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Safe Buying Guide - How to Buy a Safe?

Home or Office Safe Buying Guide

How to buy a home safe or an office safe? Things to consider before buying a home/office safe?

Buying a safe needs to be done right at the first time, it requires some thinking, planning, looking around and decision making. We are trying to make the process easier for you before you leave the comfort of your home to search for the best deal available. Some of the decision to make before you buy are:

  1. Should the safe be fireproof, or the content stored in the safe doe not need to be protected from fire?
  2. How big or small the safe should be?
  3. What kind of safe is needed?
  4. The dimensions, the height, the width and the depth of the safe and if it fits in the designated space for it.
  5. The price of the safe.

We get questions from our customers regarding our fire and theft safes, some of these questions like:

  • What kind of safe should I buy (What is the best safe for me)?
  • Where to Buy a Safe (Locale vs. Online)?
  • What should I use a safe for (what to store in my safe)?

NOTE: This is just a guide you can use when buying  a safe, it is not a word of God, use it if it helps and ignore it if you think it does not.

We will try to answer these questions to the best of our knowledge as we think is beneficial for our customers to determine which safe is right for them.

  • Where do you want to use the safe? Is it a home safe or office safe? Usually home safes are for personal use, while office or business safe is used to store business records/data which can grow over the years. So the size of the safe is determine by where the safe is used and what will stored in the safe.
    • Tip: for office safe select a safe larger than what you have to store, you have more to store next year and the year after..
  • What kind of safe to buy - Baying a safe guide?
  • Do you need a fire proof safe to protect valuables from fire?  In this case you need to select a fire proof safe, there are safes that can withstand fire for 1 or 2 hours, the choice is yours.
  • If the safe is used to protect valuable from theft only then you do not need a fire proof safe, but it is highly recommended since it only a few more dollars. Tip: select a burglary safe that can be bolted to the ground for added security.
  • Drop safes are great for giving access to everyone to deposit cash, documents but they are not fire proof.
  • If you are planning on using your safe for data or media then a media safe or they are called sometimes data safe is the best way to go, they provide fire proof, moister and water proof.
  • Do you want to hide your safe behind a picture? Then a wall safe is the way to go, just keep in mind not all wall safes are fire proof safes, most wall safe fit between the standard studs in your home or office wall, before shopping for a wall safe find out the distance between the studs in your wall to minimize the installation time and expenses.
  • Tip: Selecting the location to install a wall safe before buying one is very important, some wall safes are deeper that the wall thickness and it will stick out from the other side of the wall, having a closet or a storage room in the other side of the wall is a perfect way to hide the back of the safe while the front is hidden behind a picture.
  • For large safes and extra large safes see our selection
  • Gun safes: For hand gun safes you need to consider a few things like: do you keep the gun in the house? Do you carry it in your car? If you keep in the house and you want the children to be safe around it then you have quite a few safes that you can choose from, basically any home safe will do.

 

  • Now you know what kind and size of safe you need, the obvious question where to buy a safe?
a. Local stores ? if you have the time to drive around town and compare prices then do it, just be careful, some store markups are very high, after all they have to pay a large utility bills and employees, and guess who will pay for that? you. Also pushy salesman might make a safe looks like the right safe for you when it is not, just to make a sale and commission, add to all that local tax.
 
b. Online Stores ? Convenient, no pushy salesman, no large overhead and the markup usually a lot lower than your locale stores, be careful of the shipping charges, some stores have excessive shipping, some do not charge tax.

This was a guide lines to help you select your safe, whether you are looking for a fire proof safe, drop safe, wall safe, media safe, depository safe, data safe, you can use the same method and determine which safe is best for you.

Other question also been asked, what should I store in my safe?

Many customers ask us about what they should keep in a safe. Below you will find some suggested records and recommended lengths of time to keep those records. When in doubt, please consult your accountant or financial adviser.

Record

Recommended retention period

Taxes

  • Returns
  • Charitable contributions
  • Mortgage interest statements
  • Retirement plan contributions

7 Years

  • The IRS has three years from your filing dated to audit your return for good faith errors.
  • The IRS has six year to challenge your return if it thinks you under reported your gross income by 25% of more.
  • There is no time limit if you failed to file your return or filed a fraudulent return.

IRA Contributions

Permanently

If you made a nondeductible contribution to an IRA, keep the records indefinitely to prove you already paid tax on this money when the time comes to withdraw.

Retirement Statements

1 Year to Permanently

  • Keep the quarterly statement from your 401K or other plans until you receive the annual summary; if everything matches up, then toss the quarterlies
  • Keep the annual summaries until you retire or close the account.

Bank Records

1 Year to Permanently

  • Go through your checks each year and keep those related to your taxes, business expenses, housing and mortgage payments
  • Throw away those that have no long-term importance

Brokerage Statements

Until you sell the securities

You need the purchase/sales slips from your brokerage or mutual fund to prove whether you have capital gains or losses at tax time.

Bills

From one year to permanently

  • Go through your bills once a year
  • In most cases, when the canceled check from a paid bill has been returned, you can get rid of the bill.
  • Bills for big purchases such as cars, rugs, appliances, antiques, jewelry, computers, etc. should be kept in an insurance file for proof of their value in the event of loss or damage

Credit card receipts and statements

From 45 days to 7 years

  • Keep your original receipts until you get your monthly statement; toss the receipts if the two match up.
  • Keep the statements for seven years if tax related expenses are documented

Paycheck stubs

One Year

  • When you receive your annual W-2 form from your employer, make sure the information on the stubs matches
  • If it does, toss the stubs
  • If it does't demand a corrected form known as a W-2c.

House/Condominium

From 6 years to permanently

  • Keep all records documenting the purchase price and the cost of all permanent improvements, such as remodeling, additions and installations
  • Keep records of expenses incurred in selling and buying the property, such as legal fees and your real estate agent's commission, for six years after you sell your home.
  • Holding on to these records is important because any improvements you make on your house, as well as expenses in selling it, are added to the original purchase price or cost basis. This adds up to a greater profit (also known as capital gains)

Other writting: how to of safe, Safe Buying Guide, How to buy a gun safe?, how to by a drop safe?

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