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Home Inventory

Automating Your Home Inventory: How to Use AI to Catalog Valuables for Insurance

If a disaster struck, could you prove to your insurance company what you owned? Creating a home inventory is a critical but tedious task. Instead of spending a weekend with a spreadsheet, you can automate it by simply forwarding your email receipts.

The Magic of Email Import

You just bought an 83" LG OLED TV. The receipt arrives in your inbox. Instead of manually entering the details into EstateHelm, just forward the email to [email protected]. That's it.

Our AI reads the email, extracts the product name, price, retailer, purchase date, and category—then queues it for your review. This is a great way to handle your expense tracking and receipt management. Next time you log in, you'll see the extracted item waiting for confirmation. Review the details, make any corrections, and add it to your vault with one click. If there's a PDF receipt attached, we'll encrypt and attach that too.

What Gets Extracted

Item name & description
Price & currency
Purchase date
Order number
Retailer name
Category (auto-detected)

How It Works

1

Forward Your Email

Forward receipts to [email protected] or subscription confirmations to [email protected]. Make sure you send from an email registered with your household.

2

AI Extraction

Our AI analyzes the email content and any PDF attachments. It intelligently identifies product details, prices, dates, and categorizes the item automatically.

3

Review & Confirm

Next time you log in, the extracted item appears as a pending item on your dashboard. Nothing is added automatically—you review the details, make any corrections, and choose to Add, Add & Edit, or Dismiss. You're always in control.

4

Email Cleaned Up

Once you accept or dismiss the item, the original email is queued for deletion. We don't hold onto your unencrypted emails.

You're Always in Control

We never add anything to your vault without your explicit approval. When you log in, you'll see pending items waiting for your review. For each item, you can:

Add — The extracted data looks good? One click adds it to your vault.

Add & Edit — Add it and immediately open the editor to adjust details, add notes, or attach more documents.

Dismiss — Don't want this item? Dismiss it and the email is deleted. Nothing is added to your vault.

Subscriptions Too

It's not just for receipts. Forward your Netflix billing confirmation, Spotify renewal, or gym membership receipt to [email protected]. EstateHelm recognizes subscription patterns and extracts the data. You can even sync these dates to your calendar. Learn more about calendar-sync.

Service Name

Netflix, Spotify, Adobe Creative Cloud—automatically identified

Billing Amount

Monthly or annual cost, with currency detection

Billing Cycle

Monthly, yearly, quarterly—we figure it out

Next Billing Date

So you always know when charges are coming

PDF Attachments? We've Got You

Many retailers send PDF receipts as email attachments. When you forward these emails, we don't just read the email body—we also analyze the PDF content for even more accurate extraction. Then we encrypt the PDF and attach it to your valuable as a receipt document.

Incoming email with PDF attachment:
Subject: Your Best Buy Receipt
Attachment: receipt_12345.pdf
EstateHelm extracts:
Item: LG 83" OLED TV
Price: $5,299.99
Category: Electronics
+ Encrypted PDF attached as receipt

Privacy & Security

We take your privacy seriously. Learn more about our security. Here's how we handle your forwarded emails:

Easy email linking

Send from any email address. If it's not yet linked to your account, we'll send you a verification link. Log in to confirm it's you, and you're set up for future emails.

Temporary storage

Your email is stored only while we process it. Once you accept or dismiss the extracted item, the original email is queued for cleanup.

Encrypted attachments

PDF attachments are encrypted with your household key before storage. Even we can't read them once they're in your vault.

Email Lifecycle

You forward your receipt to → [email protected]
↓ Verify sender is household member
Email stored temporarily (unencrypted)
↓ AI extraction
Extracted data shown as "pending item"
↓ You click "Add"
Valuable created (encrypted in vault)
PDF attached (encrypted)
Original email queued for cleanup

The unencrypted email is only kept while you review the pending item. Once you accept or dismiss it, the email is queued for cleanup. Your vault data is always end-to-end encrypted.

Important Notes

Send from a household email

You must forward emails from an address that's registered with your EstateHelm household. This is how we verify it's really you.

Review before adding

AI isn't perfect. Always review the extracted details before adding to your vault. You can edit any field before saving.

Dismiss to delete

Changed your mind? Click dismiss on a pending item and the email is deleted. Nothing is added to your vault.

Don't forward sensitive account emails

This feature is for receipts and billing confirmations. Don't forward password resets, 2FA codes, or other sensitive account emails.

What Can You Import?

Receipts (Valuables)

  • Electronics purchases
  • Appliance receipts
  • Jewelry & watches
  • Art & collectibles
  • Photography equipment

Subscriptions

  • Streaming services
  • Software subscriptions
  • Gym memberships
  • News & magazine subscriptions
  • Cloud storage plans

Stop Manually Entering Receipts

Your inbox is full of purchase confirmations. Put them to work. Forward them to EstateHelm and let AI do the data entry.

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