These days, making sure your home is safe is just as important as ever before. For many people, though, just because there are so many options for personal home security doesn’t mean the choices get any easier. Also, some folks can’t pay for a security system to keep their home protected around the clock. If you’re one of those people, don’t worry. There are still a handful of really clever things that you can do to keep your property secure, whether inexpensively or even free.
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Think like a burglar.
People often don’t know where the areas in which their home is vulnerable to invasion or theft. But if you think for a minute about how you might break into your own home, you will begin to see your home in a different light. If you knew how easy it was for someone to pick your own front door or pry open your windows, you can better secure those parts of the home specifically.
Make your house always look occupied.
Burglars are always looking for homes that seem empty when they want to sneak their way inside. Career thieves especially will mark homes for weeks, trying to figure out patterns of when people leave their houses empty or go on vacation. The easiest way to discourage them from sneaking into your home is to make it seem like someone’s always there. There are a couple easy ways to do so, including setting alarms on your TV or radio and programming smart lights like Philips Hue to turn on at specific times in the afternoon or evening.
To be fair, Philips Hue can be a little toot expensive for some consumers, if you decide to go the smart light route. But there are loads of other alternatives on the market that get the job done just as well. Similarly, even if you don’t have a smart TV, there are other tools that you can use to basically turn your regular TV into a smart(ish) one.
Try a DIY security system.
It’s still possible to get an entire security system for your house without paying too much monthly. While some traditional security systems can cost almost $30 monthly for a basic package, there are other options that cost as little as $10 a month. With that, you get more options to design your security the way you want, and even give yourself some smart home-esque functionality.
Of course, as you add more functionality, the price will go up to match. But, if you know what you’re looking to secure (like you would if you follow point #1), you’ll only have to pay for what you need, and can get a more-than-basic system for a less-than-advanced price.
Keep in mind that, with all things, there’s a chance that even the most thoughtful security system can be bypassed. This means you should constantly be thinking about how to improve your security setup. This is actually why do-it-yourself security systems win over more contemporary ones — you can decide to switch some aspects out, add some more or even change the entire setup, without having to call a company and pay some exorbitant setup fee … in most cases.
Get a camera … or five.
I know what you’re thinking; if you can’t afford to pay for home security, what makes me think you can pay for security cameras? And that’s a fair point, but there are some clever things that you can do to get video recording that you can even monitor in real time.
We’d all agree that a Nest Cam setup is outside of the reach of the average person. But, if you have some old smartphones lying around, you can try something completely free like AlfredCamera, which uses smartphone cameras as continuous security cams. There is no doubt a handful of other free, or at least cheap, camera options at your disposal, that actually give you more freedom to place cameras wherever you want (as long as you can plug them in somewhere).
And there you have it; four simple tricks that you can do on the cheap to secure your home. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should completely ignore a more conventional security system if you can afford one. But many can’t, and a little more thought can sometimes give you more protection than some home security plans give you. You should also think about property depreciation if you need to save money.
Now that you have more tools in your arsenal, go forth and make your house the fortress you deserve! And make sure to let us know what secrets you have for making your home safer.
