In reading this thread about letting somebody steal your stuff versus using a gun to stop them, I got to thinking about what was in our house that a burglar would want to make off with. And frankly, it ain’t much. We have some nice things, but they’re not really the sort of things you could easily sell or trade for drugs, so I can’t imagine they’d be worth a burglar’s time.
They’d make off with the televisions (assuming they even realized what the projector was, which I wouldn’t count on with the class of thief you get around here). They’d take the 15 year old stereo and the two el-cheapo DVD players (assuming they could work their way through the tangle of wires with two dog snouts straight up their asses.) They’d get the Kindles if we didn’t have them on us, and a few fairly nice guitars. There’s the computer and the laptop if it happened to be in the house. A handful of cheap power tools out in the garage. And that’s pretty much it. The total replacement for all that stuff is probably about the same as the deductible on our homeowner’s insurance.
There’s several hundred dollars of sewing machine across the hall from the guitars, and another few hundred in knitting/spinning supplies. There’s a brand-new $500 spinning wheel in the living room. But you couldn’t unload that kind of stuff, so it’s of no use to a thief. We’ve got the souped-up Kitchen Aid mixer and the Vitamix in the kitchen, but again, they wouldn’t be very easy to unload. There’s probably 30 DVD’s you could sell for a couple bucks each at the flea market; I’m not sure that’s worth the hassle of packing them out of the house. There’s the giant-ass gas grill out back, and if they can haul that goddamn thing out and load it in a truck in one piece, they’ll spend a lot more getting their hernias fixed than they could sell it for.
Beyond that, if you’re looking for something worth more than $50 you’re looking at furniture and large appliances. No remotely nice jewelry, no guns or sporting equipment, no art, no silver or crystal or china.
This seems pretty typical to me–most of the people we know don’t really have much worth stealing either. But then again, maybe our sample is skewed. So how about it folks? How much do you have worth stealing?
I own a laptop that cost $800 five years ago, and a smartphone which is worth maybe $100. No TVs, no other electronics, I don’t even have a microwave. Just some books, clothes, shoes, dishes.
Anyone tries to rob me, I’d hand over anything they want. Money and possessions aren’t worth a fight.
My apartment was broken into a month ago so I can tell you exactly what they thought was worth stealing: my laptop, backpack, camera, jewelry box and a couple of computer games. The laptop was 3 years old so probably not worth much on re-sale but that didn’t stop the thief from taking it. Same with the camera. I don’t have much nice jewelry so I thought the loss was mostly sentimental as a lot of the stuff was gifts but when I started totaling it up for insurance purposes I realized that even with $20 or $50 pieces I had several hundred dollars worth of jewelry in that box.
I have lots of stuff that I wouldn’t want a burglar to make off with, value aside (it’s all insured anyway). However, I would gladly hand it over rather than risk a life for it. Even the burglar’s life.
I have nothing. My laptop is a 6 year old monstrosity. My tv weighs more than me. My couch is from 1973 and the only gaming systems I have are a broke down old Wii and a PSX covered in Pokemon stickers. My KitchenAid mixer is from 1960s and is avocado green. I have no jewelry outside of my old wedding ring which the ex couldn’t be assed to pay more than $100 for. Even my car’s not worth stealing. It looks nice but you can’t get into it without using a ‘rope’ system and the trunk is completely inaccessible.
Let’s see: we’ve got a few cheap laptops lying around (none of them cost more than $300 new, and only one of them is <1 year old), a Kindle Fire and an older-generation iPad. That’s about it for portable, fenceable stuff, I expect.
We watch TV so rarely that our TV is still a CRT rather than a flat-screen, so they’d take a pass on that. The desktop computers would be a pain in the neck to unplug and haul out, and wouldn’t be worth much to boot, so it’s hard to envision anyone stealing them. They just might go for the monitors, which are flat-screen.
We’ve got lots of stuff, but most of it’s not the sort of thing a burglar would steal. Books, papers, clothing, my son’s toys and DVDs (steal all the Caillou DVDs, please!!). I’ve got tools in the basement, but they’re comparatively heavy. The stereo in the living room has a tuner and turntable from 1980 and a cassette deck from maybe 1986, plus a 15 year old CD player. They’d do better just taking a bunch of CDs.
Mid-range 3D TV, Blu-Ray player, laptop, cell phone. Maybe my Blu-Rays and DVDs, maybe the guitar and amp I wouldn’t even notice missing. That’s pretty much it, unless the burglar happens to be into retro gaming (and brought an appliance dolly to haul the arcade games!) or laserdiscs or something. Considering I have to move in a month and am not looking forward to moving the heavier stuff, I might even be a bit forgiving if the games and laserdiscs did disappear.
Our apartment was burgled last year. They only took jewelry and cash. They did not even touch the TV, 17" Macbook Pro, 24" monitor, nothing else. It was a while before we figured out that we were burgled.
Easy: my laptop and iPad. My toolbox, but it’s called Mjolnir for a reason - it would take a pretty strong, determined person to cart it out of here, and they wouldn’t be carrying much else. And it’s basically got an inexpensive Craftsman metric set inside, supplemented with JIS (Japanese motorcycle) and Whitworth (British car and motorcycle) tools.
That said, the attitude of “I don’t have much to steal” is flawed in many ways. Unlike all the caper movies, not all thieves are trying for that last big score that will set them for life. An iPad and year-old laptop would be a decent score for a few seconds with a pry bar and some quick rummaging. I certainly expended more effort than that acquiring them.
The bigger issue is personal safety - you may not think anything you own is worth killing for, but criminals have a different perspective and it’s simply foolhardy to put your faith in their value system. Seven people were killed for the take at a fast food chicken restaurant.
We have tight security in our condo. Security guards, security cameras on every floor. Pass keys required to gain entrance to each building in the compound. Cameras all along our private road. We’re not too worried (knock on Formica).
I would bet that most thieves are looking for prescriptions rather than objects they have to turn over for money. If you are elderly, have a noticeable limp, a cast, or are in any way visibly gimpy, you might have more cause for alarm than if you have a houseful of tools or electronics.
A TV, a camera, and a computer. Probably worth a grand total of $400.
If someone were to look in my window they’d decide it’s not worth it and move on.
Different criminals have different perspectives, man. In this area violent robberies are a tiny, tiny minority. Most theft is a matter of opportunity–like the time a friend of mine had the gun she kept in her glovebox to defend herself and her possessions stolen out of her unlocked car. We’re not, frankly, an easy opportunity. There’s only one road in and out of the neighborhood, people watch each other closely enough you can barely fart in your own bathroom without someone asking the next day how your stomach is, and we have two large loud dogs who greet all strangers at the door baying like they’re out for blood. But that’s really beside the point. The point of this thread isn’t whether or not we’re safe from crime, just flat-out nosiness about how other people live.
Laptop and desktop Core i5 computers, 4 flat screen monitors, work thin client, two Blu-ray players, hundreds of blu-rays, misc A/V equipment, home theater projector, prescription drugs, several hundred pounds of “scrap aluminum”, antique firearms, power tools, digital camera, Ipods, cell phones,
I’m 40 and single with no kids and a decent paying job, so yeah, I got stuff worth stealing.
One very nice new, expensive guitar. The other guitars aren’t remotely worth it. You’d have to know which one though, or you’re carrying a great many worthless guitars out of here… It’s like in Indiana Jones, choosing which one is the holy grail!
If they steal my 5 y/o laptop they can steal my SDMB account, I don’t close that. That would suck!
My grandmother has, on more than one occasion, been targeted for her dogs. Stupid sods.
