To secure your home cheap, you will need to focus on three points: security cameras, locks, and noise deterrents. It is true that the larger your security budget is the better your home security can be; however, many individuals are in financial situations where affordable home security is their only option. With the three points mentioned above, affordable home security is indeed a possibility. To save money, you can monitor your own security camera. With modern technology, monitoring you own cameras is easier than you think. Furthermore, your door locks need to be autolocking which is an affordable feature. Finally, and the most affordable, you need a good reliable noise deterrent.
Security Cameras
Security cameras are a great place to start. To secure your home on a budget, you'll need to monitor your own video feed and not rely on a paid security service for this. An affordable security camera such as Google Nest is great for this. The Nest camera will send you alerts if there is movement in areas you deem important. You will have the ability to view a short video clip of the movement as well as live video feed. This gives you the option of saving money by monitoring your own cameras without the monitoring taking a lot of your time. To strengthen your camera's security potential even further, secure the camera in a highly visible area. This will provide a great visual deterrent. Security cameras with features such as Google Nest will cost you around $200 one time fee and a low yearly cost of $100.
Residential Auto Locking Door Locks
After security cameras, you should focus on a good affordable locking system with an autolocking feature. If you have multiple people in your household, chances are the door is left unlocked frequently. Obviously, this is a serious security threat. Unfortunately, crimes of opportunity are common. Many would-be intruders simply move household to household looking for unlocked doors. With an autolocking door, you won't be one of these households. You can go really cheap and purchase a $20 door knob that has a permanent locking feature, similar to that of an apartment lobby door. This knob will have a tab on the indoor side that you twist to lock until a key unlocks it. However, if you push in the tab then twist it, the door knob will be locked permanently. Meaning that, you use the key to turn and open the knob, but once you remove the key the knob goes back to being locked. If this seems like an option for you, it's beneficial to also have a deadbolt, two locks are more of a visual deterrent than one.
Electric Auto Lock Deadbolt
If you have a little more in your door lock security budget, you can go for an electric keypad deadbolt with an autolocking feature. This will cost you around $150. How this works is, whenever the deadbolt is unlocked, it will have an internal countdown timer (usually 30sec) until the deadbolt locks buy its self. Another great feature is the electric deadbolt's secure appearance, which again is a great visual deterrent.
Affordable Home Security Cost Summary
Security Camera $200
Autolocking Door Knob $20
Electric Autolocking Deadbolt $150
Door Stopper Noise Deterrent $20
Motion Detector Alarm $20
Home Alarms
Now that you have the affordable options of security cameras and locks, you can focus on noise deterrents. Remember, a deterrent is just as important as physical security in the prevention of intruders. A noise deterrent is great at night when you are sleeping and most likely won't have your phone on giving you audible camera alerts. As with the door knob, you can go very cheap and get a door stopper that activates a loud alarm sound when pressed. This is also great for travel; you can place the door stopper at the bottom of your hotel door. You can also go this cheap for a more permanent solution and place a motion detector in your home. This will have an optional alarm sound, strobe light, or both together. With your noise deterrent in place, monitored security camera, and secure autolocking door you will be well on your way of having good home security on a tight budget.
About the Author
Peter Sandru is an Instructor & Co-Founder of NDIL with over 15 years working in security. Peter has spent more than a decade conducting security operations throughout the world, primarily for corporations, law firms, and government agencies. Peter has assisted in the creation of numerous security training programs in various capacities.