Do you promise yourself every year, that you’re going to install new security measures or beautify your entryway? Do you watch each new year pass without making good on that promise?

The need for security is never more apparent than throughout the holiday season. With so many family members moving through your home, the presents to protect and multiple vehicles parked around your property, security can be a nightmare and its the last thing you want to worry about while you’re about the business of merriment.

With entryway safeguard products like automatic locks, keypads and intercoms for your property and home, you can preempt the potential and inevitable lapses in security that come with multiple guests who are unfamiliar with your routines and so many pairs feet coming in and out of the house. Security for your whole homestead and family can become less of a chore and more of a seamless working part of your household so you can spend your energies devoting time to your friends and family.

The people who use the season of light and love to take advantage of others’ good will aren’t always the master-criminals that are depicted in the movies. For the most part, with few exceptions, most theft throughout the holidays is based on opportunity. So here are some tips to keep you safe through the New Year:

Don’t openly display your gifts near a window or leave your lights on after bedtime – it’s too easy for burglars to smash and grab.

Don’t leave your lights on when you go away for the holiday, invest in a timer and have your mail collected during the day by a neighbor or friend who lives close by.

Spare keys are not a safeguard when left in an easily guessed locale. Make sure to keep your keys with a neighbor or family friend.

Don’t run your extension cords for exterior lights out windows or sliding doors, it prevents them from being secured. Locate your external outlets or have one installed.

Don’t post your family name on the mailbox or your home. Potential thieves can call 411 and check to see that you’re actually away – in line with this same thought, don’t leave descriptive outgoing messages telling everyone you’re gone for the holidays.

Disposing of wrapping and boxes right away means post-holiday burglars don’t get to “shop” your house from the driveway by seeing what boxes are out in the recycling bins (Laptop, TV, console and high-end items).

Fortify your home with solid core doors, heavy duty locks, longer screws in your strike plates and reinforced hinges before going away or having a big family holiday celebration at your home. The hope is that you won’t need it but you certainly don’t want to and not have it.

Happy Holidays from Pro-Locksmiths.