Hide Your Stuff in Plain Sight and a Burglar Will Be Baffled
I had a cousin who was the worst hider in the history of the world.
I loved playing hide-and-seek with him when we were kids because I knew I could find him very quickly. And I might as well have taken a book along with me when I went to hide because he was equally bad at finding kids who were hiding.
But as adults, some of us apparently did not learn much from that childhood game because we continue to hide cash and other valuables in places so obvious that even my cousin could find them.
Let’s take a look at some of those lousy hiding places before we examine some good ones.
- Sock drawers. Very possibly the dumbest place to hide something. You might as well mail money in advance to the burglar.
- Back of a wardrobe closet. Unless you live in Narnia, not a good idea.
- Inside a shoebox. Seriously?
- Inside a soup can that’s sitting on a bedroom dresser. Right item, wrong location.
- Inside a laptop. Any pride you feel at successfully opening up a laptop and hiding cash in it will dissipate quickly after you realize your laptop was stolen. And – newsflash – the laptop is something you should be hiding.
- Medicine cabinet, clothes pockets, briefcase and underneath a mattress. All bad ideas.
OK, enough of the not-so-good places to hide valuables. Here are some that work well. But first a brief anecdote from my childhood.
I remember one time playing hide-and-seek as a kid with my older brother at home. While I was hiding under a pile of clothes in an upstairs bedroom, I heard him looking for me in the bathroom before he went to inspect the downstairs rooms. After he went downstairs, I quickly and quietly moved to the bathroom and hid in there, knowing he wouldn’t come back to look for me in the same place he’d already looked.
After searching everywhere – including my original hiding place under the pile of clothes in the bedroom – my brother shouted out that he was giving up. I proudly emerged from the bathroom with a big smile on my face and basked in the glory of my victory while he scratched his head in confusion.
There is a lesson to be learned here. If you want to hide something in your home and increase the likelihood that it will not be found by a burglar, hide it where you think they won’t look!
Whether it’s cash, important documents, weapons, jewelry or anything else you value most in your home, hide it so well that an invader might be looking directly at the container in which it’s hidden and not even consider trying to find it there. Here are some examples:
Kitchen Capers
One of my favorite places to hide small items such as cash and jewelry is in a can of soup. Open the can from the bottom, enjoy the soup, rinse out the can thoroughly, put your items in the can, replace the can bottom, and place the can at the bottom of a stack of other canned goods. Even if the burglar goes to the trouble of looking at the cans, he’ll notice that the top is still on that particular can.
Above many kitchen cabinets is a walled-in area called a bulkhead. If you remove one or more of the wall cabinets, you can cut an opening and hide items in an area that’s likely to be about 12 inches high, 10 inches deep and as long as the cabinets.
You’ve heard of cold, hard cash, right? Well, that’s what you’ll have if you put your cash in a zip-top bag, put two pieces of Styrofoam around it (such as what steaks are packaged in) and then wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil and place it in your freezer.
Do you have any plants near your kitchen window? Perhaps they’d like an imaginary friend. Add a fake plant to the group and bury cash in a zip-top bag in the fake soil.
Family Room Fun
Picture this. Sandwich your cash or another thin valuable between two pieces of cardboard backing within a difficult-to-reach picture frame. Even if the thief pulls the frame from the wall and looks at the back of it, he’s unlikely to rip out the cardboard to examine it further.
Select the one or two heaviest objects in your house, such as an entertainment center or a piano, and place cash in an envelope under it. It’s unlikely a burglar will expend enough energy to try to move those huge items.
If you have books in your family room, there has to be at least one that you know you will never read. Hollow out most of the pages of the book and place cash or jewelry in it.
Kids’ Stuff
If you have children, grab a toy that they never play with anymore and hide cash inside it before relegating it to the far reaches of their closet or the bottom of the toy box. Burglars can’t afford the time to look inside every toy even if they wanted to. Another option is inside an old coloring book that your kids never use anymore.
Is it Safe?
If you keep a safe at home, a burglar will certainly give it his attention. At the very least, make sure it’s bolted to the floor so that they can’t carry it off.
Bank on It
Keep a sealed envelope in a drawer near your computer that’s marked “Bank Safe Deposit Box.” Inside – where the thief is sure to look after ripping open the envelope – is your fake list of jewelry items, personal documents, etc. If the burglar believes your jewelry is in the bank, he might give up looking for it more quickly.
The Old New Jewelry Box Trick
If you’re old enough to remember watching the TV show, Get Smart, try to “hear” Maxwell Smart saying, “I should have known it. The old fake jewelry in the new jewelry box trick.” Most burglars want to spend as little time in your house as possible, but they also want to get what they came for. If you have a new jewelry box in a sock in one of your dresser drawers that contains a small amount of cash, some real-looking fake jewelry and perhaps a key that doesn’t open anything, the burglar may believe he’s found your most prized possessions. If so, he might leave before tearing your house apart looking for those types of things, which in the long run will probably cost you more than what they manage to steal.
Think Outside the House
Another option for hiding your valuables from would-be thieves is by burying them in your backyard. This might be especially true for weapons beyond any that you want to keep inside your house. Guns, for instance, can be hidden in large-diameter PVC pipes, along with grease to prevent rust and coffee to keep residual moisture off them. If you think that someone might use a metal detector to try to figure out where your guns are buried, bury some old cans here and there to slow down their search.
Downsides to Hiding
You could select the greatest hiding places in the world, but your efforts will have gone for naught if you forget where you put them. One option is to keep a list of those items and their hiding places, but make sure the list doesn’t get found.
Another problem would occur if a family member throws away your great hiding place, thinking it’s trash. Make sure other family members know where these items are as well.
Great post and comments are also pretty informative. So thank you folks for taking your time and sharing your real experience with us here!
My apartment was burglarized last year. I was hiding my valuables and some emergency cash in the fridge or freezer. As it turned out burglars were onto that trick. I had a pretty jewelry box on the dresser, and kept all my inexpensive pieces in there and put your valuable stuff in freezer. How disappointed I was to discover burglars found my expensive jewelry and hadn’t even touched my jewelry box.
Since then I’ve been more creative about where to hide my valuables. This post was pretty useful too – https://secretstorages.com/25-best-secret-stash-containers-of-2017/ .
If your house is going to be burglarized, it’s a sure thing that the burglar knows, or has high suspicion that you have valuables to steal. you’d better let him find something, so he will stop his search before he really is successful!
Why have anything valuable in the house or yard? Banks have safe deposit boxes for expensive jewelry and other items covered by insurance. Put the money in your bank or credit union and only take out a small amount of cash & use credit wisely. Anyone can open an account, & no one you don’t trust needs to know about it.
Works great until the bank is closed or there is a financial crisis that closes the bank
These are all great suggestions. The only trouble I’ve run into at my age (71) is that unless I write down where I hide something, by the next day I have no idea where I put it. I have to write it down in one of my many notebooks.
Tell a close friend or relative where you put things.
One place I did not see in this article is under one of those book cases you put together there is usually a 2 inch or so hallow space under the bottom shelf and if you fill it with books it is a bear to move.
My sister-in-law would hide all her extra cash in her tampon box. For years my brother would search all over the house, he even took down curtin rods looking for cash. For twenty one years he never found any cash.
I have used the inside of a standard computer. Placed in the area above the dvd drive. I have a hidden drawer on the front. but that is the fake hiding spot to throw them off.
After going through a house fire, where we lost most everything… I would be concerned about fire as well… I lost over $5000 cash, in my hand gun safe on the nightstand and Insurance doesn’t cover Cash.
It is very daunting for thieves if you make up a “specimen bottle” and set it in the fridge Just make sure one of the bottles has some “yellow” fluid in it like Gatorade and one with a brown substance in it like Nutella smeared in it. make fake looking peel and stick labels and stick them on the canisters and also on the clear jars or containers to make the think they all contain this “material” that they do NOT want to touch. Be sure that it is zip locked in the plastic bag in plain site in the fridge.
