5 Inexpensive Ways To Crime-Proof Your Home

There are very few affronts that are as heartbreaking as having your home robbed. That’s the one place in the world that is supposed to be safe and secure, and any violation feels personal and seriously wrong. Regrettably, your home will never be 100% impenetrable to crime, unless you sacrifice your view and fresh air to live in an underground bunker. Short of that you can have a security system installed, but those can be quite expensive. Luckily there are some other options that often prove just as valuable. Here are five inexpensive ways to crime-proof your home.

The first step is one you may never have considered, but start your preparations by placing your garbage cans inside of a locked container. This is crucial if you don’t store your cans in the garage. Why start here? The trash you put on the curb is one of the first places a savvy thief will look. It’s chock full of information, with all of your tossed out receipts, statements and bills. And your cans will also contain the boxes from any large purchases you’ve recently made, giving criminals a clear reason to risk capture on your home. Avoid tempting the thieves or giving them the ability to attempt identity theft by simply locking up your garbage cans.

Next, get one of the signs that security companies provide their clients and put it out on the front lawn. You can order these even if you don’t use the service. Buffer it further with stickers from the security company on several of the prominent windows. This alone is often enough to force criminals to reconsider, and perhaps move on to another house. It may only be smoke and mirrors, but it’s cheaper than the security system itself, and quite an effective deterrent.

Now it’s time to turn your attention to the lighting around your property. Make it as difficult as possible for anyone to stalk up to your doors in darkness. Place flood lights over each of the entrances, and have them set up on motion detectors. It’s not terribly expensive, and will help you conserve electricity over running them all night long. Bright light alone could be enough to force thieves to keep their distance.

Along the same lines, make sure your landscaping doesn’t aid stalking thieves. Privacy bushes and trees may be beautiful to look at, but they work both ways. If you are hidden from the road, criminals will be protected from discovery as well. It’s always worth it to leave your property visually connected with the rest of the neighborhood. You’ll sacrifice just a little bit of privacy, but the peace of mind will more than balance it out.

Finally, consider installing your own closed circuit television cameras. Today’s hardware is incredibly inexpensive, and can seamlessly integrate with your laptop or desktop computer. Basically, instead of working off of tapes that have to be changed or recorded over, the cameras broadcast in realtime to your hard drive. You can set it to save security information from twenty-four hours, and then record over it to avoid using up all of your hard drive space. A camera placed over each entrance will certainly persuade criminals to move on, making this one of the easiest and most effective deterrents on the market.