1. 5/16/16 WOMAN’S WORLD 27
● Also smart! Placing a dog bowl on your porch will
reinforce that there’s a barker inside!
1Safeguard valuables
in the laundry room!
The safest place to store your valu-
ables? The laundry room! “Burglars
want to be out of your house as quickly
as possible—in less than 12 minutes,”
Boykins says, so keeping jewelry and
other treasures in unlikely, typically
harder-to-get-to locations is smart!
Where shouldn’t you stash your
goods? In the bedroom, your
dresser drawers or the freezer—
they’re some of the first spots
burglars look!
Photos:Vetta/GettyImages;Photographer’sChoiceRF/Getty;
GaryRandall/Kimballstock;Amazon;Fuse/Getty;MediaBakery.
—Hannah Chenoweth
2Entry-proof
your doors
with a
wooden stick!
The most effective way to
secure your sliding doors
is also the cheapest! “Put
a wooden dowel or broom
handle in the track of the
door so it can’t be slid back,”
advises Michelle Boykins of
the National Crime Preven-
tion Council. Because doors
and windows are the most
common ways burglars enter
a home, this painless—and
inexpensive—precaution
goes a long way to keeping unwanted “guests” away!
● Also smart! Keep the shades drawn on sliding doors
to prevent burglars from easily eyeing what’s inside.
Burglar-proof your home!Going away on vacation . . . and want to make sure
your home is ultra-secure while you’re gone? Here are
the tricks proven to deter burglars any time of year!
3Look like you’re home
by recruiting your neighbors!
A super-simple, great way to
safeguard your house while you’re
on vacation? Ask your neighbors to
help, advises security expert Chris
McGoey, host of the Crime School
podcast. They’ll be happy to pitch in
to keep their neighborhood safe—
especially because you can do the
same for them in the future. Exactly
how can they create the illusion that
you’re home? Ask them to park a car
in your driveway and bring in your
mail, newspapers and trash bins.
● Alsosmart! Don’t advertise your
absence! It’s fine to let your neigh-
bors know how long you’ll be gone
—but avoid posting details on
Facebook until after you’ve returned.
4Foil burglars
by keeping bushes trimmed!
“Burglars are looking for camouflage, so you want to landscape to make
your yard as uninviting to them as possible,” says Boykins. How? By
keeping bushes trimmed low and planting something
thorny, such as holly, in front of the windows. Criminals
typically pass on yards without big bushes to hide in!
● Also smart! Stick on small window alarms that detect
vibration so well, they go off loudly if a potential burglar
touches the window from the outside. One option:
Doberman Security Ultra-Slim Window Alarm, $29.99
for four, Amazon.com.
5Scare burglars away
with a dog sticker!
Buying a sticker that says you have a dog—even
if you don’t—significantly reduces your chances
of being burglarized. “These things really work!”
declares McGoey. Ditto for security alarm signs!
The signs are available at Home Depot and on eBay.
The top tried-and-true security trick?
It’s turning on the TV! Seeing and hearing it on tricks
burglars into thinking you’re home! Even easier: Use a small
device called FakeTV ($19.37, Amazon.com). It perfectly simulates
the flickering light of a real television and has a light sensor
and timer—yet uses only as much electricity as a night-light!
you stash your
dresser drawers or the freezer—
Makemoney
whileprotecting
yourhome!
ThefreeiPhoneappJustPark
lets you “rent” your parking
spot for a fixed price for a
set number of hours to
make your home look
occupied!