Although this was many years ago and thieves will generally check the refrigerator and/or freezer, my little mama always wound up her cash very tightly, (even valuable items; i.e. jewelry or coins) placed it in a slim olive jar, wrapped that in foil and placed the entire bottle down into a jar or container (like Crisco) of bacon grease or lard making sure that the olive bottle was entirely covered and placed that in the refrigerator. Our entire family pushed it around most of our lives and were none the wiser. I guess in case of a fire, if the refrigerator and/or freezer did not open, it may not completely burn up. I doubt a thief would take the time to put their hands down into a container of grease. Just a thought for some of you.
I used to live in an older home with very high windows. I would pin an envelope in the highest corner of a heavy curtain making sure it was not visible from the outside of the window and difficult to see if one looked up under the curtain.
Suppose these are both outdated methods, but they both worked for years.
Not outdated at all! Even if they were, so much the better, because if the idea is that old no one would even consider checking such things. There’s a reason these were around so long — they worked!
I have a house full of kids who eat everything so I hide stuff inside of an empty Bisquick box right in the fridge. Nobody eats plain mix so they don’t even bother it.
if u have carpet,pull up a corner in closet and place money there and replace the corner back and place something on it.
Dream mentioned stealing everything in the whole house. If you can afford an extra old iPhone with location services enabled, you could track the phone to their storage facility and recover it all. Otherwise, a VHS tape box is a good place. Don’t use CDs or DVDs, they will steal them. Who wants a VHS tape these days though!
If you have items to bury, bury them under concrete stepping stones in the garden or walkway. if someone is using a metal detector, there is a good chance they will not pick up stepping stones.
Hide things behind or inside Air Condition Vents
I’m ashamed to reveal this, but, I think thieves will be overwhelmed if your a hoarder. The only problem is, well, being a hoarder has its drawbacks.
I’ve heard of people in NYC giftwrapping their garbage during garbage worker strikes as a way of disposal. If you have room, you might think about setting up decoys to slow them down.
I feel like it’s a bad idea to share where you hide things because burglars look online and see this stuff… anyhow I’ll put my two cents in anyways. A burglar is not going to want to spend a lot of time in your house so hide your money behind outlet and lightswitch plates. But disperse it throughout the houseso that if for some reason the burglar thinks of bringing a screw driver to unscrew all your covers it will take them a long time finding them and finding one that does have money. Make sure you don’t put money behind every single one. Make it so the odds are harder of finding money. THINK inaccessible. Underneath the house and in the attic are good places if you don’t need what your valuables on a day to day basis.
in a vacume cleaner take the bag out plenty of room and no ones gonna steal your dirtdevil
A short length of large ABS pipe with a cap on the bottom and a plug in the top. Buried outside, With only the plug showing, it simply looks like a sewer clean-out.
I have had several televisions stolen. What can i do to prevent having another television stolen? I’ve thought about backing my car into the carport and putting the television in the trunk of the car but, the car could get stolen. Please help me.
BUY AN OLD TV THAT IS ABOUT 100LBS, I HAVE JUST THE 1 FOR YOU. ITS FOR SALE NOW. IT IS CABLE READY AND CAN BE HOOKED UP TO ANYTHING. DOESNT NEED ANY ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS. IT IS A 36INCH SONY. BELIEVE ME, IT TOOK 3 GUYS TO GET THIS ONE IN MY HOUSE. AND THEY HAD TO TAKE A BREAK EVERY FEW STEPS.
@ Deborah – Heh, heh, I also had one of those “old school” 36″ original HDTV’s with the glass picture tube. (Samsung) The thing was a BEAST, and you’re right it weighed a TON. Had BETTER resolution than a lot of newer flat screens though. I defy a solo burglar to move one any distance without doing damage to themselves.
I. Use permanent black marker (even on black it will show) & write “Stolen from…” Then write the address where you keep that item (your home/work). “Stolen from” so if they are found with it they can’t say they did not know it was stolen. Your address so the police can return it to you. Write this in large letters across the back & repeat in small letters on the bottom edge. Do the same with jewelry boxes, DVDs, stereos, & (if you rent out houses or apartments) all kitchen appliances that renters might take.
II. If you do not have anyone in your house who is young or disabled; put double key deadbolts on ALL your doors to the outside & to the garage (even the door from garage to house). Hide the keys near the doors inside where you & people staying in your house know keys are in case of an emergency. This way burglars can’t exit with large items.
Both these saved me when my house was burglarized.
By-the-way, I have been in Forensic/Crime Scene investigations for 30 years.
For women in particular who do handwork put a false bottom in your worktote, I do this when I go to meetings. Thieves take purses, not work totes sitting beside the purse.
So far, everything that has been mentioned here, is too easy for a thief to find…Also by mentioning here or anywhere else, if their is a professional the if here, they have a good heads up as to where people have hidden things…In a neighborhood watch meeting, the Sheriff said the burglars of today are a different breed. They just wait until they know you will not be around for the day, or on vacation. They have a large truck or trucks, and just take everything out of the house, and garage–whatever…They don’t bother going through anything, until they take it to a storage unit.
Interesting…it is still a good idea to find what you think are good hiding spots..Just remember where you hid the item. You can write a story, and mention for example: …and the golden chain of the lost hermits was found in the bottom of the ocean…Kind of a mystery type story..the ocean might be a certain piece of furniture…it just needs to be in code…
Anyway, do not give your hiding places away to the public, sorry to say…Nice comments though..
I was able to pickup some broken granite pieces and write on them with permanent ink, the names of our fictitious dead pets. Then I placed them in a garden bed as markers for buried “treasures” that we hope a burglar won’t dig up a pet cemetery. I’m an avid user of PVC pipes to store items in underground.
I have several places that have been mentioned, but believe it or not a dropped ceiling works great. I hid a passport forgot where I left it had a good friend put in a new ceiling, and found it, it had been there for about 4 years.
How many burglars will take the time to remove the ceiling panels?
Where is a good place to hide guns and ammunition in a home or garage. Do you want to hide the gun and ammunition together or in the same proximity
inside a flashlight
} have hidden cash in various easy to get places for quick access when needed only be lost in my memory after having a light stroke, .I Have torn my place apart knowing I hid some but to no avail to date. I also suspect that I may have already spent or given away for b-day gifts, which Im inclined to do as I can’t go shopping not being able drive any more. Consequently I tell my daughter, who lives elsewher, where to look in case I continue to hide anything again.. I’ve heard of new inhabitants finding lots of cash in new surroundings,
poor folks dont have tat problem living from hand to mouth.What’s better?
i had cash
My mother hid things various places in her house, but forgot where she hid them. She reported to insurance co. as stolen because she truly believed she’d been burgled. When I was cleaning her house, I found cash stashed everywhere—in books, behind picture frames, under the carpet, even taped underneath the bed frame. Family members need to check carefully when moving an elderly parent out of their home.
The bottom of the kitchen garbage container you see it in place every time you change bags. Bottom of dog food bags.
I guess these spots aren’t so secret anymore. They would have been great ideas. Hiding valuables that you don’t need everyday is a good idea though. Thanks for sharing!
Ok. So what if some burglers are reading these tips? I guess the hiding places aren’t so good, now are they?
So the spots are on line. Which one will burglars choose. So many great ones they would have to guess.
Find a inconspicuous place taking these ideas into consideration, then don’t tell anyone. Write it in a will so your loved ones can find it if necessary. Make sure the will is dispersed to next of kin when necessary
Great tips…thanks for sharing…God help us all!
When we went on vacation my dad used to hide his guns behind the lower cabinets. Just move the stove out, place the guns or whatever else back there and put the stove back.
For traveling keep your credit cards, cash, DL, SS card and medical info in secret pocket. Carry one or two old credit cards along with other plastic cards that are no longer active, and five or ten one dollar bills wrapped in a twenty in wallet. Thief will think he has hit the jackpot. You will only be out twenty five or thirty bucks.
My book case has 3 inch dividers, must remove books from top shelf, remove long pins that hold the shelf (both sides), divider is spring loaded and pops open to reveal 2 long guns in each divider. Fake 6 inch steel well casing complete with pipes in the top. Remove top and find 20 foot deep pipe with stainless cable hooked to guns. Took a day to dig using a rental post hole digger and extensions..
Silver is in bottom of used motor oil drum. Just wash with a little kerosene- good to go.
I’d Never hide anything in ‘script bottles! That’s just begging some one to take them- regardless how they’re labeled .
