My Precious Kid

Protecting your family is what home security is all about. You can live without all of those material goods, but you would be devastated without your kids and your partner. Yet, home security systems can be complicated and they can be expensive. Many families just can’t afford the extra $30 or more per month to have a security company monitor their home, to say nothing of equipment costs.

Fortunately, there are some quick and cost-effective techniques you can use to keep your family save without investing hundreds of dollars in a security system:

Create and practice an emergency plan. If someone’s inside the home that’s not supposed to be there, your family should know what to do. Typically that involves leaving the house as quickly as possible and meeting in a safe place. That safe place is often a neighbor’s house, but if your neighbors are far away it might even be next to a particular tree in the yard. This is essential when you have small children in the house, and it also works for other disasters like a house fire.

Trim your shrubs. No, really. One of the most attractive things to a burglar is the ability to sneak up to your home without being seen. If you have large shrubs or trees that obscure a side door or a window, you’re inviting trouble. Make sure any potential points of entry are not obscured, and that they’re well-lit. An inexpensive motion-sensitive light can help ensure that unwanted guests are hit with a spotlight when approaching your home at night, as well.

Tell potential burglars that they’re being watched. In many cases, simply putting up a home security sign or sticker is enough to deter a thief. All other things being equal, burglary is usually a crime of opportunity. If a burglar has a choice between a home with evidence of a security system (including stickers or signs) and a home with no evidence of a security system, they’ll almost always choose the latter. Fake security cameras are an option, and even real security cameras can cost you less than about $250 for an entire system.

Don’t make your home an attractive target. Don’t carry those large boxes from your electronics purchase out to the road until the morning the trash man comes. Keep your car in your garage, with the door closed. Again, burglary is usually a crime of opportunity, and simply taking away incentives to rob your home can deter theft.

Consider door and window alarms. Today, you can get a basic window alarm for less than $5. It won’t notify a security company, but it will make a loud noise. That’s often enough to scare off an intruder; at the very least, it lets you and your family know that someone is breaking in, and you can then execute your family’s emergency plan.

Just because you don’t want to or can’t afford to install a security system doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be secure at home. Put some of these measures into place today.

Madison Parker is a home security expert whose passion for safety led to the creation of HomeSecuritySystems.net. Swing on by her blog here to get more security tips.

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