Home security safes are used for numerous reasons and also offer several benefits. While burglar alarm systems aim to protect your house, home security safes can be the final barrier between a thief and your personal items.

Knowing the different uses for the various types of home security safes can definitely help you pick the one that best suits your needs.

Here is a list of the top five items you should store in a home security safe.

Personal and sensitive documents

With the recent increase in identity theft, you should definitely consider purchasing a home security safe for your personal and sensitive documents. Typically, the types of documents stored in a home security safe include:

• Birth Certificates
• Educational documents
• Passports
• Child immunization records
• Wills
• Marriage and Divorce papers
• Death Certificates

The best safes for personal and sensitive documents are both waterproof and fireproof.  For just under $70, SentrySafe offers a (fireproof and waterproof) small, heavy-duty safe with a lock and key, perfect for storing personal and sensitive documents. For shoppers willing to part with a few extra dollars, you can upgrade to a fingerprint-entry home security safe.

Firearms

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns. Given the curious nature of children, this statistic is extremely alarming.

While homeowners have the constitutional right to bear arms, gun accidents kill more than 500 kids annually, according to Momlogic. For this reason, it’s imperative that gun owners store their firearms in a security safe.

Tall, rifle safes can cost more than $1000, yet smaller pistol safes can be obtained for less than $100.  If you’re currently strapped for cash, but still strapped with a firearm, you can purchase a diversion safe (such as a book) with a combination lock for less $30.

Personally, I believe you should not own a firearm if you can’t afford a security safe to properly store your weapon. With this in mind, please consider purchasing a home security safe to make sure your firearm never ends up in the wrong hands.

Jewelry 

With the price of gold skyrocketing to $1,648 for a single ounce of 24K, it’s no surprise that this precious metal is the item of choice for thieves and burglars nationwide.

Due to its small size and high value, jewelry is typically the first item burglars look for when they break into a home. By protecting your jewelry in a home security safe, you can rest assured that your valuables won’t end up being resold at a “Cash for Gold” storefront business while you’re away at work.

While you may need a jewelry collection that rivals that of the late Elizabeth Taylor to fill up some of the high-end jewelry safes, starter units with digital combination locks are available for less than $50.

Money

Whether you’ve lost your trust in financial institutions like many Americans did during the bank run of the Great Depression, or if you simply like storing money under your mattress, you should be aware that cash is very high on a burglars priority list.

If you keep cash in your home, do yourself a favor and consider storing your hard-earned money in a home security safe. You can either store your money in a shared safe with your jewelry and personal documents or purchase a small safe strictly for storing currency.

Back-up hard drive

You may not be aware of this, but computers and tablets, such as the iPad, store your personal credit card information for online purchases.  Computers may also save countless pieces of sensitive data related to your finances, work and potentially lucrative ideas.  For this reason, it’s recommended that you save all data on a back-up hard drive that is stored in a locked home security safe.

Storing your back-up hard drive in a safe can help you keep your photos, sensitive documents, and ideas out of the hands of thieves.

Spending a little money on a safe today may save you a huge headache, and much more money, in the future.

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Posted by:  Carlson Mortgage – a Saint Louis mortgage broker.  Our Home Loan Experts can be reached at (314) 329-7314 seven days a week. Let us be your source for some of the lowest interest rates in St. Louis on conventional, FHA, Veterans (VA), USDA, and HARP 1.0 and 2.0 loans. We have 7 years of experience providing mortgage services that are tailored individually to your unique needs and to your financial situation. We speak English, Spanish and Russian. Call us today!

Original Article can be found at: Quicken Zing Blog