Affordable Do It Yourself Home Security

Place a wooden dowel or a cut-off broom handle inside the lower track of your sliding glass doors or windows. This will prevent the doors or windows from being opened. Install through-the-door or window pins or upper track screws to prevent sliding glass doors and windows from being lifted up and out of their tracks.

Install a high quality deadbolt lock with a one-inch throw bolt to deter lock-picking, and upgrade to a four-screw strike plate with three-inch screws. The strike plate upgrade will prevent your door from being kicked open. Install a high quality knob-in-lock set with a deadlatch mechanism to keep a burglar from entering your home by using a credit card to slip the lock.

Place an infrared motion sensor light at the rear of your home. The light will come on when it detects motion or body heat. Ensure that all the light bulbs are working in your doorway or pathway lights and use these lights. Install photocell lights that will come on when it gets dark, and go back off when it becomes light.

Attach timers to a lamp or two in your home so that the lights will automatically come on and go off when you are away. This will create the illusion someone is home.

Post signs in your yard or attach stickers to the doors and windows of your home that say "Beware of Dog" or "Neighborhood Watch Program." You may even be able to find fake security system decals that you can place on your home's windows that lead a burglar to believe you have an alarm system installed.