http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_hyatt/19991008_xcmhy_where_not_.shtml

Where not to stash your cash

) 1999 Michael S. Hyatt

OK, so you've decided to stash away a little cash. Obviously, you want to be very careful. You don't want to become a target for thieves or other criminals. (The best way to do this, by the way, is to strictly guard your privacy. Don't tell anyone what you are doing.)

But once you have it, where do you put it? In general you want to apply the 20-minute rule: Go through your house and ask yourself, "If I were a burglar with 20 minutes to clean out this house, what would I steal and where would I look?"

There are probably a million and one places to hide your money, but, according to experts, there at least four places you want to avoid:

1. Don't put it under your mattress. The image of grandma tucking a little money away in her mattress for a "rainy day" is almost a cultural icon. This is one of the first places thieves look. Moreover, it's not a very convenient place to put money anyway, so avoid it.

2. Don't put it in your dresser. This is also one of the first places thieves look. People often store cash and valuables there.

3. Don't put it in the deep freeze. The phrase "cold, hard cash" came from this practice. Maybe at the time it was a cleaver place to put it. However, it is now a primary target for burglars.

4. Don't put it in a safe. The problem with a safe is that it screams, "Valuables inside!" Most safes that can be purchased are easily cracked by professionals. If you are going to get a safe, buy a substantial one and hide it behind a false wall or floor. Now get creative. Where can you put your money so that it is safe from theft? There are a number of places that an inventive mind can discover. In the meantime, if you have a "cash stash" idea, send me an e-mail and tell me about it.

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@Y2KOK.ORG), October 08, 1999

Answers

Do the decoy thing. Maybe a safe with the 20 minute rule and a lock box under a 2 minute rule. Bait the lock box and be willing to simply hand it over. Make trips to the safe 'only under the cover of darkness'......

-- BH (silentvoice@pobox.com), October 08, 1999.

Buy a safe, put a couple of hundred dollars in it and hide it so that it can easily be found by a thief with a little effort.

Now buy a fireproof lockbox and put your main stash in it, hid it in a cardboard box with camping equipment or garden supplies in the garage with your camping equipment or in the basement in a box with your Christmas decorations.

The thief will spend 10-20 valuable minutes cracking the safe and will think they've hit your stash when they find a couple hundred dollars. Thiefs are unlikely to look further.

-- Big Sky (BigSky@Boulder.CO), October 08, 1999.

Good idea about the "decoy" safe. Once a thief finds something, he's more likely to take it & run than to continue looking for something more substantial.

Or am I wrong? Any ex-burglars out there with tips on this?

-- sounds logical but (what@doI.know), October 08, 1999.

my problem with not putting it in a safe is, if its a 700pound safe, of good quality, how many average burglars can "crack" it? not to many, i bet, the average thief just has no idea of how to crack a safe.

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), October 08, 1999.

I agree with ed. Anyone who has safe craking ability will probably be working on higher payoff items...just make sure they can't pick the safe up and take it with them for later.

-- Cory Hill (coryh@strategic-services.net), October 08, 1999.

False electrical outlets can be quite good.If I had money to stash (ha!)I'd tuck it into my elastic shotshell buttstock carrier on my mossberg 590?(with bayonet for effect)

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), October 08, 1999.

Take a piece of PVC pipe, shove your money into it. Stick it between the floor joists so it looks like part of the plumbing.

-- (ohms@zap.com), October 08, 1999.

(The best way to do this, by the way, is to strictly guard your privacy. Don't tell anyone what you are doing.)

I have said this elsewhere, but this is the linchpin of safe storage. Unless you are set up like a military base with all perimeters controlled, you CAN be forced to choose between your money and your (or your children's)life. This would be a point where a decoy would be valuable, unless you told someone how much money you stashed. . .

-- tinlizzie (par@noia.asy), October 08, 1999.

Take the bottom front plate off of your dishwasher, refrigerator or dryer and stash it there, or heating and air conditioning floor vents, or neatly unstitch a throw pillow and slide the money there...GAWD, there's a ton of places to stash money. Take a kitchen drawer off and there's always a space between the end of the drawer and the back, stash it there....If they only have 20 minutes, they won't find it in places they would never think to look.

-- hide and seek (hidenseek@hidenseekkk.xcom), October 08, 1999.

"GAWD, there's a ton of places to stash money."

True... but none of the ones you mentioned would survive a fire. Fire-proof safes can (or could) be purchased for around $20 at Meijer's & Sam's. They wouldn't survive a nuclear blast or a fire-storm, but they're certainly better than using a ... pillow...?

-- there it goes (up@in.smoke), October 08, 1999.

Under appliances is not necessarily a good idea... we returned from a vacation to find the house broken into, and the bottom grills had been removed from all of the appliances (unfortunately for us, we HAD stashed some cash under the fridge). Under the fridge might not be the cultural icon that under the mattress is, but apparently it is a popular place to hide stuff.

-- yerfdog (not@real.com), October 08, 1999.

yerfdog, your probably the same guy that had his money stolen out of the Tampax and diaper box too, correct, right?

-- hide and seek (hidenseek@hidenseekkk.xcom), October 08, 1999.

I think I'll just put a fire proof box somewhere in my garage. I can never find anything out there, how will some stranger?

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), October 08, 1999.