Beyond The Locks: Smart Tips For Keeping Your Home Extra Secure On A Budget
When you lock up the house before you leave or go to bed, sometimes those locks just don't feel like quite enough protection. If you live in a bad neighborhood, or criminal activity seems to be abnormally high in your neighborhood, you might want to take some extra precautions to keep your home safe. Here are some tips to add security to your home on a tight budget.
Install Dummy Cameras
If you can't afford some working cameras around your home, install dummy cameras. You might be able to find someone with old, non-working cameras that will give them to you for free. You might also be able to find older-model working cameras at a low cost. Even if you can't afford the software to set them up and run them, just mounting them around the outside of your home will deter many burglars. If someone is staking out houses, they'll see your cameras and most likely decide to move on to someone else.
Don't Leave Electronics Boxes Outside
Sometimes people put their boxes outside until recycling day or until they can burn them. If you have a large flat screen TV box or other big electronic boxes, keep them inside until you can dispose of them. Keeping them outside is a great advertisement for burglars. You don't want someone to drive by and see that you have a brand new TV, gaming system, and surround sound. The wrong person could see that and see a big payday in their future.
Don't Check-in on Social Media
People love to check-in on social media. They do it constantly. People update when they're at the movies or out to dinner so their friends can see how much fun they're having. Another thing people do often is talk about their vacations. They check-in at the airport and post constant pictures in real-time as they're lying on the beach or seeing cool sights. Vacations are exciting and it can be difficult not to share, but the problem is, you never know who is looking at your posts. Even if your updates are set to friends only, the internet gets breached every single day, and people find out that some friends aren't as loyal and they thought they were. Keep your vacation private until it's over. As soon as you get home, you can tell your friends all about it.
Alarm System Signs
Just like the fake cameras, alarm system signs can deter burglars. If you can't afford a security system, you can buy decals for your front windows and a sign for your yard. Some people with extras will sell their decals and signs on various auction and sale websites.
Reinforce Sliding Doors & Windows
Reinforcing doors and windows will keep them extra secure. Locks aren't always 100% secure. Burglars know how to get past some of them. Sliding doors and windows are often less secure than others. This is because burglars know how to move them off their frames and disengage the lock. To make them more secure, you can reinforce them with wooden or metal security bars, which are large sticks that you put in the space where the door or window slides. This way, even if the door or window is unlocked, it isn't going to slide anywhere. If you're worried about someone breaking the glass to get through, you can reinforce the glass as well. There are door films, similar to the ones that you put over smartphone and tablet screens, and they make the glass more difficult to break.
Having the best locks you can afford and a security system are important for keeping your home locked up tight. However, if you can't afford to keep your home as secure as you need to, try these budget-friendly tips for deterring burglars. For more information, consider websites like http://scscincus.com.