When I was a teen, to hide my money from my sister, I’d roll my cash into a thin tube & stick inside a pen. From an abusive husband, I put it in the bottle if shampoo he didn’t use, under the lining of an old shoe, an old computer monitor, backs of old phones that are in junk drawer….
The best hiding place is the place where it is very difficult for you to get to. How about under the installation in the back of your attic. Put a floor safe in the garage and place your workbench over it. Yes, it’s a pain in the butt. So is losing what is yours.
I see a lot of opened pipes on an exercise bike . Base of a floor lamp .
Another great hiding place is in the top of a bedroom or bathroom door. Get on a ladder with a hammer & chisel & create however big a cavity you need in the hollow-core door. Make an appropriate-sized container to fit down there (out of thin cardboard or plastic, or just use a ziplok bag) and keep the container retrievable with a piece of fishing line.
Not likely that any common thief will think to check out the top of a door. I know of one case where a team of cops with a search warrant missed three of these engineered doors while busting a drug dealer.
There are so many available “empty spaces” in the average home or apartment that there should be an endless supply of hiding places. Most walls are empty, most doors are hollow, and there are empty areas below & above most kitchen & bathroom cabinets. A minimum of handyman skills, plus some covers with magnets or Velcro to go over them, should do anyone nicely.
I’m not very worried about burglars since someone is almost always home, and the Dobermans & Great Dane always are anyhow — should slow them up until we can grab one of the firearms located in every room.
However, we made burglarizing tough just in case. We bought lots of cheap but flashy jewelry at yard sales & keep it in a nice box on the dresser. The really expensive stuff is in the attic, under insulation. The cash is stored in hollowed-out chair legs & one bedpost — a relatively simple DIY project for anyone
My giant stash of meds (antibiotics, pain pills, etc) are well-hidden, but we made up some fake ones for the medicine cabinet, using old Rx bottles & vitamin pills or aspirin. One bottle is marked “Morphine Sulphate powder, USP” — but it actually contains rat poison. F*** ’em if they can’t take a joke.
love it
I know you like the poison bit but you could go jail for it
Laxatives make an excellent fake medicine. Knew of a case where a mans medicine kept getting stolen by a neighbor kid. The man loaded his pill bottle with laxative pills and the kid took several at once. The kid was walking downtown when it hit him and he had the results running down his legs and over his shoes as he walked back home.
Guess what? Burglars can read too. Now they know the best hiding places.
Damn right, and so can cops and Feds. Boy, how I wish all these ideas weren’t posted here. Chr*st, people.
By the time the robbers get the house half-torn-apart the cops can be there. I’ve thought that a “sanitary” product box would make a good hiding place. That idea works better with male robbers. \;-]
My gun safe has an electronic lock. Behind the lock(where the batteries are located) is a big keyhole. The safe is bolted to the floor and the wall in the corner of the bed room. I keep the key in a scooped out bottom of an old nasty looking bar of soap in the shower. The bar of soap was wet when I put on the soap tray so it’s stuck there pretty good.
A security officer at greyhound told me to hide the money in a baggie and then put in the body cavities covered by my clothes HE TOLD ME THT HIS ELDERLY PARENTS ALWAYS TRAVELED THAT WAY AND HE DID TOO. THE STAR ON HEE HAW AND HIS WIFE HAD THEIR MONEY HID REAL GOOD AS THE ONES THAT ROBBED AND KILLED THEM DID NOT GET THEIR MONEY
You are probably referring to the String Bean Aikman robbery. String Bean had a little money on him but most was hidden behind bricks or rocks in the fireplace and like you say not found by the thugs. It was found sometime later when the new owners of the house remodeled.
If going on vacation or just have to be away from home for awhile open refrigerater Door remove inner shell of door ( the one that has the shelfs and butter holder)…. place valuables between inner and outter shell then replace inner shell .. A thief wants to get in and out fast there not going to take the time to remove the refrigerator door
And in case of fire your valuable have a better chance of the surviving
that’s one I’ve not thought of before!
I have hidden both money and firearms in the open stashed under a small pile of dirty clothing. On top and the last thing piled on the small pile of dirty clothes is a very realistic looking pair of white Jockey shorts that have the “skid marks” showing up at the person looking through my house. Old pair of Jockey shorts…white with brown shoe polish for the skids. Oh yeah…place the pile in your laundry room.
The would be thieves all thank you for all of the places that you mentioned. Like on TV when they tell you something to do to keep you safe or whatever. They read and watch TV too.
So the spots are on line. Which one will burglars choose. So many great ones they would have to guess.
I hope a thief reads all these…he then can take the list with him and try them all. Just enough of his time wasted for the Police to arrive to my silent alarm system. You would have to be a mind reader to know for sure which houses hid items where. But I do get what you are saying. Like Dry Ice Bombs, when they were in vogue, the damn media was telling the kids how to make them…duh!
I hide my valuables in a box of sanitary napkins. I kept the Girl Scout cookies from my husband and had them all to myself. Yum!
A double bottom pot for a plant is a great place.
While . the fireplace mantle I discovered that the wooden mantle could be pulled from the wall; it was mounted on two two-by-fours embedded in the brick wall. When on vacation my wife often hid items in the hollow mantle.
If you’re a music lover, a few large bills can go inside the thin “book” of information on the artist on the cover of several CDs. In a large, awkward CD container w/ “tons” of CDs it’s unlikely a thief would take time to go through them all or try to carry it out. You could use a system for memory of the artist’s names as anagrams, which could be a favorite pet your your own name.
Burglars will steal the CDs!
If you have an old car, a “junk’ or “spare” engine
laying around is a great hiding place for coins, guns, ammo, etc. Metal detectors obviously won’t pick up on what’s inside – Remove the cylinder head to access
the area above the piston, or remove the pistons and rods for even more area. Be sure to pour some sludgy oil/grime back over boltheads when you are done. Not for quick access, but great for longterm storage- Just make sure it looks too crusty to be worth stealing !
An older couple I knew were avid horse race enthusiasts and always had cash in the house. She used to hide the bills in the hems of her draperies!
Great, except in case of a fire.
We have a trap door in the master bedroom closet floor which we covered with carpet so it isn’t seen. We can attach numerous items to the bottom of the trap door.
Mine is in the office stacked with other small objects ( cell phone charger , camera charger , odds and ends , so it looks messsy . The added touch is a sketch , of a tree I drew , lightly tossed over so most objects can be seen. They just aren’t that obvious or eye catching. The cheap stuff is in plane sight , hanging from a jewelry tree , in my bedroom. And , simce I’ve told you all , guess I will have to hide them…lol…
I had a friend who like to dip into my medication drawer. I removed her favorite and placed it under an open phone book and right in front of us. The added touch was a pen and paper with some numbers on them.
She is no longer a friend either. No , I am not a drug addict. I kept them in the event of castastrophies which are inevitable
I too have medicine saved up so that, god forbid, “something happens” and I can’t get my 5 necessary prescription medicines because of a hurricane, blackout, bombing or whatever I will have almost 30 days to wean myself off the meds or find a physician who can keep my prescriptions coming. I bet alot of people that went thru the nightmare of hurricane Katrina wished they had saved up meds too. The mess that happened after Hurricane Katrina is what made me think about my OWN medications and what would I do if I was in their situation. Remember the Boy Scout motto?…BE PREPARED!!
Or: actually get a safety deposite box at a bank. Or in the case of cash–just deposit it in a bank account.
Not to be contrary, but if the dollar ever crashes and the banks are shut down, I am thinking we won’t have access to safety deposit boxes.
Install fake electrical outlets and put valuables behind. use a double box for more space and plug something in to make it look “real”
Of course this wont pass a home inspection if you sell, but can be easily removed and covered up.
There are a lot of good places, just remember to keep it easy to get to. If your house is on fire or some other emergency you wont have time to be going into your attic looking under the insulation….
Behind the toe kicks in kitchen or bath is a good place to build a totally hidden drawer
Another sweet hiding place is to open your Sheetrock to the size of your existing heat vents & add a new one putting magnets where the screws would hold in place & affixing cutoff screws in place so the magnets will hold the vent in place valued items invisible!
