subject: How to Protect Your Money and Your Life in a Bad Neighborhood [print this page] How to Protect Your Money and Your Life in a Bad Neighborhood
So you lost your job, and now you had to make a few "decisions." The first and foremost decision would probably be to downgrade to a less expensive neighborhood, which although not always, often means a neighborhood with a higher crime rate. While you're so busy looking for ways to get rid of gratuitous expenses, you might neglect to notice the biggest expense of all: being burglarized. Besides, what good is saving money if you're dead, right? Luckily, I've had more experience than I'd like to admit living in questionable neighborhoods, and I've consequently picked up a few survival tips on the way.
1. Dress the part
Burglars are like lions lions that smoke crack, but nevertheless, lions. They're lions in the sense that they seek out the zebras that don't fit in with the rest of the pack. Just like zebras' stripes will appear as a blur to the lion while they're packed together, you must blend in with your neighboring crack heads if you don't wish to be targeted. The most obvious way to do this is to dress the part. I'm not saying to dress like someone you're not, or make a racist caricature out of any stereotypes, but to simply not wear anything that'd draw too much attention to yourself, even if it doesn't signify that you have more money. They say that any publicity is good publicity, but they obviously didn't have getting shot in a bad neighborhood in mind.
2. Look as poor as possible
Similar to "dressing the part," erasing any reason for scouting burglars to suspect you have money is vital to protecting yourself and your assets. If you have a car that isn't a Kia or Hyundai, you'd probably do well to keep it in your garage, and drive back to your house like batman does as to reduce the likelihood of someone seeing you. Any type of jewelry is out of the question, unless it's a Velcro watch.
3. Make acquaintances
Now this may seem counter-intuitive, but living in a sketchy neighborhood is very similar to being in prison. Although you could possibly befriend the wrong people, making a few friendly acquaintances will help you blend in as well as have people to ask if your house is burglarized (this may seem nonsensical, but there have actually been times when acquaintances of mine ratted out one of our neighbors that broke in to my apartment once).
4. Make people think you're home
If you have a back door, try to use that as much as possible so any potential burglars don't get an idea of your schedule. Having a dog and a home security system are very good optiopns, but since you're in this situation because you're broke, chances are you won't be able to afford either of these. However, a good tactic that seems to work is to find an ADT sign and put it up. Sometimes something as simple as that can offer enough deterrence.
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