How to Keep Valuables Safe

Safe deposit boxes inside the vaults of a Swiss bank. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The best place to keep valuables safe would be a safe deposit box at your local bank. It would probably be a good thing to investigate before-hand whether that bank has ever been broken into for the items stored in the boxes. My guess is that the majority of banks do not have crooks breaking into them, but it would still be a good thing to check out.

A lot of people do not utilize the banks for their valuables. For many of them they keep their jewelry in their jewelry boxes. Although that is the logical place to keep it, I am questioning the validity of that decision that many home-owners make.

The reason I have come to this conclusion is that two people who I know personally were robbed this year. I know that for one family it was only their jewelry boxes that was lifted from their home. I do not know what was taken from the other home at this point in time.

Most people keep their jewelry boxes in the most logical place, right on top of their dressers in their bedrooms; it is located in plain sight for any visitors to see. I am not suggesting that visitors come back to steal the jewelry, but that the crooks don’t have to look far to find what they are looking for.

Somehow, they find out when homeowners will be away from the property, and then break into the homes. For the one family that I know, the jewelry boxes were the only thing that was taken. The crooks hope to find gold within which can be sold easily these days.

I would like to suggest to those that aren’t going to utilize their banks safety deposit boxes to find other places around their homes to hide their valuables. I could suggest various places in your home to hide your own belongings that you don’t want stolen, but I don’t want to give the crooks any ideas. If you’d like some of my suggestions, send me a comment and we’ll go from there.

Don’t assume that it won’t happen to you. It’s best to take the offensive in the situation and be prepared. If you wait to take the defensive, it may be too late. If you collect or have some unique jewelry boxes and want to keep them on your dresser, store something in them that wouldn’t be missed like jewelry would.

Related articles

• The Ideal Collectible Art Gifts: Jewelry Boxes (fineartgiftscollectibles.org)
• Boxes for Your Bling (fabsugar.com)

Paying With Cash and Receiving Change Back, or Losing What You Keep in Your Pockets

I work in a grocery store as a cashier and I’ve noticed through the years that most people who pay with cash and get money back don’t pay attention to whether the change they receive is correct or not. This is especially true for those that go to self-serve checkouts.

When the dollar bill machine spits the money out, most people grab it and stuff it into a pocket, wallet or purse. There have been times after people have left that another part of the money that should have been dispensed at the same time got stuck in the machine and came out a bit after the person left the store.

Another thing that happens is that a person might ask for extra change back and then forget to wait for it, leaving before the machine dispenses the money.

Something else that I’ve seen time and again is money that is lost unbeknownst to the owner when it is kept in their pockets. I used to do the same thing, keep bills in my pockets, but now, I always take a few minutes to put my money away into my wallet.

I’ve seen kids come up to their parents or grandparents asking for quarters. Many of those adults reach into their pockets for change and while doing so, bills will accidentally fall out of their pockets. Oftentimes they don’t even know this has happened so when they later realize they are missing money, they don’t know who to call looking for it.

The store I currently work for will put found money away in a safe for a month to see if it’s owner will claim it. The best way to claim it is to not lose it in the first place and the best way to do that is to make sure bills are contained some way, if not in a wallet or purse at least in a bill holder.

Along these lines, when paying with cash, count out your bills-more than once if needed especially when working with newer bills. It’s not uncommon for folks to give me more than what they need for their purchase. I always count the money before telling the computer what I have, that helps ensure that I don’t take in too much money.

If you see anyone accidentally drop any money, or find some on the floor, you have no business claiming it for yourself. Why, you might ask? Because it’s the right thing to do. Another reason is if the same thing ever happened to you-that you misplaced money, hopefully it would be returned to you also.