Last week I happened upon a unique opportunity: I met a former burglar, Jimmy Jackson (the name is changed), who revealed his tips about the best places to hide money inside a house.
I was really surprised by his honesty and wondered why a burglar would have such a candid talk with anyone.
Jimmy seemed like a good guy, kind and smiling, but throughout our conversation I was waiting for some kind of trick – after all, it’s not every day that you sit face to face with a former burglar and have a chat about robbing someone’s house.
Of course, I wanted to know why he agreed to tell me about those best places to hide money in the house long term. Jimmy explained that he himself was robbed once.
He came back home one day and found that the lock on the front door had been broken.
Some of the drawers were opened, some furniture was moved, and the valuables he had stolen from other people were now stolen from him.
All that hard work and worries came to nothing. According to Jimmy, while he paid so much attention to the level of security in other people’s houses – in order to rob them – he had never given even one thought to the safety of his own place.
It had never occurred to him that someone would rob him. It turned out to be a disaster for him, as he was left without a cent.
“So, Jimmy, what is the best place to hide money in a house?”
“Just make sure you do not put it in the usual places, such as drawers, desks, and closets.
These are the top places where you shouldn’t hide your valuables because for us, I mean such people as I was in the past, those places are number one.
When I was robbed, I realized how careless I had been to put stolen jewelry in a drawer in the kitchen. Somehow, I thought no one will ever make his way here.”
“Then which places are good for hiding valuables, in your opinion?”
“It depends on your creativity. Some people hide money in vases, inside children’s toys, in washing machines. I would recommend to leave some money and fake jewelry that looks real in obvious places.
The purpose is to distract. Instead of fake jewels, you can also use jewelry you do not really need and by whose disappearance you will not be upset.
Burglars always look for the most expensive things, such as money and costly jewelry.
I think most robbers would be happy to quickly find such items and leave the house as soon as possible. They would not think about taking your TV or microwave oven after finding gold.”
“So the idea is just to leave some cash on a desk in the front room?”
“Yes. You should make it easy for the burglar.
If a burglar cannot find what he looks for in his ‘top places’, then he goes mad and tears up the house. Nowadays, there are many safes that help people to stash valuables very well.
I am pretty sure that most burglars would leave the house immediately if they find a safe that they have no chance to break into.”
“How much money is enough to satisfy a burglar and make him leave the house?”
“It depends on the area you live in.
I would say that a hundred bucks will be enough of a grab for the burglar to get out of the place as soon as possible.
Of course, if a burglar aims for a rich area and rich house owners, it is best to leave more; otherwise, the burglar may not stop.
I know it sounds really strange when I say that you need to leave money for the burglar, but repairing your house will cost much more than a hundred dollars.”
“Can you name at least 3 places for hiding valuables which will make a burglar’s visit to the house unsuccessful?”
“Secret stash containers are really good, I believe. Most kitchens I have seen were crammed with different jars, bottles, tins, and it really puts you off.
Therefore, hiding money and valuables in a fake tin of tuna would be a smart decision.
Diversion book safes can also work too, if you have plenty of other books to display around the fake one.
Safes with biometric access definitely mean that the burglar will not leave the house in a good mood.
And finally, I think, your child’s room. A messy room with dozens of toys, boxes, etc. is not a place where a burglar will spend much time.
A living room or a bedroom is more likely to be investigated first, and more seriously at that.
No one canceled banks, so a bank is 100% safe place to store your valuables.”
I was impressed by this interview and realized that burglars also have fears.
I am very thankful to Jimmy Jackson for this conversation and hope it will be useful for our readers!
Featured Image: thisismoney.co.uk
Wow! This sounds funny and inspiring! I can’t believe a former burglar revealed these. I’m happy I learned these, and I can’t fail to apply these.