How to Lose Everything Start Again From Scratch
Most of us tend to live our lives assuming that we’re never going to go through the kind of tragedy that might lead us to lose everything we own. It’s true that most people reading this will never have their home flooded, burned to the ground or hit by a tornado – but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen, and it pays to think about what you would do if it did.
And anyway – even if your home isn’t completely destroyed in a flood, there are still other ways that you might find yourself forced to start again with nothing. Perhaps you might go through a messy divorce and lose a great deal of your possessions and money that way, or maybe you’ll choose to move to a different country and opt to leave your things behind in order to start anew.
So just for the sake of argument and to help you prepare for the worst, what would you do if you had to start again with nothing?
See What Can be Retrieved
One of the first things you might want to do when starting again from scratched is to see what you can salvage. In almost every case there will be some things that you can get back, even if they aren’t exactly what they were.
For instance, if you lost a lot of things due to a flood, then you may find that water damage specialists can help you to restore more than you thought possible. Furniture, clothing, electronics and even documents can sometimes be restored depending on the nature of the damage and this can be very uplifting when you previously thought you had lost everything.
What also helps these days, is the fact that so much of our lives is digital and ‘stored on the cloud’. You might well find yourself upset to have lost photographs for instance, but chances are that these can be retrieved by looking on Facebook (it’s possible to download you whole Facebook account!) – and if you had DropBox or SkyDrive you may be able to get even more back.
Another thing to consider is that some people might have things of yours if you lent them out or if they just happened to have the same items – all of which can help you to get back a few ‘anchors’ to your old life.
Prioritize Replacements
Next you might want to think about which things you are going to replace. For most people this will mean buying a new computer, a new television, new furniture etc. Making a list of priorities here is a great way to streamline the process, to speed things up, and to make sure that you quickly get back to ‘normal’ and can get on with your life.
It’s also worth looking into whether or not you can get financial help in replacing some of these things. If you had insurance than of course you should be able to get a fair amount of your things paid for if you’re covered under the circumstances. If not though, then you may still find that there are government programs, charities or other groups that can help. Your friends and family may even offer to chip in, and this is not a time to be principled…
Think About What to do Differently
Whilst doing all this though, you should also take this opportunity to think about what you’re going to do differently. Painful and often tragic though it is to be forced to start again with nothing, it does give you a unique opportunity to start from scratch and start again having learned from your mistakes. Whether you decide to have ‘less clutter’, whether you decide you want to spend more on a few nice items, or whether you decide you want to completely change your decor these are all things you can now put into effect. Try not to have your mind entirely in the past – but also on the future.
And one thing you should definitely do differently? Prepare yourself better in case history should repeat itself. If you didn’t have insurance then get it, and if you kept all your things in the basement when the flood came, start making better use of higher ground.
Shruti Vaghe, the author of this post, is a freelance blogger, who often writes for Care Master, a company that provides water damage restoration. She likes to bake and read in spare time. You can also follow her on Twitter @ShrutiVaghe.
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Category: Family Finances
