Frugal ways to keep your home safe

[andyfvp]

I recently wrote about frugal ways to keep my home safe follwoing a recent spate of break ins in my neighbourhood. I came up with 10 suggestions and some great reader comments. I am looking to do the second series on this topic and wanted to see if any other suggestions were out there. Some that I had include:

- Buy Patio door bars.
- Get Deadbolt locks for your front door
- Beam 'em. Get a Motion Sensor Light for your back or front yard so that anyone approaching gets "beamed".
- Join the neighborhood watch (or start one).
- Get a Timer Switch for a couple of lamps in your house, which allows you to set a specific time for lights to come on when you are away.

Andy

[purplefdu]

Buy a sticker from a know security company for all doors/windows. Unlike a car alarm there is rarely a visible component to home systems. A sticker is going to at least make them think twice.

Patio door bars can be made from broom handles just as easily as the fancy ones they sell. We have four sets in our home and all utilize alternative types and work perfectly.

Buy a motion sensor yard decoration. You know the cute doggies that bark or the frogs that ribbit when you walk past? Cheaper than a real dog and you don't have to feed them.

[saving maglet]

Great tips. We don't protect our patio doors with bars. I guess I always thought that if someone wanted to get in bad enough, those bars wouldn't deter them.

We have a security system, so that helps. We did the deadbolt on the front door a while ago--best idea ever. We have sensors on the lights for each set of patio doors and we have timers for when we're away and sometimes when we're not.

I think it's easy to become comfortable, especially when you're in a low-crime neighborhood. But, bad stuff happens in "great" neighborhoods, too. One that I would add is locks for your gates. We have locks on our gates.

Solar landscaping lights might work, too. We have them the length of the driveway around the deck. They aren't a LOT for visibility, but someone could definitely be seen in the light it emits.

[purplefdu]

If you have some scrap wood, cut a piece to fit snugly in your patio door and try to open it from outside. Its amazing how well they really do work and are pretty cheap to make. I've always had patio doors with the fancier bars on them before this house, but our landlord is a sailor and very traditional New Englander. He rounded up all the brooms that no longer worked and just cut them to fit in about 5 minutes on the power saw.

Anything that slows down a thief or requires them to come back later is a good thing.

[gt0163c]

Originally Posted by purplefdu

Anything that slows down a thief or requires them to come back later is a good thing.

This is part of my thoughts on theft prevention. Basically, I try to make myself and my stuff less of a target than someone else. That means being aware of my surroundings when I'm out and about (especially walking in parking lots at night), not leaving valuables where they are visible in my car, deadbolt locks, prickly bushes below windows, etc. I would love to have a big (or big sounding) barky dog, but my lifestyle doesn't allow for me to have one. I rely on my cats acting as an early warning system/intruder tripping hazard. It's not much, but they're cute and fuzzy and also help keep the bug population under control.

The way I figure it, there are two basic types of theft/crime. The first is with a random victim where the criminal is looking for a specific opportunity or item. By making yourself and your stuff less enticing than the guy next to you, you can do a lot to protect yourself and your stuff.
The other type is a crime against a specific person. This is harder to prevent, as the criminal is out to hurt a specific person. Not making enemies and having good friends and people to keep an eye on you and your stuff helps with this, but overall, I think this is a lot harder to deter. Fortunately, for most people, I think this type of crime is more rare.

[andyfvp]

Some great ideas...keep em' coming. Here are some more based on comments at my site:

- Our dogs. Dogs do cost some money but our dogs do not let anyone come close without notifying us.

- Window alarms. They run off batteries and can be found cheap--about $4 each. They're also easy to install (usually double-sided tape). They sound an alarm if the window is opened (you can turn them off when YOU want to open the window).

- A sticker or door sign. You can get one with a "fake" security system name so it LOOKS like you have a security system. Or you can get a fake Beware of Dog sign.

- Dog doorbell. They make doorbells that sound like dogs barking (so intruders think a dog lives in the house).

[uilq]

good ideas,thanks for sharing.