To ask if a burglar would bother with you?

[justhadenoughofitall]

Caveat this with I know burglaries are awful and this is a lighthearted take so don't read on if it could be upsetting.

Was on our way out and DH fussing about the double lock on the door and mumbling about not making it easy for burglars to get in, and it just struck me with 'WTAF would they take"?

We have an old TV, sofa is battered, no fancy kitchen devices, only good jewellery is my engagement ring that's permanently on me, everything is digitised and on iPhones which are with us, old laptop, no cash. I had this image of a burglar standing bewildered, shaking their heads feeling sorry for us.

Am I alone in this?

DH used to work early shifts - 6 til 2. He got home at 3pm and rang me at work ‐ he said "we've had burglars in". I must have shouted and all my colleagues were going "what's wrong?"
He said "they've tidied up."
I'm not noted for my housekeeping skills but that morning I'd had an uncharacteristic flurry of activity.

I think possibly they’d be disappointed if my house got burgled. A few switches, a few bits of jewellery and one designer handbag, and the kids tooth fairy money and I suppose they’d love the dewalt tools with big ass batteries, but that’s about it. Cars are 12+ years old and nothing special.

The dog would probably either sleep through it, or drive them nuts wanting a tummy rub! My secret weapon would be my neighbours, if they saw them they’d be straight on the phone to me/the police if they saw anything!

Yes victim support came round to us (unasked for/unannounced) a few days after and they were great. Reassuring, informative and pragmatic. Gave us loads of up to date info (eg I assumed we couldn’t have a burglar alarm set for downstair/overnights because we have cats). Also gave a few useful handouts. I really appreciated it.

From inside the house the TV and Nintendo Switch are probably going to be the only things of any resale value. They'd probably take the car, a 6 year old unimpressive hatchback with scuffed alloys.

I'm just hoping they won't know the value of our pots and pans 😂

After reading a few posts I'm thankful our house is very overlooked - at least from the front.

This is my worry - self trained guard dog. He’s a much loved pet - but will tolerate strangers in our home, so he would savage them we weren’t there.

to the poster who says their friends Doberman was drugged - my GSD won’t eat anything from strangers🙈

The psychological repercussions, knowing someone has invaded your personal space will have a greater damage than anything they will take. Living in fear everytime you go to sleep that someone may break in doesn’t sound great.

If they knew where to look, assorted inherited jewellery, some silver, my shotgun, my works laptop, ds' tower & switch. A fairly inexpensive tv and a kitchen sound system.

But apart from the electronics, it's all locked in the gun safe, and that's pretty well hidden. No-one knows it's there except me, so unlikely to happen. I hope !

Our TV is ancient and small. You could make and drink two cuppas in the time it takes to boot the computer up. My phone is 4 years old.
We don't go for branded stuff.
I think they'd feel sorry for us if they broke in.

The feeling of unease in your own home is very unpleasant.
DH left his crossbody bag on the back of a chair at a trade fair, went to get napkins and it was gone: wallet, phone, documents, car and house keys.

It was all blocked and replaced but the idea of a petty criminal selling keys with a known address to someone higher up the food chain, and them just walking in to take/do whatever they wanted, had me phoning the locksmiths within an hour.

I was burgled once and they took my copper jar!

That was a low point.

Tools are a valuable grab, especially batteries

It's not about if they take anything..... (i have nothing to take)
It's the thought someone had been in my safe place and I'd no longer feel safe there. Also the fact they'd rifled through my underwear drawer

My GDP were burgled back in the 70s .They took jewellery and made a dreadful mess as well .Its not just what they would take as such.The feeling someone has been in your home gone through your things that is awful

The only thing I think a burglar would take from our house are the gaming PCs. We have three of them worth probably £1-3K each. Everything else in the house is old, worn, outdated and grimy!

DH does have an awful lot of gaming minis which are worth a fair bit but then they take up a lot of space for their value and I'm not sure a burglar would know what they were looking at anyway. Similarly I have a couple of animals that are worth a couple hundred each but I'm not sure a burglar would think to take them.

Otherwise I have a couple bits of jewellery but not more than a couple hundred quid's worth. We have no cash, no designer anything, no collectibles, and no electronics bar the PCs and a very old telly.

Our dogs would annoy them so much with their barking, they’d just go straight back out.

@SquashPenguin 😢 that’s the worst, so sorry! Was so relieved my dog was there and unharmed, the rest of the stuff is totally replaceable

If someone breaks into our house they will get some things that have resale value and will maybe even get £1,000-£1,500 out of resale depending on what they can take. Xbox PS5 (actually all previous versions of PlayStation in the loft too including games), bikes, TV (not particularly big and quite old), 2x work laptops, work phone, ipads, camera and lenses. All of that stuff is covered by insurance and can easily be replaced.

It’s taking my jewellery which is absolutely worthless, maybe £60 in total from resale, but is all sentimental. My grandma’s rings, my 18th bracelet from my aunt who is now dead, the first bracelet DH bought me when we had both started working, our wedding rings and my engagement ring. It’s if the think our artwork is worth anything, the artists are phenomenal and I think they should be worth something but they aren’t again just huge sentimental value.

It’s when they raid my craft store looking for something better, just trashing the materials that I’ve gathered over years just to find something of valuable (even though the craft supplies probably would sell for a couple of hundred if they could be bothered). It’s the hassle of them stealing our work laptops, they’re obviously insured through work but it’s the inconvenience of being unable to work for a few days. It’s also the harm they could do my dogs. Hopefully, them barking would be enough of a deterrent because if we’re out, the dogs are secured so wouldn’t immediately greet a burglar. Finally, it’s the emotional damage and lack of feeling safe.

My parents' house was left unburgled when most of the rest in the street were raided.

They had a small spaniel and less stuff a burglar might have taken (their elderly car was held together with string on occasions) so put it down to that.

However it turned out that one neighbour 's sons (adults who had mysteriously been'away' for a year but were now settled in with their parents) were responsible for the crimes !

That family had always been marked as 'not like us' by the (quite well-to-do) people who lived on the street.

My dad was the only neighbour who always chatted in a friendly way to the burglar family. (He chats to everyone and is no snob! ) perhaps that saved our family?

I always wonder this too

We do have booze! They could have a good party

Not proud of this but it makes a funny story to tell, at least!

I had a bailiff come round once because of a debt my ex had left me with (joint debt).

The bailiff walked into the living room, looked around, asked if I'd just moved in (I'd been living there 4 years at that point) then shook his head and said "oh darling, you've got nothing have you?".

Decided it wasn't worth bothering to look upstairs as the contents of my house wouldn't raise enough to cover the debt, set up a payment plan and left.

So, no, I'm not worried about burglars 😆

Look at their derpy faces 😍

They only go for cars where I've lived and it's been that way for decades.

Gaming tech here, so definitely stuff to resell. And if they are into houseplants DH will help them load the van!

But...I've got 3 Border Collies who would hear the burglar merely contemplating their entry at the top of the drive & they ain't playing.

Jokes aside - we got burgled when I was a kid & we were on holiday. They smashed stuff up, not all that much to take, but (& this is the bit that stayed with me) the police found one of our large kitchen knives buried in my parents bed.

The idea they broke in then stalked round our house with a huge knife in their hand really frightened me. For years I fought DH about having a knife block in the kitchen, I wanted them in a drawer out of sight.

Ha… some skank came into out our garden the other week and skidded in the sloppy dog shit I’d not bothered to pick up!! That’ll learn them.