Personal and family records

Important Document Locator Spreadsheet

An index of where the important papers actually are — the file somebody else would need if they had to find everything without you.

Download the spreadsheet · 9 kB

.xlsx · 2 tabs · opens in Excel, LibreOffice, Numbers and Google Sheets · no sign-up

What it works out for you

How many documents are recorded, and how many have no location against them
How many have a copy held somewhere separate
A count by type, so an obvious gap shows up

Who it is for

Households organising themselves, and anyone acting for a relative.

What is inside

2 tabs: Read me, Documents. The first is a Read me that explains the file in plain words and says what it deliberately does not contain.

Cells come in two colours. Cream cells are yours to fill in. Grey cells work themselves out — leave them alone unless you want to change the sum, in which case go ahead, nothing is locked.

It opens blank, and that is correct

This is an empty workbook, so every grey cell is empty until there is something to work from. Type into two or three cream cells and the grey ones beside them fill in straight away. If you download it, open it and see nothing but headings, nothing has gone wrong — the sheet simply has no figures yet.

One thing worth knowing: a file preview — in Google Drive, in a phone’s file browser, in Windows Explorer — often shows calculated cells as blank even after you have filled the sheet in, because a preview does not run formulas. Open the file properly in Excel, Numbers, LibreOffice or Google Sheets and the figures appear.

Amounts and figures

Amounts are plain numbers with no currency symbol, so the same file suits any country. Format the column as your own currency if you would rather see one. There are no rates, intervals or targets of ours anywhere in the file — every figure of that kind is a cell waiting for the one that applies to you.

The printable versions

The same job on paper, for a folder or a clipboard. Free PDFs, A4 and US Letter.

Home Buying Document Checklist

Have a prompt list to work through with whoever is handling the transaction, so documents are found before they are asked for rather than afterwards.

MB-09 3 pages

House Sitter Instruction Sheet

Answer the sitter's questions before they are asked, on paper, while you are still in the house and can walk them round to the stopcock.

CR-09 2 pages

Emergency Contact Sheet

Put the numbers somebody needs in one place, so a house-sitter, a babysitter, a visiting relative or a tenant is not searching for them at the worst moment.

SC-03 2 pages

Questions

Is it really free?

Yes. No sign-up, no email address, no trial. Download it, use it, change it, keep it. The site is paid for by advertising elsewhere on it, not by this file.

Will it work in Google Sheets?

Yes. Google Drive → New → File upload → pick the file, then open it with Google Sheets. Every formula is deliberately a plain one, so nothing breaks in the move.

Does it work in Excel, LibreOffice or Numbers?

Yes. It is an ordinary .xlsx file with no macros and no add-ins. Anything that opens spreadsheets will open it.

Can I change the formulas?

Please do. Nothing is locked or password protected, and the formulas are ordinary ones you can read. If your situation needs a different sum, change the sum.

Are there any figures built into it?

No rates, intervals, targets or thresholds of ours. Where a figure like that is needed there is a cell for you to enter your own, taken from your handbook, lender, insurer or tax authority. We do not know your circumstances and will not guess at them.