This site is all about Strategic Living.  But “strategic” can mean different things to different people or even to the same people within the context of different circumstances.  Still, in it’s most basic definition, strategic is defined as:  carefully designed or planned to serve a particular important purpose or plan of action.

Here at Strategic Living, we want to take you beyond the basics by helping you plan for the unexpected.  This not only includes prepping for the occasional disaster, but also coming up with the strategies (strategic, get it?) for coping with day to day challenges.

And so today we talk about the challenge of dealing with and preventing petty crime, or burglary.  Whatever you want to call it, burglars are bad guys.  If someone breaks in to your home – be it ranch in Eastern Texas, a cottage in Washington State, an apartment in the city, or a garden home in a planned community – a break-in is a break-in and is therefore a violation of your most sacred space:  your home.

With the shorter days of winter as well as the holiday’s that are coming up, burglars and thieves are going to be on the lookout for homes that are easy targets.  The two G’s want to share 12 things people do to roll out the welcome mat and invite the bad guys to pay them a visit.  We also offer some suggestions of things you can do now to make your home less attractive to these uninvited visitors.

Let’s get started.

1.  Leaving the doors and windows unlocked while you are home inside.

Okay, we know you are not stupid but you would be surprised at how many folks dutifully lock up when they are away but leave their doors and windows wide open and unattended when they are home.  Gaye will tell you how often people have tried to simply walk right into her house.  So now she leaves both the front and back doors locked so all that these unwelcome visitors get is a rattling door knob and the barking wrath of Tucker the dog.

2.  Hiding a key under the mat, over the door frame, in a barbecue or some other place that every crook  in the county knows about.

This is something else that smart people do,  They hide a key in the most obvious place they can think of – probably so they will not forget themselves.  The problem with this is that everyone else knows about these hidey holes as well.  Fake rock with a well built in for a key?  Jeesh – everyone knows about those.  Instead, invest in a secure key safe such as this one that is mounted outside Gaye’s house.

3.  Using Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites to advertise your whereabouts.

In the early days of Facebook, it was fun to be able to re-connect with old friends from years past.  That was neat.  The no-so-good part was that after six months or so, Facebook became a big time warp.  Going to FB meant that one, two or even three hours would vanish without my realizing it.  Anyway, we digress.

Many Facebook and Twitter aficionados post their every movement on these and other social networks.  Going to the mall?  It is on Facebook.  Going to a movie?  It is on Twitter.  Believe it.  The thieves are watching.  It is not too difficult to become a friend or a friend of a friend and before you know it, your security is compromised because the world knows you are not at home.  Stop it!

4.  Showing off all the good stuff in your house by leaving packaging and empty boxes from your new electronic toys outside at the curb.

Say a burglar is scoping the neighborhood looking for target.  He sees that big empty box at the curb.  You know – the one your new 50” flat screen came in.  You can bet that this guy is going to case your place, waiting until you are away to come on in and help himself.  Now that 50” flat screen may be too big for him to cart away but if you have that flat screen TV, his assumption is that you are going to have a lot more goodies.

Moral of the story?  Don’t advertise that you have expensive new stuff.

5.  Keeping the place in the dark.

For a few cents a day, you can invest in some economical lighting for your outside area.  The newer light bulbs last forever and can brighten up a porch or yard, deterring not only the prowlers but the four legged critters as well.  You can put the lights on dawn to dusk timers making the lighting a set it and forget it operation.  Personally, and this is coming from Gaye, a well-lit home is more important than a new outfit or some other trinket.  And that – in a nutshell – says a lot.

6.  Putting up signs indicating your home has a silent alarm, whether true or not.

Let’s get real.  The silent alarm goes off and how long does it take for the cops to arrive?  Ten minutes, twenty?  Both of us are former city dwellers and back in the day, we each had one of those high-end monitored alarm systems.  That was okay and offered a bit of comfort but in looking back, just how useful was that silent alarm?  In both cases, the silent alarm was accompanied by a very loud alarm that would go off and wake the neighbors when it went off.

So now we just have the loud alarm to alert us that someone is breaking in to our home.  That and a shotgun.

7.  Going on vacation without stopping the mail or the daily delivery of the newspaper.  Plus, telling you barber, the waitress at your favorite coffee shop and the clerk at the drugstore you are going away for two week.

Sure you are excited.  It’s a fabulous tropical vacation, after all.  But do you really need to tell the world?  The more people you tell, the more risk you have that they will tell someone else, who will tell someone else and so on.  Why not wait until you get back when you can share the actual memories?

