A fire safe is useful both for ensuring that important documents are not destroyed in the event of a calamity and for keeping them in one centralized location so they don’t get lost. Electronic models with keypads are easy to use, but they do wear out after a while. Most home improvement stores sell them, so it’s not hard to get another. The problem is disposing of the old one, as they’re too big and heavy to put out with the trash.
 

We bought a new safe earlier this year. My husband boxed up the old one and put it in the garage, thinking that he’d check into whether there was any place to take it for recycling; and if not, he could take it to the county dump. He got busy at work, though, and it has just been sitting in the garage gathering cobwebs all spring. That old safe has definitely overstayed its welcome!

Edit, May 27: My husband called around, but couldn’t find any recycling shops that would take it. The issue is that the time spent removing the material in the walls of the safe is not worth the cost of the scrap. So he took it to the dump this morning.

About Clutter Comedy: Every Sunday (which I envision as a day of rest after a productive week of de-cluttering) I post a Clutter Comedy article describing my most memorable clutter discovery of the week. Other bloggers who wish to join in are welcome—just post a link in the comments! There’s no need to publish any “before” photos of your clutter, if they are too embarrassing. The idea is simply to get motivated to clean it up, while having a bit of fun too!