented person. You thrive out of being a detailed oriented person and or you have the time and you do want to take this on.
So we'll talk about that. We'll talk about the person who's kind of semi like you might be like semi detailed. You want to be detailed, maybe some variation of that, but you're busy or you've got a lot going on. So we'll talk about like if you're kind of in the middle. And then the third type is if you are super busy, hectic, you've got a lot of responsibilities happening all at once, there's no way you can take this on.
So we will tackle that on, so like if you have the most amount of time and patience and then kind of minimal, so-so, and then you just have zero time and or patience to do this, how do you take inventory so that it can be meaningful and helpful to you? Hi, cherish friends. Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter and everything in between.
That's why I created the Organized and Cherish weekly email. That goes out every Wednesday straight to your inbox to help you keep the momentum inspiration going with tips and reminders of our upcoming events. All you have to do is head on over to organize and cherish.com and sign up for the email newsletter.
It's free and you can up subscribe whenever you'd like. It's my way of helping you simplify your life and respecting memories along the way. Now back to our show. Okay, so if you are a detailed oriented person, either because you are detailed oriented by nature, you're very comprehensive, you like to cross your T's, dot your i's and or you have the time to do this.
Because you know, at the end it's going to be useful. This part is for you. So this is for my spreadsheet lovers. When I say spreadsheet, I wanna be very clear that in today's world we now have technology at our fingertips, like very easy to use, approachable technology. Like ai. Sure. It can also just be your computer.
Your phones are very smart. You don't have to use AI or an agent or anything like that if that's not your thing right now. But your computer, your phones or tablets, they're very, uh, they're very strong in, in capability. So both in storage, so they can hold a lot more and you can connect to multiple types of like spreadsheet type.
Of apps or softwares or solutions. So when I say spreadsheet lovers a, a, any, you know, for all of you, it'll be a little different. Some of you might use Excel, some of you might use a table in your notes section. Some of you will use Google Sheets, so that's kind of what I, I mean by a spreadsheet, but you just have like a list, like a spreadsheet or a list type, and you know the very specifics.
So what I would suggest for you is pick your favorite spreadsheet or list making application that you use all the time. You probably have one if you are this type of person, one that you can use both on your computer, like a laptop type and your phone. So you can do it on the go, but if you need to look at the list or printed or have it be bigger, you can see that on your computer.
That would be my recommendation. Then you can break it down by ca category, by maybe like holiday decor tools, heirlooms, kitchen extras, like have some kind of primary category followed by, you'll have your parent category and then subcategories from there if you don't know, or you're struggling to figure out what that main category is.
Let's brainstorm. Let's chit chat about it. Remember, we have our monthly organized and cherish weekly free Zoom calls. Just go in, log in. It's the third Wednesday of the month now. Um, we won't have one in October if you're listening to this around that time, but we will have one back in November of 2025.
Um, but you can always just go to our website and you can take a look at that schedule if you're needing help with that. So get a main category, subcategory, get your spreadsheet, and then go and open all of the boxes one by one. I would do it by, have like a boundary or a limit, a time limit. So maybe on Monday you open one box on Tuesday, two, Wednesday three, so on and so forth.
You can also just do every day you. Some kind of pattern. So like every day I will go, I will open two boxes I have not opened before and fill in the spreadsheet. Uh, if you want to take it one step further, snap photos and attach it up to you. You can, you know, at that point it's depending on how much time you have.
And then label the bins with the number that match. It's, that matches a spreadsheet. That's how I would do it. If I were to do it, if I were to give you a tip on how to get the momentum going, and you are a detail oriented person, create a spreadsheet or a list on a device that you can access both on your phone and on a computer based software type.
And then from there, create a main category followed by your subcategories, and then. Take pictures if you'd like, or link it together and then go from there. This method gives you that most amount of time, but it gives you complete confidence that you've opened every box, gone through everything, and you'll know exactly what you own and where it lives.
So that's where my detailed oriented people, if you are semi detailed oriented, you're working towards being detail oriented and or you're busy. Very, very busy. You have a lot of responsibilities, then this one is for you. Maybe you like clarity, but because you're busy, you don't have the time to go overboard with details in a spreadsheet, in a cell number.
It's just too much, quite frankly. So for you, you are more of the visual photo, photo-based Kettle G logger inventory person. I'll give you kind of two versions of this. The first is open each box, snap a photo of the contents, and then label the box with a simple number that detail that goes along with that photo.
