Just want to get some recommendations on the most ideal places to store jewellery and cash.
I currently have a safe in my bedroom but it's not bolted down and can easily be picked up.
I've seen some clever items online, like a fake water bottle, soda can etc. I have access to the roof so maybe that's the ideal place?
Alternative expensive option will be to hire a bank deposit box.
What do ozbargainers think…
thanks for the great idea. i'd like to send you a nice thank you card in appreciation. what is your address?
@Antikythera
100 Angas Street, Adelaide.
I look forward to meeting you.
If you want it in your house then the main options are:
- Somewhere very secure (bolted down safe)
- Somewhere no-one would or could look and is hard to access (gaps behind pantry or kitchen cabinets)
I keep my passport, spare keys, and some cash in a small safe that is bolted down in a location where there is only enough room to reach it with one hand. So trying to force entry would be hard (a grinder wouldn't fit and you wouldn't get leverage to use a pry bar) and same for lock picking since I think you need 2 hands to pick a lock (one to tension the lock and another to pick the barrell).
I just learned something new today.
CBA has two seperate banks deposit boxes: 1) safe custody packets 2) safe custody vaults.
Packets are for $88 p.a and can store documents.
Vaults are from $231 p.a and can store valuables including jewelry.
Melbourne only has one CBA branch that has vaults.
My guess is safe custody packets are available at every branch. Can someone confirm if we can still store jewelry etc in there?
i wouldnt give CBA the trust, find an independent one. CBA will probably lock you out of your own box. Scumbags all of them
How come? Care to share your experience?
Vaults are from $231 p.a and can store valuables including jewelry.
Damn, $5 a week is pretty good for peace of mind.
The obvious answer is to send it via registered post to an address that doesn't exist and put a fake address nearby where you live as the return one
Inside DVD cases
Bury them in the backyard…don't make a map with an X marked on it
Have 2 safes at home. First safe is the sacrificial safe where you keep a bit of money. The second safe is the proper safe where you store the valuables.
Was overseas recently and had a stack of gold and jewellery with us that we didn't want to carry round. So I thought to hide it in a family house, somewhere not obvious. I was told that I was wasting my time as the thieves use metal detectors, so a box of jewellery in a book shelf or in a clothing draw would light up like a Christmas tree.
No idea if this is true, but its got my thinking along the same lines as the OP.
Maybe split it up throughout the house.
This. I heard this often. Thieves target home known to have Jewellery. With the metal detector, they are done with their haul in minutes.
I once found a safe commonly sold at Bunnings dumped by a river. The back was opened like a tin can, and it obviously contained jewelry as the thieves left the store bags in there and took the goodies. What was especially telling is that the mounting holes had no damage to them: the owner didn't bother bolting the safe to the building. The safe was far too thin and flimsy anyway. Anything less than 6mm is easily cut with household tools in no time.
The takeaway lesson is a safe not bolted to anything is 100% useless, unless it's well beyond two people tossing it out a window due to size and weight. And never buy a safe at Bunnings. All their models are rubbish, and you'll get better quality for less money at a dedicated store.
Have two safes. One in a typical location such as living room or bedroom. Hide it, but not too well. That's the sacrificial safe. Put some coins and maybe $50 into it. The other safe is very well hidden and a bit of a pain to get to, including for you. That's where anything valuable is stored.
Depends on the type of items and total value. We use a specialised vault service as the bank deposit boxes did not meet our criteria.
give it to me, I'll store it at my house for you. For extra safety, I won't tell you where I live or give you my phone number. Just meet me at 2am at the Woolies near your house. Bring all your valuables in a bag and I'll meet you there. I'll be the guy dressed in all black and wearing a balaclava.
Nice try, not falling for that a sixth time.
Locker at work in an office building. Usually chuck all the valuables in there before i head off on holiday plus stuff i needa hide from the missus
Good idea actually. Thanks for that.
… plus stuff i needa hide from the missus
like what?
Porn collection.
lol - @ work?