My heating vents are all in my floors. Sealed plastic containers small enough not to block airflow are securely hidden several feet down the ducts and can be retrieved with the heavy fishing line that’s attached to a small cup hook screwed into the duct about a foot from the vent.
I live part-time in my RV and hiding places are hard to find, I do have a safe bolted to tne floor of one of my storage areas under my unit. Also put rolled up bills in RX bottles under my dash. and some things inside cereal boxes under the cereal package.
I live next to a lake. How could I hide guns and ammo under water without causing problems of moisture to gun parts and ammo. Constant temperature should help. I haven’t decided if this would be a good idea or not.
Jim, Have you heard of pipe caches? http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/articles/build-your-own-budget-prep-underwater-pipe-cache/
I used to hide my cash from a theiving boyfriend on the top of the vacuum cleaner bag compartment. I opened the upright vacuum like I would to replace the bag, I put the envelope of cash on top of the bag and closed the compartment. It did not affect the performance of the vacuum cleaner and of course he never used it so the money was safe.
Hope you got rid of him!
Buried some things in one of the graves of a pet cemetery.
I have placed items in my dogs house in the kennel. No one wants to open the door to a 80 lb. Lab.
Opened the stiching on the leather collar on all 5 of my pit bulls. 2 c notes sewn back in.
If you have access to the attic (not easily accessible) cover the item with the existing insulation. Caution…some insulation is irritant to bare skin and inhalation.
We hid cash in flashlights battery area when traveling. No one looks there. And also easy to get to.
i have an aquaponics system in my basement for growing food for my family in the bottom of the fish tank i also have a container with cash in it at the moment. it looks like another filter i thought it was great. additionally in the legs of the growbeds supports i have storage that is not very visible
HaHa I saw that on the movie with Brendon Frasier…Blast from the Past! Not saying it won’t work for ya…. ; )
One of the best ways to hid junk silver and small gold coins or jewelry, is to place them in plastic bags and tuck them into a fake PC pipe that looks hook up siting next to a washing machine or in the laundry room area.
I keep my good rings in the very back of the drawer in the bathroom vanity with a jewel box of cheap stuff in the front. Then I pile makeup and stuff on top of it. Is anyone gonna take out a bathroom drawer?
We were burglarized twice in 8 days. They didn’t get enough the first time (interrupted) & came back. The one thing they didn’t find was cash hidden in a bag of adult diapers! But we didn’t even think about hiding the new checks from the bank. They have caused the most trouble of all that was taken.
We live in a mobile and it’s impossible to bolt things down in a way that can’t be overcome easily by thieves. They literally broke the wall by the front door they bashed in to enter the second time.
I’ve hidden cash inside a board game, in a vase of fake flowers, in the lining of snow boots. Check it regularly and change the place occasionally. Even family members can be tempted by large amounts of cash not monitored regularly. In the case of death, someone needs to know where things are so they can be saved from the trash or estate sale table.
Good post… I never even thought about Checks! Thanks.
about hiding money in your deep freezer another advantage is in case you are not at home and your house catch on fire and if you have your money at the bottom of your freezer covered up with frozen food it probably will not get burned. you might want to wrap it in some thick insulation also.
MY APARTMENT IS SO TINY AND ONE WAY IN, TOP FLOOR. I HIDE MY GOLD AND SILVER INA FAKE BOOK SAFE. I HAVE A LOT OF BIG BOOKS. MY SLIDING CLOSET DOORS HAVE A BOLT TYPE LOCK, SO EITHER DOOR CANNOT BE OPENED, OR LIFTED UP. LOCKS ON THE TOP 2 DOORS ABOVE THE CLOSET. MY NIEGHBORS ARE ALWAYS HOME. NO WORRIES FOR ME.
I bought a jewelry bag attached to a hanger that is covered by a dress. I put that up against the wall, figuring the thief would push the clothes apart from the middle to gain access to that closet. Even if he pushed that one plus the others to the left, the other clothes on hangers weigh enough so this one doesn’t stand out.
Hi Frank,
I gave my Mom a turquoise necklace once. It cost about $450.00. She put it in a tampax box and hid it under the bathroom sink. My Dad was fixing something under that sink at a later date and thinking he was giving my Mom a hand in her cleaning, he throw it in the trash. On garbage day it was gone. He even went to the dump and tried to find it, but of course no luck. (Great reason to let other family members in on your hiding place). I can chuckle about it now, but at the time my Mom was pretty upset.
As a test I placed a rifle in the corner behind a closed door. I had my son, 39 years old at the time come over. I asked him to retrieve something from the room. He walked passed the rifle as he opened the door. HE found the item I had asked for and walked out of the room closing the door behind him. A few minutes later I again asked him to get something else for me from the same room. He again walked into the room after opening the door and returned with my request.
I asked him if he had seen my new rifle to which he said no. I then told him that he had walked within 3 feet of it on both round trips to the room. Not believing me he again walked into the room and this time looked every where accept behind the door. Maybe not the most secure place but I live by myself and children are not an issue.
Sometimes hiding in plain sight isn’t all bad.
By asking your son for a specific item you had preconditioned him to look for that 1 item and thus ignore everything else.
A burglar will be looking for money, jewelery, guns and electronics, etc. He will not miss a rifle in plain sight.
They do look in closets , also in dark areas between furniture & the walls ,lost 3.
hiding guns,, well its been 1 year and I still cant find one gun,,, guess it is a good hiding place…
In a lot of older bedroom furniture (nightstands, dressers) there are spaces the width and length of the drawers on the inside of the cabinet. You have to take the drawers completely out to see these, and it is a great place to hide envelopes of cash or jewelry pouches, lots of room for anything that won’t keep the drawer from sliding smoothly.
Another similar place is in the very back of a filing cabinet, though not as big it can hold a letter size envelope with various items in it, and one for each drawer in the cabinet more if it is a very wide filing cabinet. No one pulls those drawers out all the way!
Almost all homes have 2×4 framing and inside there is a lot of hiding space, just find a spot where you can get access that isn’t noticeable and create a false door. We did this to reach the opposite side of our plumbing wall to the sink and it gave me lots of ideas on where I could ‘put a few things’ that I didn’t want burgled!
If you wish to hide coins they can be sealed in PVC and lowered into your well or hiddeen in a pipe that is a flagpole, one of a line of fenceposts, etc. This will defeat the metal detectors. A cloth-wrapped doorstop might be overlooked….
In addition to the hiding places in the article and some of the clever ones the respondents have mentioned, I also have an early warning system – a well-trained Doberman and a noisy schnauzer. It keeps snoops away. When I am travelling the valuables go into a safe deposit box, my guns are well concealed, and I have applied some of the home fortress ideas from an earlier post.
A dog may simply be killed (drugged or poisoned peanut butter or steak, or a knife/bullet often works well) by a would be intruder, regardless of it’s fierceness. If they catch you unprepared, by invite into the home for something expected, access to guns and other protection may not be useful. Same goes for if you are away, you can’t provide direct protection.
Drugs or poising is easy to fix. I’ve trained my dog to not eat anything without permission. I can put her favorite treats on floor and she’ll just give it “vulture” stare until I tap my leg. Ditto with the doggie food in her dish. There have been times when I put food in her dish and wandered off and when I return, she’s still staring at dish.
As to a knife, dogs have teeth and claws and know how to use them.
As to a bullet, better be a d*** good shot because my girl is fast and can get aggressive when she thinks she or I are threatened.
Hiding inside a vacuum cleaner bag area in pill bottles or zip lock bags. Hollowed out tables legs or head board legs.
I designed a fake return air duct. It looks just like all the others but this one is great for concealing weapons.
I guess this information is also available to those “thieves” we are trying to fool!
Don’t bother with the fake soup can trick (or similar devices) unless you also adjust the weight so that it feels realistic.
Sticking a bunch of money in a fake soup can won’t fool anyone if someone picks it up and/or shakes it and it’s obviously just empty air, mostly.
The area above the kitchen cabinets is a good choice, but also consider the kickplate (he indented area below the bottom cabinets), which is a lot quicker to access.
Just pull off the kickplate, and use the ample space ehind. Some spaces are long enough to hide rifles & shotguns. You can re-attach the kickplate front board with magnetic kitchen cabinet latches, or velcro for quick, invisible access.
