Five Ways To Save Money And Keep Your Home Safe While On Vacation

Vacations are a time to get away from it all, and it is exciting to see new destinations and make memories in the process. When you are preparing to leave town on vacation, you probably spend a lot of time planning your itinerary, shopping for plane tickets, making hotel reservations and packing for the trip. However, you also need to spend time thinking about how to protect your home and your pocketbook. While you can hold the mail for a few days, change settings on the air conditioner or furnace, and put lamps on timers, there are other things you can do. Here are a five ways to help keep away intruders and save you money, too:

Install motion sensors in exterior lighting

Using timers for indoor lighting is a great idea, as it simulates the normal patterns that observers expect. However, while many people consider the inside of their homes, they also forget about the outside. Exterior lighting can also be set up to deter potential burglars.

Consider purchasing motion sensor socket adapters for outside floodlights or porch lights. These inexpensive devices simply screw into existing sockets, and they convert your simple on/off lights into security lights that will activate if someone enters their field of view. Motion sensor adapters can be purchased at hardware stores and from online retailers.

Put antifreeze in your toilet

In some areas of the country, it gets cold enough in winter to lower temperatures to below freezing inside of homes, if they aren't kept heated. That means if your furnace stops operating due to an electrical or gas failure, then your home's interior could become a veritable deep-freeze.

While an inoperable furnace won't harm most things in your home, it could damage your toilets if the water freezes. The expanding ice is strong enough to crack porcelain tanks and bowls. Fortunately, it is easy to protect your toilet from freezing; just add two quarts of an automotive antifreeze to your toilet's water tank, and add another two quarts to the bowl. As a word of caution, be sure to use a propylene glycol antifreeze solution, as it is non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

Ask a neighbor to park in your driveway

Another aspect that you may not have considered the is the presence or absence of your cars in front of your home. If you take one of your vehicles on a vacation, its absence might become conspicuous to would-be burglars that regularly watch homes. Or, the contrary may apply; the presence of vehicles that are normally gone during the day may also be a tip-off to watchful criminals.

A good way to combat this problem is by asking a neighbor to periodically park their vehicle in your driveway. The coming-and-going of a car is likely to discourage anyone from trying to get a closer look at your home.

Unplug unnecessary electrical devices

You might be surprised if you were to go through your home and count all of the cords that you have plugged into outlets. Many of them may be to electrical appliances and electronics that you don't even use on a regular basis. Electrical devices actually draw a small amount of power even when turned off. This small amount of electricity adds up over time, and that's why you should unplug as many cords as you can before going on your vacation.

Get your garbage can to the curb

If you have curbside garbage collection, you will want to be sure that there are containers or bags ready for pickup on scheduled days. Criminals who cruise through neighborhoods looking for something amiss may notice if your home is the only one on the block without garbage at curbside.

An easy way to handle this situation is to have a friend or neighbor move your containers to the curb on collection days. Even if the container is empty, the criminal casing your home will not know the difference. If you don't use a container, ask your neighbor to drop off some of their garbage at your curb for pickup.

By following these tips, you will be able to kick back and enjoy your vacation at a location like Sands Resorts.

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