This requires you to do it in order, so I would, I would either line them all up, almost like a, like a little single file line and go one by one, take picture, and then draw a number in the picture, like number one, number two, you know, box number two, and so on and so forth on your phone. Uh, then make a folder of the pictures with the nu because nowadays in the pictures, you can just do like a, a number or draw the number on it and then do a storage inventory folder so that way you know where to find them easily.
So that's version one, but if, if that's taking up too much space or picture taking is not your thing. Some of you are audio people. So audio, so do a voice memo and walk us through what each of the boxes have and then use Google Gemini or chat DBT for it to transcribe all of what you just said in those audio, in those audio memos.
That way it can create a list, a a, a general list, okay, for you in a much quicker, faster format. You can of course hire this out, but we're talking if you had to do it yourself and you only have a certain amount of time. That's how I would do it. If you're not doing the pictures, then the memo voice memo is a great option.
That won't cover you though for insurance purposes. So just a heads up on that. Or, you know, talk to your insurance company, of course, but most of 'em need pictures or proof or receipts, any of those combinations. Okay? This is for my, you know, again, my semi detailed, super hectic, a lot of responsibilities happening.
Very limited on time people, but at least it gives you some kind of inventory, um, starting point. And you can go from there if you are like super busy. Not detailed oriented, have a lot of responsibilities happening or any of those three, or all of those three things combined, then I would do more of a schedule for you.
So you would do a once a year walkthrough of your storage space, label the outside of the bins or boxes very clearly, so you don't have to necessarily open them yet. This is again, just to get you started, we want to get you with some momentum. Go in label, like have one type of label that all matches, put it outside of the box and write down what you think is inside it.
Or if you have a general idea, of course write it down, but we're not going to open, we're not gonna grab and take it down and go through it. Like you're just going to at least do some kind of label that is generalized. If you really don't know what's inside, just write down where this box is. So if it's in your garage, put garage.
Not sure what's inside, basement. Unsure under the bed, not sure fabrics, question marks, something to that effect. Okay. And then what we're going to do is all of the, you're going to create a schedule going forward, so. Instead of trying to put this as a project, like a, a project that you do in the weekend or something, you are now starting to tackle each box as the year goes by, but at least the very minimum for you is that you have created the first step of a label of where this box was originally, where it was in your, in your home, in your space, what you think is inside of it.
And then from there we will start to get detailed as it goes. This is really a good exercise for if you're on the move. Where was it originally? Like where Originally it was in the garage and somehow, well wait a minute. When I did this inventory, this very quick inventory exercise, this was in the garage because I said it was in the garage, but now all of a sudden it's in my craft room, like, what's going on here?
It gives you that initiative. That reminder to open it up that maybe it doesn't belong in the craft room. Maybe it's stuff that should be in the garage and it just kind of gets you thinking box by box. But I want you to at least acknowledge each box, touch it, and have some kind of labeled for it. So that's it.
That's if you have a quick, like, I mean with so quick, but at least you're starting the process of inventory. And, um, hopefully that in time will give you the momentum to do the next step, which is start small, open up one box at a time, organize, declutter, and go from there. So whether you are a spreadsheet detailed lover or a semi detailed photo taker person, audio memo, voice memo person, or a quick checkpoint kind of person.
The point is all the same, right? It's just taking inventory. It gives you clarity, it saves you money, and it puts you back in control of your stuff. So the stuff is not controlling you and overwhelming you. You don't have to do it perfectly. You don't even have to do it all in one day. I actually would not recommend that at all.
Pick the method that fits best for the season of your life and then build momentum from there. If I were to give you a challenge after today's conversation about inventorying, and, and again, this is like the very quick conversation, okay. Uh, here's my challenge. Before the end of the month or the year, give yourself some kind of timeline.
Walk through at least one storage space. Maybe your garage, maybe your offsite unit, maybe the attic you've been avoiding, or your extra overflow pantry place. Do a version of inventory. I promise you that the future you will thank you. I you will find at least one thing that is a double or you didn't need, or you don't need next time you go to the store.
Alright, so that's it for today's conversation. Quick and easy. I hope this was helpful. As always, we are here to help. Come join us at any of our free resources. Give us a call. Come join us on Zoom, send us an email or a message on social media. We are here to cheer you on in your organizing and decluttering journeys.
Until next week, happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the Organized and Cherish podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoy today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps others discover our show. For full show notes, resources, and more organizing inspiration, visit www.theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast.
Until next time, happy organizing.