Hi All,
Was considering purchasing a small Safe just to keep some small valuables and maybe some tax returns/letters etc.
Just wondering what should I be looking out for and what the rough budget for a Small Safe should be?
Was thinking of <$50 but not quite sure, so thought I'd ask you peeps.
Thanks
The amount you spend on a safe should be directly proportional to the value of the goods (to you) within the safe.
<$50 for a safe is very, very cheap for a safe. In that price range you could pick up this $40 safe from OW.
The problem with a cheap safe is:
1) To any intruders / robbers they scream "Hey, I have valuables in me! All in one neat place!"
2) They're not as secure as more expensive safes
3) They're usually not fireproof
Re the tax returns/letters, if you'd be stuffed without them scan them and put them on dropbox or email them to yourself in gmail (or straight to drive) so they're stored on a server(s?) out of harms way.
Ive got one mostly for my backup Hard drives, but its also good to put the Birth certificates, Wedding Certificates whatever you might need to protect the originals. Ive got scanned copies of everything in the safe mainly cause its just so much easier to find things that are inside rather then actually having to go and open it just to see if you have something in there. But mine is off-site and a combo so getting in out of it is quite tedious. Only have to do it a couple times a year though.
Make sure you get a decent fire rating though. I went for the old fashioned combo lock, as I was worried about battery going flat just as I needed to get into it, and I was told by staff that I could set my own combo which is not true, at least not on the model I have. Hindsight, I probably would have gone for an electronic pinpad as I believe they have a back up key entry.
Thanks for all your inputs. Will definately keep in mind and take into consideration.
A sub-$50 safe won't have a fire rating, so is not useful to store paperwork.
The ones I have seen in this price bracket could be bent open with a crow bar. If your valuables are…valuable, a cheap safe is kind of pointless.
The only advantage it might bring is to slow an opportunistic thief down. But then you might as well just hide your valuables for the same outcome.