Not likely any this will ever examine this area at all.
Take a big role of wall paper and unroll it . Lay out your cash and roll it back up.
I heard of one man that had two large silver bars. He painted them black and set his washing machine on top of them until he was ready to cash them in.
There are a lot of really great ideas on here. Most are quite unique and definitely worth looking into. Please exercise caution using your real name/location or any other identifying information. As for thieves, burglars, robbers, getting new ideas from here; all I can say is trust me THEY already know most of these ideas. Evil people will always be among us. My thoughts on these great ideas: right items and placed with like items. Might be pretty hard for example , to look through 400 books to find the one that may have cash or valuables inside. Perhaps taking a general idea and expanding on it to fit your own lifestyle and circumstances. Thank you for all your contributions.
I figure the longer it takes them to find my stuff, the closer the police are getting after my alarm goes off!
This is a FANTASTIC article! However, here’s a thought…why in tarnation are you saving paper “dollars” or valuable jewelry? The paper $ are depreciating even faster than they would in the bank, which is only marginally better! Exchange them for REAL GOLD money (see website), and hide (SAVE) that! REAL silver or gold items? Why are you hiding them? If they are not being used, cash them out, buy CURRENCY-GRADE GOLD (see website), and hide (SAVE) that! If we’re reduced to a barter economy, jewelry can be traded, but who will have equipment on hand to test it in the event of using it for barter? Currency-grade GOLD is a SAFE STORE of wealth! Acquire AFFORDABLE currency-grade GOLD bullion…Not easy to get change for GOLD coins worth $1000s, right. Go small: easier to use as currency or as barter!
In the event of being forced to barter (WWIII, etc.), who is going to trade paper “money” for anything of value anyway? Currency-grade GOLD bullion is a MUCH better idea. It is a known quantity, etc. (see website).
What documents literally hold value? Birth certificate? SSN? Negotiable PAPER? NONE of these hold value in an emergency anyway. Most burglars are not that smart to figure out how to take such docs and convert to some form of money. Even if those burglars are government cronies, they already have access to those docs. So, no need to go through hoops to save those…most are replaceable anyway.
So before seeking hiding places, ask yourself if what you’re hiding is worth saving in the first place? Again, convert your so-called “treasures” to REAL and LASTING treasures! Currency-grade GOLD bullion is a real treasure! It will be barter if need be. It will preserve purchasing power. It is a hedge against inflation. It is worth SAVING, therefore it is worth hiding. Now all these hiding ideas begin to make some sense!
This is the best comments and advice I’ve read in this whole discussion. Gold coins and bullion for safe storage of wealth and savings of your hard earned resources. Gold always has and always will go up in value and will out-pace almost any other low risk investment plan that you can put your money into. All you have to do is look at the history of the price of gold over the last decades to see that it’s the best way to protect your savings. But remember…
You can’t eat Gold, and a smart storage plan of survival preparedness of the most essentials may likely be the best way to save some of that Gold.
Your survival food storage may not be a thieve’s first target but it may turn out to be your greatest life-saver.
Think preparedness.
Think Water, think food, think fuel.
In the greenhouse, which is now being used as a storage shed. WE can’t even find stuff in there. Besides, no one with any sense would go over that 6-foot fence with 3 German Shepards behind it!
Now crroks/burglers know all these hiding places. Probably they have made a list of all possible ones…DUH !!
Many houses have old electrical outlets that have been covered over with a blank plate for various reasons. Open those up. Inside, you may find wires that have been bypassed for whatever reason, but sometime you will merely find a hole in the wall. Buy one of those cheap plastic electrical boxes (that are empty — they are a receptacle for wiring but not already wired) and install it behind the plate. Then just roll up your cash and put it in the box, and screw the blank plate back into the wall. If it happens to be behind your dresser, that’s a bonus. No burglar is going to take the time to unscrew all of those….
i want to hide me for ww3
lol…me too.
Frank. Please send me a couple wads of cash so I can try some of this advice out. Thanks.
Make a pouch inside a pair of underwear and make a big brown stain using paint or chocolate. Nobody will ever want to mess with it even if you had it lying in the middle of the floor.
Why would you post your best hiding places on the internet for all to read…DUH !
In an envelope in my desk drwer with all my bills from about a year I’ve also had good luck with a DVD case (not a good movie either)and place on bottom of dvd stand
Well I have not posted a post for you yet Frank And I have many questions, but for now might I suggest your crawlspace or attic as access and time will be of an essence. Searching such places will be an ill-advised thought in the minds of a criminal especially if you place “said” items” them under the insulation there for by giving him an itchy reason not to look there. “D”
if you have a tree, and a cute little bird build a nest, abandoned it put your mini valuables in it and put a fake money and fake jewelry scattered on the floor and when they used the fake money the police will catch him he will be accused of using of fake money snatching tresspassing
If you are a christian, perhaps there’s a picture frame on the altar? hide cash behind the picture and secure the frame. Or if you had mailbox with a bunch of letters hide cash or jewelry in the middle of the letters (tip: if you are hiding money on the mailbox put it in an envelope, secure it, label with complete name address so the crazy headed burglars will thought it was a mail only)
Open the bottom of toilet paper roll put cash and jewelry and fold and re glue the bottom and put in middle of several other rolls. Can do with paper towel rolls also.
Joe sabino
If you have an old tower computer around that does not work, it is a great place to hide items even handguns and ammunition. Nearly everyone has one sitting in their basement or garage collecting dust.
Frank: Great advice after being burglarized and having all my jewelry almost taken (luckily we walked in on them and they did not get away with much) I decided to find creative places to hide things. I use the book trick and have several in different places in the house. Was told to keep everything out of the master bedroom first place they will head to and kitchen second place…but I put some stuff in a tampon box in the back of the guest bathroom cabinet looks like we keep it there for guests, take toilet paper rolls and wrap them like the poppers for New Years and put it in a plastic container with the decorating items marked New Years. Have an empty bottle of washing detergent put the plastic bag inside and half fill with water they think it is just detergent. as well as some other places in the house. Have some stuff hidden in with the Christmas decorations too. Thanks for telling us all about the different things to watch out for. We are in the process of looking for a home with a lot of acreage and moving off the grid and away from so many people. Thanks for what you have to offer us. Really love reading your stuff.
Megann
Why didn’t you SHOOT the bastard(s)?
Ha ha! (From Texas)!
Talk about a piano!
How about inside the piano?
Simply remove board on the bottom by releasing the latch.
Put the goodies in, – there’s LOTS of room.
Put board back until latch clicks.
Very low tech.
Extremely effective.
Will the piano still work as well?
A safe is probably a good idea except that the crook might force you to open it. Empty it and put your valuables someplace else and/or pile some dirty clothes over it. Most doors are hollowed with just stringers of glued wood placed randomly inside. With some effort, take the door down and drill out/saw the top stringer for an opening. The top stringer is around 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Make sure your item/s are padded to have a snug fit so as not to make a banging noise when the door is opened. Heavy twine will work for your item with a nail or screw into the top.
Putting things in a water tight container in your fish tank and disguising it with fake greenery works really well
…a fish tank with piranhas or a Lionfish inside…
In the living room I hide money in an envelope and put it under the carpet behind the couch.
In my truck I hide money under the finish molding, that is at the door opening that covers the carpet edge. I also place my ACP in a bubble wrap attached to the bottom of the drivers seat springs no one has ever found them as of yet. I have been driving a car & truck 60 for years.
good ideas David , where did you say you were from and the kinda truch you drive? ….
I hide mine in my pool stick case. :) Nobody has ever looked there. I also like the idea about putting an opened tampon in the trash, after dying it red to look like blood, and putting the money inside the tampon. I doubt if they thought it was blood they would be willing to look there. Thanks for the ideas though :)
Take off the toilet paper holder from the wall.
The is a lot of inside wall space where you can either drop or hang from a nail a package of valuables. Be sure you replace it the very same way it was removed. Like if the nail is sideways or off center leave it the same way. I have had thieves in my house repeatedly, neighbors whom the police protect. They refuse to investigate them even though I saw them leaving my property.
NM is a very frightening place since the corruption goes into the police departments as well as the courts. All my valuable coins are gone as well as my collectables. Nothing I can do but leave.
