Tracking what you own, when you bought it and what is still under warranty: what actually works

Two claims went badly because I could not produce a receipt, so I built the boring system. What matters turned out to be narrow.

Capture these, at purchase, or you will not have them

• A photo of the model and serial plate, taken the day it is installed. This is the single most useful item and it becomes unreachable once the appliance is in place.
• The receipt as a photo, not a promise to find the email later. Thermal receipts fade to blank within a couple of years.
• The install date, which is often what the warranty runs from rather than the purchase date.
• The installer's details if someone fitted it. Several warranties depend on proof of professional installation.

What the manufacturer actually asked for
Proof of purchase with a date, and the serial number. Not the box, not the manual, not the extended-warranty card. Everything else I hoarded was wasted.

Storage
Anything works as long as it is searchable and includes the model number in the filename or the note. One entry per item, four photos, done in three minutes at purchase.

The bit worth knowing: many warranties are longer than the default if you register within a month, sometimes double. That registration email is the highest-value two minutes in this whole routine and it expires.