Frequently Asked Questions:
The Life Stash is a digital download that has been designed to help you mentally declutter by helping you to organise your home life now whilst also creating your legacy for the future. It is a simple but effective organising tool based in Excel. You are provided with a number of carefully crafted and researched Excel templates to complete (37 or 53 depending on which version you purchase) that are designed to collect all of the really important data about you and your family arranged across six colour-coded themes (1: Me, myself and I, 2: Medical information, 3: Finances, 4: Property & Possessions, 5: Digital Life and 6: When I'm Gone). Think of it as the central control panel to your life, the one-stop shop to you and everything that is important to you. However, the beauty of The Life Stash is that it not only provides you with a tool that will help you to get organised now but it is also designed to help you to plan for the future. In the event of your incapacitation or death, it will significantly reduce the burden on your family by providing them with an invaluable resource that will help them immeasurably not only to manage your affairs in your absence but also to understand what your wishes are across a number of important areas. The Life Stash provides peace of mind to you now and comfort to others in the future.
unlike some legacy planning products, you do not submit your data to a third party. You store it. You protect it. There are simple instructions on how to securely store The Life Stash in the accompanying ebook.
Definitely not! I created The Life Stash because I couldn't find anything similar despite much searching. The Life Stash is quite unique in being a downloadable and editable spreadsheet with the dual purpose of providing you with a tool to get organised now whilst also creating your legacy for the future if something should happen to you.
Yes. Let's be clear - everybody should make a will and The Life Stash is not a replacement for a will. However, neither is a will a replacement for The Life Stash. They are two very different things. A will could never seek to hold the level of detail that is held in The Life Stash and it's this detail that your family will be eternally grateful for if and when it is needed. Also a will is not a tool that will help you to mentally declutter right now!
The Life Stash is made for you if:
You’re in your 40s, 50s, 60s or beyond
You’ve raised a family, navigated life, and now want to bring order to your personal affairs
You want to avoid leaving your partner or children in confusion
You’re helping ageing parents and wish someone had done this already
You like to be prepared — not paranoid, just practical
It's especially valuable for:
Parents
Couples
Carers
Women who manage family admin
Adult children of ageing parents
Yes, it is possible to print The Life Stash. You may wish to do this in order to share your completed spreadsheet with a trusted family member or friend. Or it may be that you have an elderly relative who would prefer to complete the templates by hand. The Life Stash has been formatted to allow for ease of printing. However, clearly the beauty of The Life Stash, as a digital file, is the ability to easily update it as time passes and this will be lost with any hard copies.
When you purchase The Life Stash you will have access to:
An Excel workbook containing pre-structured templates 37 or 53, depending on the version that you purchase, in six colour-coded themes;
A supporting 45 page ebook (PDF) that will provide a useful guide to completing The Life Stash;
A further supporting 13 page ebook (PDF) that will help you with challenging conversations when it comes to the legacy planning side of things;
A personalised affiliate link and Information/promotional resources if you wish to promote The Life Stash as an affiliate and earn 50% commission on each sale.
It depends on who you’re planning to complete it with.
If you're filling it out just for yourself, the Life Stash for 1 is perfect. But if you're part of a couple with some joint responsibilities (eg bank accounts, policies) or want to complete it with a partner, the Life Stash for 2 is ideal. It includes duplicate tabs for key areas (like personal info, medical, finances, and digital life) so that each person can record their own individual details — side by side, but separately.
It’s designed to support joint planning, while still giving space for personal information — which is especially useful when accounts, medical records, and preferences differ.
No, other than a device on which to download The Life Stash (eg PC, Mac, tablet) and the ability to open an Excel spreadsheet on said device. There are many options on this front - obviously a Windows PC will have Excel readily available. However, if your device does not have Excel available then there is an online version of Excel which you can access for free (simply search 'Excel online'). Also it's possible to download the Excel app onto your tablet for free from the Android or Apple app stores. It is important to ensure that you are able to access Excel spreadsheets on your device before you make a purchase as refunds cannot be granted once a purchase has been made (please refer to Terms and Conditions).
When it comes to completing The Life Stash, in order to use the full Excel functionality I would advise ideally using a desktop/laptop. If you don't have one then a tablet will work well (although you may lose some slight functionality - for example, you may find that links require a 2 click process instead of 1).
Although it is possible to download The Life Stash onto a smart phone, it's not really recommended due to the comparatively small screen which could make completion of The Life Stash a little challenging!
It is possible to print the Excel workbook and to complete the template by hand. Although there clearly won't be the option to flex or update a hard copy, The Life Stash is still an excellent resource as a printable. Or if it is completed by hand then it would be a simple task for the purchaser to then input the data into the spreadsheet on behalf of the elderly person and retain it as a digital file to be updated as required. Alternatively, you could sit with your elderly relative and help them to complete it on your laptop. The Life Stash is actually a great way to broker some of those difficult, uncomfortable discussions about death and legacy - sitting with someone and completing The Life Stash is ideal to overcome those challenges.
To be honest that's a little tricky to answer as it is very dependent on your starting point. If you are already on the road to organisation and all of your definitive documentation and data is easy to locate then it could be relatively straight forward. So, from start to finish, it may be that The Life Stash will only take you 2 - 3 hours to finalise. If, on the other hand, you will need to spend time locating your data in the first place then clearly it's going to take longer. However, the important thing is not to feel daunted by the task. The templates within The Life Stash are relatively compact and some will not take long to complete at all so, as with any task, take it one step at a time and you'll soon find yourself moving towards your goal of feeling much more in control whilst also gaining the calming reassurance of knowing that your affairs are in order should anything happen to you.
Absolutely! I have designed The Life Stash to be generic enough in terms of data fields to apply to anybody in the world, no matter where you are from.