How to use Evernote to document your expensive things
We all buy things, right? As human beings, we're consumers by nature. We consume:
- Food/drink
- Air
- Space (some more than others)
- Media content (TV, movies, etc)
- Homes
- Electronics
- appliances
This list goes on and on.
As consumers, we sometimes buy expensive and shiny things that can sometimes break, or has features we don't understands. When that happens, it's good to have all of the information about those things handy and all in one place.
That's where Evernote comes in handy.
I use Evernote for my day-to-day job in technical support, as well as personal things as well.
You can attach PDF's, pictures, links, all sorts of things to Evernote pages.
What I'm going to show you is how to organize and record all of those things you buy so if you need the:
- Serial number
- Model number
- date purchased
- user guide/manual PDF
- What it looks like
You can get it all in one spot.
Instructions
- Get yourself and Evernote account by navigating over to http://evernote.com/ and signing up for an account. A free account will do (though I have a lot of things on mine, so i paid for the premium for more space)
- Create a notebook called whatever you want to call it; i called mine Purchased Products/Serials/manuals/model numbers.
- Find something in your house you want to start with recording information for. Let's start with your TV.
- Take a picture of the sticker on your TV that has the serial number and model number on it. This does a few things for you:
- Let's you jot down the info easier
- In case you write it down wrong, and your at a store later, or talking with a service rep, you can still refer back to the picture
- If someone thinks maybe you're lying about the serial number, you can send them the picutre.
- Create a new page inside of your notebook you created and title it the name of the appliance, maybe ever though the model in there, or since it's a TV, how big it is.
- Example: Panasonic 50in TV
- Attach the picture you took to the Evernote page.
- Type in the model and serial number into the page.
- QUESTION: Why take a picuter AND also write it down?
- The text is more easily searchable that trying to find the picture
- Easier to copy/paste if you're opening a support ticket with the manufacturer.
- Search on google for the model of your device and look for the PDF manual.
- Odds are you'll find it, but if not that's OK. As part of this project, it's nice to be able to also look up information in the manual if needed as well all in one page
- Download and attach the PDF to the Evernote document.
- I just drag and drop the .pdf file into the page you created.
- You can also include a link to the PDF, however, if the manufacturer went out of business, or you couldn't get to internet the time you need it, you'll have this information stored offline for later use.
- Add any additional information you want. Here's what I include:
- Serial number
- Model number
- date purchased
- Picture/scan of the receipt
- user guide/manual PDF
- Picture of what it looks like.
And that's it!
The hardest part is just taking time to record all of this information, but with all things, it just takes doing it a few times to make it a habit. You'll be glad you did in the end and have that wonderful feeling of accomplishment.
If you don't have all of the above information, that's OK. It's at least start. You're not always going to have the receipt, or remember when you purchased it, but the more information like this the better.
I originally started doing this so I could have all the manuals for everything I owned in one place, but then thought it would be even better to have the serial and model number, say if I was in a store and wanted to buy an attachment, or replacement part, I could have that information on my phone or table readily available.
Enjoy everyone!
If you have any other cools tips or suggestion, feel free to post.
