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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To take my handbag to bed with me

245 replies

Ceebs85 · 18/11/2017 22:40

I don't like leaving my handbag with purse and car keys downstairs. I take it to my bedroom and keep it overnight by the side of my bed. This just seem common sense to me as if we were burgled they would be safer next to me.

Partner thinks this is ridiculous and takes the piss 'sure you don't want to take the TV to bed with you?' and other hilarious lines Hmm

Am I abnormal?

OP posts:
StrawberryStarburst · 18/11/2017 23:15

Shock Well, now I'm going to have nightmares about burglars, boiling water attacks and someone creeping my room to steal valuables.

Nonibaloni · 18/11/2017 23:15

Honestly my worst nightmare waking with a gun to my head asking for my handbag and keys. It takes me upto an hour on an average day! Once it’s in the house (i only loose it in the car twice a week) I don’t much care where it is.
Most valuable thing in the house is the dog though. And 1 whiff of a pat and he’d be off.

Original poster
Ceebs85 · 18/11/2017 23:16

Wow dodnt expect such a quick response.

We were burgled when i was a child. They didjt take anything because we had nothing to take. I thought most burglaries are quite petty crimes where they would want to be in and out. I live in quite a high crime area....not somewhere it would be worth confronting a resident. No items of any value in the house etc.

Made me think though.

OP posts:
treaclesoda · 18/11/2017 23:18

It’s a very sensible precaution. My mum always takes her bag to bed since she had a break in and the thieves took her bag (about 20 years ago) phone, cards, purse, keys all gone and a right pain to replace. Carry on OP, you’re doing the right thing.

I don't understand how taking your bag to your bedroom would stop this though?

3catsandcounting · 18/11/2017 23:21

My friend was burgled a few years ago,
They found car keys, handbag and cash downstairs.; took the lot, including the car.

Police advised all valuables be taken upstairs at night. If you're that easy to burgle the first time, they'll come back for more.

LizzieSiddal · 18/11/2017 23:21

the thieves took her bag (about 20 years ago) phone, cards, purse, keys all gone and a right pain to replace

Peace of mind after you’ve been woken by a burglar in your bedroom, looking for valuables, is rather harder to replace than a few possessions.

mumeeee · 18/11/2017 23:22

I always take my handbag to bed with me.

Crumbs1 · 18/11/2017 23:23

It would never occur to me to take my bag upstairs. I don’t even lock the doors, usually.

BetterEatCheese · 18/11/2017 23:23

I think police advice is the opposite - leave keys visible so burglars don't have to go looking

LillyLollyLandy · 18/11/2017 23:24

We were targeted by thieves who were after our car. The keys and my bag were in the living room. That was all they took.

My friend kept her keys and bag beside the bed and woke up to find men with knives in her bedroom shouting for the keys. Her downstairs was trashed.

The police told me to always leave handbags and keys downstairs where they can be easily found.

PodgeBod · 18/11/2017 23:25

Shock well this is a scary thread to read before bed!

mumeeee · 18/11/2017 23:25

I started doing this after we were burgled one night and my bag among other things was taken. The Police actially advised me to do this. So you are being sensible

lljkk · 18/11/2017 23:25

All a bit paranoid for me...
If it's handy to have by the bed then fair enough.

I don't keep valuable stuff in a handbag. I suppose that means I'm at risk of entire house being turned upside down. Meh.

TatianaLarina · 18/11/2017 23:26

Of course I have my handbag in my room at night. Just as my husband’s wallet and keys are left on his bedside table.

If the car alarm goes off we need to be able to turn it off from the bedroom.

nancy75 · 18/11/2017 23:28

Since it happened to my parents I have had locks fitted on all the interior doors of the downstairs rooms - if someone gets in via the kitchen window they then have to get through the ( thick wood) interior door to be able to access any other part of the house. The thinking is this would make enough noise & take enough time for us to get out of the house before they got out of the room they broke in to. It’s an easy, cheap security measure that I would advise people to do.

lljkk · 18/11/2017 23:29

How does that affect ability to get out fast in case of fire, Nancy?

Applesandpears23 · 18/11/2017 23:30

I was burgled in the night once. They took my bag and didn't even make enough noise to wake me. It was all easily replaced and I am glad that they didn't have to come looking for it.

CakeNinja · 18/11/2017 23:30

Very conflicting advice by the police Confused
Guess you just weigh up the risks and take your chances.
We have done a lot to make our house secure but this possible would lead a burglar to believe we have lots of valuables worth risking the security measures to get to.
Ironically, the cctv cameras are mainly for dps work van and the workshop, not for the inside at all, and the alarm is just another layer of peace of mind really.
We have a nice car on the drive, if someone is going to risk breaking into our house, I want to give them as little reason to be exploring as possible. Cards/keys/cars can all be replaced.

nancy75 · 18/11/2017 23:31

llijkk I’m not paranoid, my mum had a machete held to her throat while 2 other men beat up my pensioner age Dad, the 4th man ransacked their house for whatever they could take - once something like that happens to your family you think about things s little more carefully

nancy75 · 18/11/2017 23:33

The locked interior doors downstairs wouldn’t stop us getting out in a fire, we would have to go past the front door to get into any of the locked rooms - in a fire we would leave by the front door. The rooms we are in are not locked. If we could get out via front door we wouldn’t be able to get to the other doors anyway

Fruitbat1980 · 18/11/2017 23:34

We were burgled, they took out 18 day old 4x4. Keys were in top draw if desk in hall. They took nothing else. Advice from police was keep keys etc out of sight/reach of front door/ window/ letterbox but don't take to bed with you. Else they'll come find them. (In our case they were stealing cars to order).
We slept through the whole thing. Horrific but could have been much worse. Insurance paid up, and we moved (we were in a 'naice' part of Hampshire, on a well lit, new-ish estate.

BackforGood · 18/11/2017 23:36

Of course YANBU. Vast majority of house burglaries, they want to be in and out quickly without risking confrontation. Not likely to come searching a bedroom where people could confront them, recognise them later, or even just get police on to tracking them when scents etc still fresh.

Crispbutty · 18/11/2017 23:36

My mum used to balance a square metal biscuit tin lid on the door handle. Most burglars will try a handle first to see if the door is unlocked and the loud clatter of the tin would be likely to put them off.

All internal doors were locked too apart from the bedroom door. In the event of a fire it would be straight out of bedroom, down stairs, and out the front door. (Keys on hall table)

Caspiana · 18/11/2017 23:36

Twice I’ve been home and heard and intruder in the house - once I was woken at night, once in the daytime. It was terrifying. I literally could not care less what they steal as long as they don’t harm me or my family so now everything is left downstairs.

We were told by police that a lot of the car thieves are professional gangs who won’t hesitate to come upstairs looking if they can’t find them.

steff13 · 18/11/2017 23:36

I leave my purse and keys in the car. It's parked in the garage, which is attached to the house.

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