The other day, I did a job and the customer paid me with cash. Shortly after he went upstairs, I heard the comforting beeps of a safe combination being typed in. It sparked a whole conversation with the customer about just what a good idea it is to have a safe.


A safe is another layer of hassle for the burglar. Unless they know you have extremely valuable items in that safe, the effort of getting into it will not be worth the possibility there only being a load of legal documents that he/she can’t sell on easily. So having a safe is a really good idea, even if it’s for items that have sentimental value. A piece of costume jewellery handed down from your Grandmother that has a monetary value of £5.00 on a boot sale, but is priceless to you, stands just as much chance of being stolen as a brand new laptop if it is not locked away. Putting everything you want to keep in a safe while leaving out semi-valuable goods that can be replaced through insurance is not ideal, but a lot better than never seeing that heirloom again.


There is another good reason to have a safe as well. That customer I was talking to told me about a small fire he had in his house. Luckily he was in, and he managed to extinguish it before it could do much damage, but there was a big question of what could have been. Important documents such as passports should be kept locked away. We all have password protected online accounts for our banks, credit cards, bills, emails, social media, etc and all those passwords should be different, not obvious and difficult to crack. But if they are not easy to remember dates or mothers’ maiden names, then you are going to have to write them down alongside the particular site they allow you into. That sort of information needs to be locked away in a fireproof safe. If you don’t lock it away, either the burglar could come and have a field day while you are on holiday, or a fire could destroy it all and you would have a rough time getting back the personal information that is yours. In an age when we are all encouraged to switch everything from banks to credit cards to energy supplies, can you remember which ones you are with right now. Would you know where to start if all your documents went up in flames?


Safes don’t have to be expensive. They don’t have to be complicated either. A good local locksmith will help you choose the right safe for you and if it has a battery for digital combination, will check it over on an annual basis for a small service charge.


Should you have any questions regarding the above, or any of my other blogs, please get in touch using any of the methods on my contacts page.


Thanks for reading.