Keeping Cash At Home? Here’s How to Hide It

If you have ever had to clean out the home of an elderly relative, you may have found it odd that so much precious items including heirlooms, jewels, and even cash were hidden in the walls, floorboards, and other odd places. Back in the day, people didn’t have the security vaults, safes, and other resources to protect their valuables and many felt more comfortable storing their stuff at home.

There are still people today who prefer to hide stuff at home but not everyone is logical in their hiding spots. Burglars are getting much crafty at locating what they want fast. In order to protect your valuables, you have to outsmart the cons.

Here are some tips to keep your cash and collectibles safe at home and away from thieves:

Safety First

Obviously if you want to keep your stuff safe, you need to perfect your safety measures. Lock windows and doors before leaving or going to bed for the night. Keep motion lights on outside to scare aware potential intruders. Even if you don’t have a security system, buy some signs that say otherwise.

Don’t Invite Robbers

Around the holidays and other celebrations, you may unpack new gifts and think nothing of throwing the box out with the rest of the trash. Anyone driving by can see you now have a new game system, laptop or other valuable for them to steal. Bag trash and keep the attention away from your home.

Fake ‘Em Out

Burglars are happy to rip your home apart to find what they want. Let’s face it, they don’t have to clean up. Their only job is to get it and get out. In a desk drawer, leave a fake list of your ‘valuables’ that are in the safety deposit box at the local bank. Leave a small amount of cash in the same drawer so the robber will at least feel they got something and leave.

Think Smart

When you survey the lay of the land, look for place within your home a burglar would head for immediately. Do you have a filing cabinet? A table full of paperwork? A jewelry box on your dresser? While burglars will do some searches, you can make it less easy to steal from yourself. Put junk jewelry in the box and hide the valuables in your closet under other things. Don’t hide cash in the obvious locations like under your mattress or in the cookie jar.

Here are some good ideas for stashing cash at home:

• Tape an envelope in a recipe book
• Tape an envelope under a low kitchen shelf
• Inside an article of clothing like a sock and keep it the drawer with similar items
• In a baggie tucked into the soil of a houseplant
• Inside boxes marked as holiday decorations
• Inside pockets of clothing hanging in the closet
• Under the cat’s litter box

You can come up with many creative ways to hide cash in your home. You may also want to move the locations around from time to time just to be sure you’re really safe. Unfortunately, people who are desperate aren’t afraid to ransack your home and your life. Home invasions not only rob you of your cash, they also take away your peace of mind.