The police will come after you and claim you are mentally incompetent, and ask the court to order a competency evaluation which the judge will do without due process. Exparte orders are the not the exception.
My friend has an alcoholic boyfriend and he has never in 27 years discovered her secret cache of money and she sleeps easy, knowing he will never think to check between the pages of her bible… I have an old Electrolux upright vacuum and I used to keep a fake but roomy vac bag inside with a slit in the back of the bag thru which I stuffed a huge winter sock filled with silver eagles….if I needed to vacuum, I would just switch the bags for the real one and then return the fake when finished…..I love the feminine hygiene idea, I would think that between two items that are identical and nesting on top of each other too…..I have two old heavy and dirty rugs that are muddy in the back yard….5 x 5 ft…I could stack those , hide stuff in the middle and throw all of last winters leaves on top….duct tape anything metal to the back of washer or hot water heater…..plus, if you have any left over tiles, bust a good one out in corner or rear of room and put an unsealed tile down , then cover with rubber backed scatter rug….inside roll of charming and replace to former place…..take large cheap wall lock , hollow out the back and re hang on wall…..the fake stash in bedroom drawer is best idea yet……throw some useless lotto tix in a sock with a five dollar bill and a note to self that says do not forget to cash by …….fill in the blank here…..and a couple bank and lawyer business cards…..great comments here…..thanks for allowing us to share…
why doesn’t she get rid of him after 27 years?
some good ideas
In your trash-can BUT under your trashbag. Make sure to put it in a box(or any protective material) to prevent any waste leakages ruining your valuables
Years ago, I was the manager of an apartment complex and the first thing the owner told me was NEVER put money in a freezer because that is the first place they look for it! No way would I ever tell ANYONE what hiding places I use as once anyone knows, EVERYONE knows! However, hiding things pretty much in plain sight is much more effective than most other methods. Burglars are not stupid and know all the tricks about soup cans and freezers!
I doubt if they would take the time to look under 300 or m ore pounds of wrapped beef, in a 6 ft. chest freezer.
They might just take the freezer? Resale, $300, not to mention the meat, and hoping there is cash?
inside my above knee prothesis. Taped flat to the plastic form
All these places are a good idea.
But, be sure to remember to Fireproof the container
under the roost in the chicken coop in the ground.
They have the ready made electrical box, like the type you plug items into, that you can use by replacing the box on the wall and use it. Take an envelope and duct tape it inside of the floor vents for your heating/air conditioning, or inside the cold air return vent. Be sure to place it a ways inside not right at the top where you might loosen it by replacing the vent covers. I like the idea of under a cat litter box, pretty sure they wouldn’t look there! ;)
In the dirty clothes hamper with really dirty clothes.
Diaper pail… with decoys on top. Pooper scooper container. Enema bag. And the best…buy a large bag of old fashioned clay from the art store. Cover a box – waterproof is best but not necessary – of similar size with the said clay, and reform the block of clay around it. Rewet the top, smooth it and reseal it. Label clearly “children’s clay” or something like that.
Barry it outside. And why stop at your front yard? The town is your hiding spot! Geocache.
http://m.instructables.com/id/Micro-Geocache-Container/
Under the chicken feed in the feed barrel! I put a few folded empty bags on top, then put in the bag of feed. (Don’t dump it in!)
Dont forget the attic!
If you can get into you attic, pick out an easy spot to remember and hide cash or jewelry under the insulation. Chances are even if the thief checks out the attic they wont be poking around under insulation or duct works.
Attics burn first, in case of fire. Watch out putting flammable objects such as cash, in the attic. Or anything ruined by fire, most things are ruined.
I Used To Hide $ FRom My Husband, Rolled Up Inside An UNused Tampon. Put Back In The Wrapper & Back In The Box.
Under Kleenex, InThe Long Side Open Box.
Ice Chest In Garage.
Hand Guns In Linen Closet, Between The Towels.
When traveling where you might need a large number of $1 bills, we inserted them in the middle of a package of hand wipes but I love the idea of putting them in feminine product packages.
U can put a couple k in a new roll of paper towels. Just use a razor knife to slit it open just enough together it in then scotch tape it
Thought. Won’t all these published ideas give thieves a heads up where to look now? I’m getting my money out of my mayonnaise jar.
I hope these ideas give them so many places to look that they are looking in all, missing most, while the police “dash” to my house (as I will be) and they will be caught! In the act! So, win win, they get caught, I keep my stuff.
I use an empty mayonnaise jar, washed out, label still attached and painted on the inside with antique white paint, three coats. Put cash inside, screw on the lid, place in fridge. Looks just like a jar of mayonnaise.
Cash Inside speakers, or inside CD cases. The very best place I know of is inside the feminine hygene packaging. Bills can be tightly rolled and slipped inside a tampax tube, after carefully opening one end of the paper wrapping. Placing the tube back in the box with the open end down will not show. Likewise with the packaging for pads. How about rolled up bills in the battery compartment of the remote(s). I have three that don’t go to anything.
Place guns between the inside and outside of a freezer that is not being used. I have an unused freezer in the shop and place sacks of feed (bird or deer) after I hid some weapons.
You use the old freezer to store your bird, deer, or if it applies chicken or horse feed. It keeps the rodents away from the feed, weighs the freezer down, and shows that it is non working. My daughter uses old freezers this way for her horse food.
I bought a pair of cheap speakers [used ones at a flea market] for $2.00 for the pair. I pried off the front cover and hid a 50 count box of bullets in each one, then popped the cover back on. They are sitting by my t.v. stand with the wires going to to back of the t.v. My house is kinda cluttered so they don’t stand out at all!!!
A lot of older kitchen chairs have an area under the seat that is indented and deep enough to hide valuables duct taped to the bottom of the seat.
E-mail yourself a list of hiding places so you don’t forget them and the list is not in the house to be found.
Maybe that is why I don’t have any cash. I just forgot all the places I put it.
How come nobody addressed Jack’s concern about the possibility of
a fire when you’re not home. Would glass mason jars protect cash and
valuables from burning? Any suggestions besides fireproof boxes?
yes, since they will obviously steal safes if they arent bolted down…use them I have 2 smaller, under the bed ones and they are fireproof and water proof….they aint good for anything else so use them for protection for the stuff you wanna hide. they cheap anyway.
It would help would help if they are in the refrigerator or freezer. Those are insulated and already cold. The only thing that survived my only house fire was the freezer. Ad it was in a room with the door shut, which also helped.
Check out these online Solutions ……..
A MUST PIECE OF FURNITURE FOR EVERY HOME.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=1pYqquG27pg
QLine Night Guard – furniture with hidden secret compartments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeEk9Vkf-UQ&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_486677
HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT STEALTH VAULT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y5chIEUYzw
TacticalWalls.com Hidden Rifle Storage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yegVZm3LK3o&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Covert Furniture – secret compartments for firearm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RYo5f_Q8Ys
When my son was a young teen I thought he’d never find my hiding place for fun money, but strangely he did. I’d squirreled away some twenties into a tampon box under my bathroom counter. I guess a boys curiosity got the best of me.
I’ve wrapped some items in dirty socks and undies in the washroom. Also I don’t think burglars will look in the greenhouse or the doghouse. I could be wrong.
Hallow metal leg of table, pop off bottom and put things inside baggy and secure leg bottom back on.
I’ve sliced and re-stitched kids stuffed animals which go on corner net loaded with dolls and/or did the same with decorative pillows.
Sorry men, but I wrapped flat items inside a pad and put back in plastic wrapping, sealed with dot of glue and placed back in bottom of pads plastic bag sold in.
Under a corner of my wall to wall carpet, below the carpet padding, sliced padding and slid flat things underneath.
Baseboard piece removed and stashed flat objects behind re-jammed small baseboard back into wedged spaces.
In kitchen cabinet, under the decorative non-stick shelf liner under the entire stack of regular use dinner plates.
Popped out ceiling tiles and hid items in a hard to reach area which I put laundry lint in front of just in case someone felt around they’d think it hadn’t been touched in years due to extensive dust.
Inside the metal decorative circle piece on ceiling which covers the hanging light fixture wiring.
Unscrewed both light switch covers and plug face plates and hid money and credit cards I wasn’t using standing on each side of electrical units.