In the meantime, while you are gone, stop the mail, stop the papers, and have a trusted family member or neighbor know you are gone.  If you live in a planned community, let the security people know you will be gone.  And everyone else?  Well just zip it.

One other thing:  hold off on posting those vacation pictures online until you are back at home.  Why advertise that your house is empty, tempting the burglar to drop on by?

8.  Leaving the garage door open or unlocked.

This is so easy to do, especially if you have a detached garage.  You are running in and out many times a day and it is a pain in the neck to keep unlocking the door then locking it up again.  The problem is two fold:  first, with the door wide open, passersby (and this includes thieves looking for their next target) can see your stuff.  All your tools, your sporting goods, your stored canned goods and your garden equipment can look awfully attractive to someone who covets those things.

It make take a few extra minutes to close the door and lock things up, but that is exactly what you should do.  And while you are at it, how about some curtains for those garage windows?

9.  Crappy locks are good as no locks at all.

The bad guys will simply bypass your home if it requires too much effort or requires more skill and tools to get in than they possess. Invest in quality dead bolt locks with at least a one inch throw.  Also double check the throw plate since most are pretty flimsy.  Upgrade to a four-screw, heavy-duty, high security strike plate which should be available in any hardware store.

If you have a sliding glass door, get an inexpensive wooden dowel to fit insider the railing or track.  This will deter the door from moving, even if the latch has been compromised. while you are gone.

And, once again, let me remind you that for your own safety, lock those doors!

10.  Leaving cash, jewelry and other precious items out in the open for everyone to see.

Consider a home safe.  Home safes are coming down in price and are a wise choice for keeping cash, jewelry, precious metals or guns from inquisitive children, snooping babysitters, and of course, the smash and grab burglar.

11.  The yards a mess, the bushes are overgrown, and the hedge keeps things nice an private.

Your yard may be shouting out an invitation:  come hide here where no one will see you.  The burglars and thieves don’t want to be seen so what better choice than to find a yard full of clutter where they will blend right in with the chaos.  Or, even better, how about a yard full of over grown bushes that make sneaky hiding places?  Or trees that have thick, sturdy branches that reach out to second story windows and the roof?

Now is the time to get out those clippers and trash bags so that you can clean out the excess brush – and the junk – making it more difficult for the thieves to hide in plain sight, right outside your front door.

12.  Your neighbors are grouchy, too old, too young, too persnickety or ???

Whatever feelings you have about your neighbors, find at least one that you can trust and be a good neighbor.  Good neighbors will look out for each other.  If you can, get to know your neighbors on each side of your home and at least one neighbor directly across the street.  Invite them into your home, communicate often, and establish trust.  Good neighbors will watch out for your home or apartment when you are away and they can report suspicious activity to the police or directly to you while you are away.

The important thing here is to get to know your neighbors and learn whether you can trust them now, before you head out for an extended vacation.

So there you have it.  Twelve ways you can target your home for thieves and twelve things you can do instead.

Hang on and enjoy the ride,

The Two G’s – George & Gaye

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Spotlight Items: Gaye here. This week I have selected some great items that will help you secure the home front.

This GE Access Point Key Safe is similar to mine and holds five keys. The best thing about it is that I am always losing my house key in the woods or on the trails and this allows me to get back inside. (And, so far so good, I always go back on find my key which is on a brightly colored flex bracelet so it is easy to spot.)

Another security option is a Keypad Deadbolt. With this, you will never have to worry about locking yourself out plus, you can secure the deadbolt from inside the house.

Nothing beats a Fireproof Home Safe for storing away precious metals or coins, jewelry, extra cash (which I hope you have) and other lockables.  Depending on your needs, you can spend as little as $40 up to $200, $300 or more.  This particular model runs about $170 and is well worth it.

Strategic Pick: The Strategic-Living Gear Bag

Talk about two heads getting together to come up with the ultimate gear bag! We spent a bit of time coming up with a checklist of things we would want with us if we were either stranded (say in a storm), in a wreck (heaven forbid a “ditch the plane” situation), or even in a bug out situation.

Of course not everything can fit in a single bag. After all, you still need food, a sleeping bag, personal comfort items. No worries. With the help of Kelly at Survival Gear Bags, we have put together the basics and then some. Using this bag as a start, you can enhance and customize as time and budget allows.

Need more info? Check out the kit now by clicking here or head on over to our Strategic Living Kit page where we show all of the components and a bit more info as well.

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