8 Ways to Keep Your Home Safe

Keeping your home safe has always been a priority. With lowered policing levels than ever before it’s an unfortunate scenario to have to put measures into place to keep your home and your belongings safe. Safeguarding your home may seem like a costly expense, with security cameras, intruder alarms amongst a host of other anti-theft devices, but it doesn’t need to be this way. Let’s take a look at the 8 best ways to keep your home safe, whilst not costing you an arm and a leg. Let’s have a look at 8 ways to Keep Your Home Safe.

Be Alarmed

We’ve already discussed how expensive it can be to have a full intruder alarm system set up, with some packages costing thousands and could leave you with a rather large dent in your bank account. 

However, thanks to the introduction of online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, security systems can be bought at a fraction of the cost than previously thought. Buying second hand can always be another option which can help you budget appropriately whilst keeping peace of mind that your property is safe and secure. 

Having a security system in place is one of the most effective anti-theft measures that are available to home-owners, it’s a deterrent that doesn’t have to cost the world. 

Warm Up for Winter

This one isn’t quite for keeping people out, but rather keeping the heat in. It’s recommended that you should have adequate insulation throughout the year and doing so can help you save money on your heating bills and helps regulate the temperature all year round. 

Having effective insulation does also mean that it would be harder for any damage to be done from the outside, whether that be from mother nature or wannabe intruders. Save yourself the hassle of filling out insurance claims and months of stress and get your insulation sorted before the rough months come. 

Do You Have Neighbours?

Going away can always be stressful. If you’re going on holiday you’ve got the passports to remember, making sure you’re at the airport for the right time, and did you remember to pack your favourite pair of shorts? You see, there’s a lot to remember and on top of all that you’ve got to keep your house secure while you’re out.

This is where your neighbours can help out. Now, we may not all be friends with the neighbours, but if you are then this could be the ideal way to keep your house secure for free whilst you are away enjoying your holiday. 

Asking them to keep an eye on the house during the day, opening the curtains in the morning and closing them at night will make the house look like its occupants are still at home. This can be done for free, or if you’re feeling generous you could always offer a box of chocolate or a little gift as a thank you. 

If, like some people, you’re not quite as friendly with the neighbours, you could always invest in a timing device that switches your lights on and off for you whilst you’re away. These again don’t need to be the latest pieces of kit, just something to do the job for a week. 

Is There a Local Neighbourhood Watch?

For those who are unaware, the local neighbourhood watch is an initiative set up to help reduce the levels of crime by introducing deterrents and being vigilant in your local area.  

By joining a neighbourhood watch you can become part of a group that actively seeks to have a safer community and more importantly you could even save money on things like home insurance if you’re part of your local watch, a win win really. 

Install a Cage

No, not quite what you’re thinking, it’s a letterbox cage. 

Pesky introducers will stop at nothing to get their hands onto your valuables, and that includes fishing through the letterbox in the hope of grabbing your keys. 

Installing a letterbox cage is a cost effective way of preventing this from happening. These cages can be easily bought online and can be fitted in a matter of minutes by yourself. This will mean that potential thieves will find themselves stuck in the cage with your valuables safely tucked away out of reach. 

Get a Ladder

Protecting your home from things such as damp is just as important as keeping intruders away. Damp can rapidly affect your home, meaning you’ll quite likely end up with high repair costs and a constant unwanted smell of damp, rotten walls. This can be prevented by getting yourself a ladder, and clearing out any debris from blocked gutters, meaning that the damp won’t have a chance to take over your home. You can easily do this yourself and save yourself the hassle and money from getting someone else to do the job. 

It’s always important to remember that ladders provide thieves with a potential opportunity to gain access to your property, so keep in mind to lock them away once you’re finished with them. It’s best to buy fold away ladders, this way you can save space when it comes time to store them away. 

Make Sure You Can’t See The TV

Now this one may be harder to execute as it all depends on the layout of your house. It’s recommended that you keep all of your expensive items out of sight from the window. That includes any TV’s, laptops or games consoles, you don’t want to give people the chance to eye up your goodies.

Get Out the Gardening Shears

Gardening is not always on the top of our list and can be one of the least exciting chores to do. However keeping your hedges and bushes trimmed means that burglars won’t get the chance to hide away unnoticed. It’s a relatively small task that you can do yourself, and if you’re already geared up with gardening equipment then it won’t cost you a penny. 

Keeping your home safe doesn’t have to break the bank. What do you do to keep your home safe?

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