Was thinking to try unscrewing a bedroom doorknob and wrap some money around mechanism inside so it won’t interfere with knob turning on a no lock handle but haven’t done this yet.
Another new idea I haven’t tried yet but was thinking to remove floor vent cover and secure a few items along one side out of view wrapped in tin foil.
Last thing was I froze my own credit to protect it from myself: put all my credit cards in a large colored plastic cup filled it with water and froze it, this way I would have to wait until the ice naturally thawed before using which slowed my spending down immensely as the thrill was long gone by the time I thawed!
there are a lot of great ideas here but one of my concerns is fire. what if the structure catches fire while your not home?
I have seen a house that burned completely down. The refrigerator was still intact.
My best hiding place was inside a Kotex box. Most men don’t want to have anything to do with women’s stuff. Take out the bottom drawer of the dresser and tape your valuables to the inside of the middle post..
Hollow out a portion of a tree stump and place your valuables inside of a waterproof camera case. Then cover with plastic. Don’t use foil as can be detected with metal detector. If it is a long-term hidey-hole, fill the top opening with beige colored liquid nails and spread with sawdust to dry.
I take the bottom drawer out of a kitchen cabinet and store items in the toe space. Replace “normal” drawer.
I live in a manufactured home. These have 4 steel I beams; I’ve wondered about hiding items secured in the beam to protect from metal detectors as the metal would be expected in these areas. The area would be semi-insulated from temperature extremes but have still been concerned about moisture. Any suggestions?
Is there something that can be placed around the house to disable dog’s ability to smell . . . at least temporarily? I’ve been thinking if gun confiscation goes through that they might search homes with dogs trained to seek out the smells of firearms.
Sulfurs are good dog deterrents “D”
Attach the package of valuables to the steel beams using strong magnets
available at hardware stores. This also works to hold a package to the
bottom of metal stars or other obviously empty metal objects.
use your seal a meal for moisture protection vacumeseal items in bags or rolls and reseal those in another one vacume = no moisture
Pepper – dogs can’t smell past that – tryed it with my dogs – they couldn’t track me at all. Coffee grounds is another. When we were driving semi we were told not to have coffe, you tell me what driver ever listens to that one – LOL
Excellent info.
In a hollow out tree trunk in the yard, or a dented rusty looking paint can toss out in the back yard with other pile of junk.
Drapery Valances- Gaffer tape envelops. Back of wall hangings (up high of course)
Hollow wall switch boxes with plates and dimmer knobs. Hanging couch covers (back side)
Messy garages are great places to hide stuff. Hell, I can’t find my own crap and thieves are
not likely to either !!
I lost some jewelry by hiding it too well. Put it in the pocket of a suit jacket when I went on vacation. Forgot all about it and couple of years later took a bunch of clothes to the Salvation Army. Some person got a real surprise when they got my pretty suit. Lost my grandmother’s diamond ring – makes me sick every time I think about it.
I’m sorry that sucks I hope someone poor got the ring and has had multiple meals from your loss “D”
Several years ago my Mom lived in Iowa there was a nice old lady who worked at the local grocery store one night on her way home from work she had a brain aneurism and died. Since she had no relatives the city ended up taking on the job of clearing out her house. When they got started on the back yard there was an old car out back that looked like it had not moved in years they found several thousand dollars in coins stashed in mason jars under the seats in the trunk and any place else she could get to. All the kids in town called her Grammy to the city took all of that cash and renamed a park in town after her then set it up with new equipment for the kids.
The part about telling your family about your fake product containers that you are using to store money is a good idea but you cant tell everyone, what I mean by that is, everyone that lived in the house knew but when my brother came to visit he needed to get ready to go out so I let him use my bathroom to shave he decided to use my shaving cream when it didnt work he put it in the trash, it even had old cream on the top. It made it to the out side trash and it was not until he was making fun of me later that night about not being able to throw away that old shaving cream can that I knew about what had happened to it. so be careful when people come to visit.
These are all great places to hide valuables, but have you ever heard of unit that looks like a common electrical plug, mounts in your wall, looks just like a wall plug. But when you remove the face of it, it has a large long storage box built on it that drops into the wall behind the sheet rock?
Under wood for the fireplace. In a bag for clothespins.
Had a neighbor who was a jewelry designer. He hid his precious stones under the trash in his garbage can.
Of course none of these great ideas will e-v-e-r be read by bad guys… LOL
A half empty oil bottle sitting on a shelf in your garage is a common sight (cans are obsolete, so get rid of that old one you have with the screw off bottom), It is a great place to hide cash or jewelry.
To make it realistic, insert a new ziplock bag partly into the bottle. pour in a cup of water to give it slosh and weight, seal the bag (tape it as well to prevent leakage), then roll up your bills and slide them into the bottle.
You can easily cut open the bottle to get out the money.
Cash? It won’t be worth a thing very soon. Gold and silver will be the trade of value or things one may have to barter with; so hiding cash won’t get you anywhere very soon. It is best to use that cash to buy silver and gold and then find a place to hide it.
Unfortunately many thieves break in when you are sleeping and what the take will be the least of your concerns. Many home invasions do not end well because many thieves are armed and very dangerous. Stuff is replaceable. Your family is not. Where to hide money??? You can roll your bills and put them in the barrel of a 41 mag pistol. If you wake up to a thief standing over you say “Go ahead….Take my cash….Make my day”! If they do not run, then you “put your money where their mouth is”. Not sure if that is exactly how the cliche goes….But it works and you have a chance to LIVE. Here is another one….Tape your money to a baseball bat and hang it next to your bed. “Lookin for some cash you Joker….Meet the BAT MAN!” Thieves need to get a job like the rest of us. They need to quit breaking and entering then complaining that people try to protect themselves from dangerous thugs on drugs who violate your home and harm their family. Home should be a refuge and we have the Constitutional right to protect the ones we love. Also…Buy clocks with a SD chip and a motion sensor in it. A picture is your only hope to catch any crook if they luck out and you are gone for the day. I would be more concerned about my safety and finding out who the thief was, verses worrying about what they took. The thief could be someone you know and trust.
I might suggest a leg of a metal dining room table for hiding coins(in their cylinders) since it’s metal and would not be detected with a metal detector. Make sure you can get to it quickly in an emergency and be sure to check the legs before selling the piece!
Used and cleaned paint cans work well, and like the soup cans, put in a place where a burglar would not take the time to look.
Most houses have at least one smoke detector – why not more than one (empty of course, just a shell), same with a carbon monoxide detector.
Where not to hide money:
My late husband liked to keep cash in the house for emergencies. One Halloween after our boys came home from trick-or-treating my husband noticed that one of them had taken an old coat from from his closet and used as part of his costume. My husband had put $5,000 in cash in an inside pocket. Luckily it was still there.
Cash hidden in under insulation in furnace air handler.Clock on mantle
Put small valuables in a piece of sealed Tupperware and place in the dishwasher. Water won’t get in, and what thief wants to look at dirty dishes! And, a dog that likes to bark and is like a two year old – follows anyone in the house.
Love the other ideas that have been given here. The best, though not mentioned, is great neighbors. They know your car, your schedule and will call if something is suspicious… Like several have commented, thieves will not want to take time to dig up your yard or make a lot of noise.
My best hiding place for cash – an old gray 2″ thick box labeled GRANDMA’S PICTURES – sits on a shelf in our den. Used it for 10 years and feel perfectly secure with it.
In your bathroom, remove the kickplate from the front / bottom of the vanity, glue or nail a 12 to 24″ by 12″ 1/2″ plywood as a drawer bottom, put your items on it and slide it back in place.. the drawer bottom will keep the kickplate uprite.
I don’t know if I want to add to the list of possible hiding places and give ideas to any would-be burglars who may be reading this. I will just make a few points.
1. Don’t put all of your valuables in one place. If a burglar finds it, he or she will walk off with everything.
2. Make a list of where you have hidden everything. You may think you will remember, but I recently moved after living in the same house for over thirty years, and was amazed to discover quite a few things I had totally forgotten I had.
3. Leave instructions with a trusted family member for how to locate and retrieve your valuables. None of us really knows when we may die or become incapacitated, even temporarily, and someone else may need to go through our belongings.