I have had 100% success rate with the following technique: (been burgled twice unfortunately)
1. Buy a medium sized safe from Bunnings, put some random stuff inside. This is the decoy. It's important the safe can be moved by 1 or 2 people (under 50kg).
2. Buy a large bag of rice (10kg or 20kg) and hide your jewellery inside the rice. The rice will naturally also keep your valuables dry.
The thieves took the decoy safe in both instances. They are usually pressed on time so when they think they've hit the jackpot they will just bail.
Username checks out.
When I see usernames like that I just assume 2 things.
That's a great idea, a nice middle finger to them would be a note saying "if you are reading this, you're a dog (profanity)".
Much better than keeping stuff off site, because you have a decoy that they'll cart off leaving your ordinary household items (that might otherwise tempt them) behind.
Actually I would avoid the note. Don't antagonize the thief, and don't play up the fact that they didn't access your main stash: they could well come back for it later. If they don't find it they'll just bust up your house looking for it.
Good point, it would be stupid despite being satisfying.
Don't want to jinx it, but imagine if there was a house fire, TightAsianJew runs out of the house with just a 20kg bag of rice. People will be thinking this dude loves his rice!
I currently have a safe in my bedroom but it's not bolted down
What's your address? :P
Nothing. Offsite is the best. Most large banks in the CBD have deposit boxes. I know for a fact Westpac in the CBD on George Street had some a few weeks ago. About at size but longer. Around 200 per year
Even local large banks will allow you to put some small items on a.large A4 envelope in their safe for a fee
Cash, in my offset account.
Jewelry, sell for cash and put the cash in my offset account.
Jeez I didn’t realise everyone had so many expensive goodies in their home and was so paranoid about thieves. Maybe I just look poor and have few items of material value… 😂
The only stuff in my house worth stealing would be idk, laptop maybe? I’d be upset about losing non backed up data more than anything haha.
off-site?
I have a hollowed out book, just a cheap hardback from the op shop.
Skip about 50 pages, then start gluing the rest together, put it in a clamp so it stays well formed. When it's dry cut out a square with a stanley knife.
I have hundreds of books so it would be quite hard to find.
The funniest thing is Bunnings actually sells hollowed out 'book' safes just for this purpose:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/sandleford-240-x-155-x-55mm-safe…
That has to be one of the dumbest places to hide valuables. I bet most thieves know that 'Great Rivers' and other titles means it's pay day.
not to mention it has book safe printed on it 😊
In a safe, under my bed, in the main bedroom with a hard to crack code (like 6798) at my home address (42 Wallaby Way)
Bunnings safe bolted into a concrete slab in the room accessed via my garage.
But nothing of value really; Will, Passport, a bit of foreign currency.
I don't have cash or jewellery of value.
I do move my watch collection and Mac computers and laptops and such from inside the house to the room accessed via my garage; when I go away.
It is a great room; it is full of junk.
Quite frankly, Mr Thief if you are listening, if you can find the safe and the valuables in that room you have earned them.
The 'best' location depends on what threats you are trying to protect against and what you are trying to protect. Remember that theft is only one of several different threats that can either destroy, reduce the value or make valuables inaccessible.
For most scenarios, bank safe deposit boxes are the 'best' choice. A common issue with their use is if you want quick, convenient access to jewellery. If you must keep at home, make sure you insure and consider the threats of fire and flood as well as theft.
If you are keeping valuable jewellery (e.g. $20K +) at home, make sure you have a fire rated safe with 1+ hours of fire protection. Make sure it is big and heavy (300+ Kg), TDR and bolted to something solid.a. Jewellers safes are ideal. Expect to pay $4-5K installed. 95% of home brake-ins and thefts are opportunistic. The thief isn't going to have the means to open or move/take a safe like that unless you are targeted by someone who knows what they are going take.
Inside a recliner chair.
I dropped my TV remote down the side of the cushion and had to disassemble the recliner mechanism to retrieve it. 🙄😂
On a more serious note, I have a safe bolted to the floor of my garage.
I cut the bottom of a cardboard box out and slipped it snugly over the safe.
The box is about 6" higher than the safe.
I filled the top of the box with old sheets cut into workshop rags. 👌