Protecting Your Home On A Budget

Protecting your home doesn’t have to cost a fortune. In this post, we share DIY home security tips that are both effective and affordable!

Protecting your home is crucial for your safety and peace of mind. Please don’t wait for something terrible to happen to do something, which is precisely what happened to me. A few years ago, I had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I was home alone, and a man started aggressively banging at my doors. It was late at night, and he continued going from door to door. Even though I had played the scenario over in my mind many times and thought I knew what to do, I completely froze. After a few minutes, I set off the house alarm and called 911, and then my kids, who live just a few minutes away.

The police didn’t arrive for over 20 minutes. Had that man gotten into my house, a lot could’ve happened in that time. Thankfully, everyone was okay, but it was an eye-opening experience, and protecting our home became a priority.

Is Your House As Safe As You Think?

Growing up, my dad always told me that if someone wants to get into your home, they will, despite the best security measures. Statistically, fancy house alarms don’t deter professional burglars because they know how the system works. This proved to be true for me. Even after setting off my alarm that night, that man continued trying to get in. Burglars know there is a pocket of time between setting off the alarm, the alarm company contacting you, and the authorities.

So, what do you do? Make it hard for them. The harder you make it for them to get in, the more time it takes, allowing you to get safety and the authorities to arrive. Furthermore, most burglars want an easy in and an easy out. By making it hard for them to get in, they’ll likely give up after a few failed attempts.

After that terrifying experience, my son immediately jumped in. With less than $100 and only a few hours of his time, he secured my windows and doors, making it much harder for someone to get in, and so can you!

Protecting Your Home On A Budget

Secure The Doors

It’s very easy to kick in most doors because the screws that go into the doorknobs and deadbolt are short and only go into the door frame. Replacing short screws with longer screws instantly secures your exterior doors. This is because one swift kick to a door is how most burglars get in. With longer screws that go all the way into the door frame, they would have to kick out the entire frame of the door to break it down. Not only would that be hard to do and time-consuming, but it would also be loud. Two things most burglars don’t want to deal with.

To further secure the doors, my son also installed defender locks. A defender lock is similar to a hotel room door lock. He also used longer screws to install these defender locks, making both doors with outside access nearly impenetrable.

Secure Your Windows

Depending on the type of window you have, you can use cut broomsticks, wooden dowel rods, or even just a screw to quickly stop someone from raising your window. If using the dowel rods or broomsticks, you may need a small saw to cut them to the correct size.

My son put screws in all the windows except for two. If you need to get out quickly, leave at least one or two windows unsecured, but ensure they’re the hardest to access from the outside. We chose my bedroom windows because they’re higher off the ground, making it hard to access from the outside, but not so high off the ground that I couldn’t jump if I needed to.

When thinking of ways to protect your home, the goal is to make it hard for them. You want them to make some noise, which you will hear, allowing you to get to safety.

Tooks To Help Protect Your Home
Long Screws For Doors	Wooden Dowel Rods	Defender Door Lock

Have A Safe Room

This tip came from a police officer years ago. While this doesn’t directly protect your home, it will help keep your family safe. Have a place to go when in danger. He recommended a closet or large pantry.

In a perfect world, all the safety measures we’ve taken to the rest of the house will slow a burglar down enough, but if they get in before the authorities arrive, having a prepared safe room is an added layer of protection.

You can’t think straight when panicked, and the only thing you’ll be thinking of is getting your family to safety, so he also suggested having the following in the room.

A list of phone numbers for local authorities, family, and neighbors who live close to you.
Necessary codes, specifically the code and/or phone pin for your house alarm.
A fully charged throwaway phone with all the essential numbers pre-saved and ready to be called. When people run for safety, they often forget their phones, so having an extra one in your safe room is crucial.

My safe room is my bedroom closet. We secured the doors the same way we secured our exterior doors. If someone enters my house, I want to slow them down if they come after my family. Securing my safe room doors may buy me a few extra precious minutes for help to arrive.

Extra Tips For How To Protect Your Home

Have a barking dog. The size doesn’t matter as long as it barks! Most burglars don’t want to deal with a dog and know that if it is barking, the dog has already warned you that they’re there.

Maintain the outside of your home. A well-manicured yard shows that the house is occupied and actively cared for, potentially deterring burglars. Keeping hedges around the window trimmed can help prevent hiding spots.

Outdoor lighting. Bright, motion-detected floodlights around your home also reduce hiding spots. We have these lights around the outside of our house. They’re affordable and effective.

Indoor lighting. I keep the lights on if I’m alone and it’s dark outside. Most intruders aren’t looking for a fight and will likely move on if they think people are awake.

Door sirens. If all else fails and an intruder gets through one of your doors, door sirens will immediately alert you that they’ve entered your home. When we lived in Charleston, there was a rash of home invasions. Many of the people who were injured never knew the intruder was in their home until it was too late. So, in addition to making it hard for them to get in, you want to know they’re there. These cheap door sirens are LOUD, alerting you and possibly scaring them off!

Don’t answer the door. The night that man tried to get into my house, the police officers said it was a common tactic. The intruder bangs on the door frantically as if they need help, and many people open it. Don’t do that!

Secure patio doors. A simple broomstick pressed firmly into the groove at the bottom of the door makes it nearly impossible to open. A sliding door kick lock is another popular and affordable option.

By providing layers of security, you can protect your home and keep your family safe!

I hope this is helpful! If you have any tips you'd like to share, please let us know in the comments below. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, and sign up for my email list so you don’t miss anything new. Thanks for being here, friends ♥