As far as the written list of hiding places, hide that well, and make it as cryptic as possible. For example, don’t write, “the cash is in the tomato soup can, the jewelry is in the wall socket, and the guns are buried under the oak tree.” I am thinking more along the old game of treasure hunt, where you write clues that will jog your own memory, but not be obvious to another person. You could even make a fancy printout of the list and store it with some old board games or card games, so it will look like just another game.
I used to live on a 50′ motor yacht ,they never lock up tight so I hid my cash in a 1gal mayo
bottle inside a rubber fender or bumper that was bolted to dock with a slit in the bottom and i would just stick it in there… it was about 14 ” round and about 3′ long nobody would look there I had about 10 bolted to the dock as bumpers never had a problem!
inside the flap of an old shoe where the sole is seperating. inside a bag of dog food. in the lid of a cookie jar. taped to the bottom of a doily. under the flatware,
Now think of some place else…think any burglers are reading this?
You guys are great! This is great stuff!!! One thing I didn’t see was an empty electric socket. One that has been unused and covered over, possibly behind a sofa or somethinf else large. Thanks!
Melody , do not hide your cash in your clothes . I did that and got ripped for 2500 bucks from my pocket in the closet
The best place for cash and cards or other thin objects is under your carpet . Just pull up the carpet from the edge of a wall and take out a small piece of the padding about 3 or 4 inches back from the wall . lay in your cash and press the carpet back down on the tacks .
Take off the top board of the trim around your bedroom window . Pry it off with a putty knife or other bar from the back so that you do not break the nails loose on front of board or you will have to repaint the board to look nice unless it is stained and then it does not matter just cut the nails off a bit after the head and poke them back in the holes otherwise cut the nails off at the back of the board as you will not be needing them to hold up the board . Glue kitchen cabinet magnets inside the frame and on the trim board . Make sure to test fit before permanently gluing them .
There will be a space between the window and the 2×4 of the frame of the house . You will most likely have to cut a inch or so of sheet rock off to the edge of the 2×4 . This is a great stash place and no will ever find it . A couple inches tall and as wide as your window .
cut a hole in the wall for an electric outlet . Lots of room back behind that sheet rock . You can even cut a double sized outlet hole . you can use plastic outlet boxes and maybe cut the back out for more room . Just tie a string on a bag of objects and drop them down inside the wall or just set inside box . Screw the cover on and it is hidden .
Got an attic . Just place items under the insulation a few feet back from the opening . No thief is going to get a ladder and crawl up in your attic .
Deterrent – Get a zip lock bag and put a couple handfuls of large rock salt or melt some urea in the microwave . Most thieves are also dope fiends or at least know what it is . So a nice bag of what appears to be meth or coke is going to make a great take for them . They are likely to grab it and go with what they think is a large sum of money worth of drugs . You might also lay a table spoon on the bag and perhaps an insulin syringe for more eye appeal. Got an old pill bottle that contained something good like a narcotic . Put some large white pills in it and lay that there also or just a baggie full of different sizes and colors of pills and capsules . The thief is not going to take the time to check them out as they are in a baggie and too enticing .
Leave a small safe , the ones you buy for a few dollars at the harbor freight and then close it with a corner of a 10 or 20 dollar bill hanging out . this way you do not have to waste the money as you still have the big part of the bill . lay your drug bags right with it . The thief will think you just did not put your drugs away and that he has drugs and a safe full of cash .
Give the dope fiend what he wants and he will grab it and run without looking any further .
wow! You had some realy great ideas on how to hide stuff inside the house. So simple I would never have thought of it.
the beauty of it is that as a deterrent, its way ahead of your typical burglar who is in a hurry for easy pickings. Thanks a lot….
I FIND A WHOLE LOT IN WHAT THE OTHER FOLKS COMMENT UPON. keep it up.
We heard of a pipe with caps on both ends that was found when a house was being torn down, it was hid in some of the venting near the fireplace. Inside was money and jewelry.
GREAT ARTICLE!!!!! I didn’t even think of quite a few of those options on where to hide my valuables. Will put it to good use. Thanks again….
Watch where you bury a gun. The IR scan used, shows recently disturded ground as a hot spot.. It holds the heat differently and gives them a point of interest…
Ducts from the furnace/a.c. are a good place to hide things. Hollowed out hi-fi speakers are good too, and fake electric plugs in the walls are good.
Hide your jewelry or cash in the pockets of a pair of old pants that you do not wear hanging in the closet next to all your other jeans
During serious economical situations….The can of soup idea is a total bust. Food may be just what they are looking for. The car idea is ok for some things, because a person is usually where their car is….BUT you can not hide a gun and bigger items in a car cushion. And they could steal the car. For home….Buy Mylar bags for the bigger items…SEAL them with a hot iron and bury them in your yard. They prevent moisture from corroding your guns so they do not rust and they keep money dry. Wrap the Mylar bag in a blanket to protect it from rocks poking holes in it and corrupting the seal. They make Mylar bags just for guns. I saw them online. They sell all sizes for food items. Thieves are not going to dig up your back yard looking for items to steal. They would not know where to start and they are lazy. They want a FAST hit and run. Make sure a bucket of dog “tootsie rolls” marks the spot. The thieves will take the dog candy and run. lol
I keep cash and valuables in my car, but nobody can ever find them, including my friend who is a cop. I challenged him to search my car and he never found it after I told him it’s inside the passenger area, not under the hood or not in the trunk.
I wrapped my house key, about $5k cash for emergencies, and some of my wife’s jewelry in a flat plastic bag. I then squeezed the bag under the driver’s seat between the seat spring and the cushion. It hasn’t moved in over five years of daily driving, and once in a while I check to make sure it’s still there.
It can’t be seen looking under the seat because it’s tucked in the front edge of the seat, so even when you look (my cop friend did) because of the angle of visibility, it won’t be seen.
The only downside is to be sure to remove it when you trade in your car.
U know there are many people who like to keep dented and decorative candles around their homes, U can place money or a small gun wrapped in plastic and using the wick tied to the item you can melt a candle around the item essentially making a new candle which you can easily break open to access and set in the middle of a flower arrangement on U’r coffee table. Even U’r family wouldn’t notice unless U told them!
good ideas, but you just advertised them to the crooks!
Here’s an idea to hide a house key that’s worked for us for many years: Give your neighbor the combination to your back yard shed and you get the combination to their shed. In your shed, hide the neighbor’s house key and in their’s hide your house key. Even if someone breaks in, it probably won’t dawn on them that the key is for another home in the neighborhood, not the one they are thinking about.
If you have a outside shed,remove a piece o flooring dig a hole as big as you need put 4 inches of pea gravel in bottom of hole. then get a 5 gallon up to 55 gallon plastic bucket w/ water proof screw on lid. Screw board back down,spread a bit of dry dirt,park something over it like a lawn tractor. Enough said attics are also good spots thieves don’t ussally take time to search hot dark attics.
Several years ago I built a false wall across the back of a large walk-in closet. By using the same wall panel material as the original and repainting the entire closet, it was invisible. I added 2×12 studs alongside the original exposed studs, securing them with heavy screws. I made some shelves across & between the studs, while leaving enough vertical space to secure 8 rifles. This provided room for most valuables, and even securing normally displayed items before going on a trip. I used inside, invisible hinges, and a verticle rod locking mechanism that I hid with a dummy wall outlet. The only thing that I would add, would be some sort of inside panel that could block a metal detector. Even if a burglar thought something was behind the wall, the wall was built so strong that he may not want to stay there the amount of time it would take to break into it, plus that would be the noise factor.
What a great suggestion, Lively. Thanks for posting it!
I learned this idea a few years ago from a 94 year old Itialian woman I was doing a job for. She said to put your money in an envelope and tape it to the back of your kitchen sink underneath (where the water lines go to the faucet). Even if they look under the sink, no one ever thinks to crawl in the cabinet and look behind the sink. I spent an hour with her just listening and she mentioned a lot of things, but this was the best in my opinion.
Someone in a city near us donated the wrong soup can to the food bank. A recipient opened it to find an expensive watch and diamond ring. The person was honest enough to report it and it was announced on the evening TV news. The owner did get the items back. One has to be very careful about placing phoney containers with real ones.