Do you have a safe?

[nootje]

i do have a small safe as well as a safety deposit box.. The box is for stuff I dont need at the moment or that needs to be stored away, the safe is for papers I dont want visitors to find or see. (that, and there's allways some amount of cash for emergencies).

 

[blackjack]

I use a safe deposit box for papers and valuables I don't require regular access to. I generally believe the risk of my items being damaged or destroyed in an underground bank vault is lower than being stolen or lost in a home fire if I stashed them at home. However, my father's financial advisor reminded me that such valuables are NOT covered by FDIC - and that underground bank vaults have been known to flood, also catch on fire, or even get pilfered by bank employees. Therefore, we made certain to insure the valuables we cared about the most.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

When we moved into our current home about 6 years ago, I purchased a mid-sized safe (still fairly small)...about 2' x 1.5' x 1.5'. It contains some documents, jewelry, a couple of handguns, etc. It is bolted down into the slab foundation of the house. I suppose someone might be able to get it out, but I doubt it. It's also got about 30 minutes of fire resistence in it. The price was between the points you gave (including installation).

I forgot to add that we also have a safe deposit box at the bank for either duplicate copies of important documents (wills, etc.) or for things we don't need regular access too.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by blackjack

I use a safe deposit box for papers and valuables I don't require regular access to. I generally believe the risk of my items being damaged or destroyed in an underground bank vault is lower than being stolen or lost in a home fire if I stashed them at home. However, my father's financial advisor reminded me that such valuables are NOT covered by FDIC - and that underground bank vaults have been known to flood, also catch on fire, or even get pilfered by bank employees. Therefore, we made certain to insure the valuables we cared about the most.
How would an employee get access to a box? It seems to me that that would be a very very rare occurrence (much less likely than a robbery or fire at your home). When I got mine, I was given what i was told were the only two keys. If I lose them they will charge me to drill the lock. The lock also requires a bank employee to use a separate key, which most people don't have access to. I store my documents/cash within freezer ziplock bags. I started doing that not because of flood risk, but because I read a bbc article about a guy in india that had his whole life savings in a safe deposit box and termites ate his cash. It's a remote possibility but I figured it costs me nothing to put everything in thick plastic bags.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Originally Posted by spertia

SAFE deposit box, not safety.

'Safety' is perfectly correct. I've never heard anyone in the UK call one a 'safe deposit box', even though that's equally correct.

 

[blackjack]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

How would an employee get access to a box? It seems to me that that would be a very very rare occurrence (much less likely than a robbery or fire at your home). When I got mine, I was given what i was told were the only two keys. If I lose them they will charge me to drill the lock. The lock also requires a bank employee to use a separate key, which most people don't have access to.

I store my documents/cash within freezer ziplock bags. I started doing that not because of flood risk, but because I read a bbc article about a guy in india that had his whole life savings in a safe deposit box and termites ate his cash. It's a remote possibility but I figured it costs me nothing to put everything in thick plastic bags.

It'd be a rare probability but it has been known to happen. The point was that assuming the probability of theft, damage or destruction to be zero was a bad idea and that valuables still need to be insured.

Not all bank safe deposit box systems look like the fancy ones in the movies like Oceans 11/12. The ones I have used operate like a parking tower. After clearing security, you select a booth, lock it and insert your security card. The box then is retrieved from several stories below and is opened with your key.

 

[Roy]

Originally Posted by CityConnection

I need to get a safe for my personal belongings. Not that I have a lot of valuables but they have more sentimental value than anything. My grandmother was broken into and they basically stole everything.

In any case, does anyone have a safe in their house? Do you have a small $200 or a heavy duty vault $3000+ one? I am planning on getting a small $200 one, but when I think about it, if I can pick it up and put it in my shopping cart, someone else could do the very same thing.

What do you think? What is the minimum size/price should I be looking at?

It depends what you want to use it for. I have a 10k safe. But it's one heavy duty motherfucker. It's also fireproof for at least 60 minutes. that's more important to me than anything else since I store some personal items in there as well as registers of shareholders, proof of ownerships of our real estate, insurance policies etc. etc. in there. No money and jewelry.

 

[Liam]

All I have is a Sentry safe, the smaller one.

 

[onion]

I don't own any, but my father has 3 of these safes at his house, which I have a few things in (and IIRC, he has 2 more at his office):

He always buys the big ones, one because he needs the space, and two, because small safes are incredibility easy to steal. All you have to do to steal them is unbolt them from the floor and carry them off. A friend of mine actually had a 400lb safe stolen less than a week after getting it. He came home one day, and the safe was gone completely.

 

[CityConnection]

I think I'm going to go with a smaller unit for now. But when I move into a more permanent house I think I will get one built in. Preferably I would want a stealth "007" setup somewhere in the house. But until then I will have to settle for a smaller unit to keep our documents and so on, although a safety deposit box would be a good idea too for documents that I don't need often.

 

[Reggs]

I got my first safe when I was 10. I have not seen it in years, but I know it is still with my parents somewhere in storage. I kept silver riding spurs, a love letter from a childhood crush, and lots of loose cash in it.

 

[SField]

I don't want to ever own anything that I feel needs to be kept in a safe. If I can't enjoy something every day I don't see a point in owning it.

That being said my condo came with one and I don't use it.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Originally Posted by SField

I don't want to ever own anything that I feel needs to be kept in a safe. If I can't enjoy something every day I don't see a point in owning it.

That being said my condo came with one and I don't use it.

There is great comfort in moral superiority. Congratulations.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

There is great comfort in moral superiority. Congratulations.

How is that moral superiority?

 

[CityConnection]

Originally Posted by SField

I don't want to ever own anything that I feel needs to be kept in a safe. If I can't enjoy something every day I don't see a point in owning it.

That being said my condo came with one and I don't use it.

I know what you mean, but I don't want to lose deeds, passports or other important documents.