The household memory checklist: 40 things your home should know

Every home has a memory. The trouble is where it usually lives: in one person’s head, on the back of an envelope, or in a drawer nobody else opens. When that person is unavailable, simple questions become hard. Where is the water shutoff? Who did we call about the leak last year? When does the car insurance renew?

This checklist is a list of 40 things a home should know, written down in a place everyone who lives there can find. It is organized into eight groups of five. You do not need to finish it in one go. Most households can get most of it done in an afternoon, with a pen and a walk around the house.

Want it on paper? There is a free printable version.

• Walk, do not guess. For the physical items, go and look. Take a photo of labels and panels as you go.
• Write down where, not only what. “The shutoff is in the garage, left wall, behind the bikes” is more useful than “we have a shutoff”.
• Keep it where everyone can reach it. A notebook in a known drawer works. So does a shared app. What matters is that it is not only in one head.
• Keep sensitive details sensible. Write down where passports are kept and when they expire, not the numbers themselves.

These are the items you need in a hurry, so they come first. If a pipe bursts or you smell gas, nobody should have to search.

1. Where the main water shutoff is, and how to turn it.
2. Where the gas shutoff is, and who to call if you smell gas.
3. Where the breaker panel is, and whether the breakers are labelled.
4. Where every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm is, and when the batteries were changed.
5. Where the fire extinguisher is, and its expiry date.

The big systems cost the most to fix, and a service history makes every repair conversation easier.

6. The make, model and serial number of the air conditioner or furnace.
7. When the AC or heating was last serviced, by whom, and what it cost.
8. The air filter size, and how often it gets changed.
9. The water heater model, its age, and when it was last flushed.
10. When the roof and gutters were last checked or cleaned.

Model and serial numbers are what every repair line and parts store asks for first. Warranties are only useful if you remember you have them.

11. The fridge model and serial number.
12. The washer and dryer models.
13. The dishwasher, oven and microwave models.
14. The warranty end date for each big purchase.
15. Where the manuals and receipts are kept.

Renewal dates are the ones that sneak up. Write them down with a reminder well before each one.

16. The lease or mortgage, and its renewal or end date.
17. The home or renters insurance policy number and the insurer's phone number.
18. Car insurance and registration renewal dates.
19. When each passport and ID expires, and where they are kept.
20. Where the important paper originals physically live.

The recurring costs of a home are easy to lose track of, especially subscriptions that renew quietly.

21. Every recurring bill, its usual amount, its due date and who pays it.
22. Every subscription, its renewal date and what it costs in a year.
23. Which bills are on autopay and which are not.
24. How shared costs are split, and how you settle up.
25. A monthly budget for the categories that matter, like groceries.

Medical details belong on an emergency card that a babysitter or visiting relative can find.

26. Each person's doctor and dentist.
27. Allergies, medications and blood types, for the emergency card.
28. School contacts and who is allowed to pick up.
29. Everyone's birthday, on the calendar.
30. Two emergency contacts who do not live with you.

The best time to find a plumber is before you need one.

31. A plumber you trust.
32. An electrician.
33. The company that services the heating and cooling.
34. The vet, plus each pet's food and medication.
35. A neighbor who has a spare key.

The small things that get asked about every week, and cause the most interruptions.

36. The wifi name and password.
37. How to reset a tripped breaker or outlet.
38. Trash and recycling days.
39. How the thermostat schedule works.
40. Where the spare keys are, and any door or garage codes.

• Label the breaker panel while you are there. If the labels are missing or wrong, flip one breaker at a time with a helper calling out which lights go off. It takes twenty minutes and saves a lot of frustration later.
• Photograph the appliance labels. Model and serial plates are often on the inside of a door, the back of the unit or under a kick plate. A photo means you never need to pull the fridge out again.
• Put renewal dates on a calendar with a reminder. Leases, insurance, registrations and passports all expire on a date you can know in advance. Thirty days’ notice is usually enough to act calmly.
• Do the emergency items with everyone present. Show everyone old enough where the water shutoff and the fire extinguisher are. It turns a written note into shared knowledge.
• Revisit it once a year. Numbers change, services change, people move. A yearly check keeps the list honest.

We built Kinnomy partly because this list kept living in the wrong places. In Kinnomy, every item on it has a home. Appliances and systems go in Things, with model, serial and warranty end. Papers go in the private documents vault, with a reminder 30 days before they expire. Plumbers and doctors go in Contacts. The wifi and the shutoff go in Notes. The medical details and utility shutoffs go on the Emergency card, which is free on every plan.

Then, when someone asks “when was the AC serviced?” or “what is the fridge model?”, anyone in the house can ask Kinnomy the same question and get the answer from your own records.

But the most important step is the first one, and it does not need any app at all: write it down, somewhere everyone can find it.