By
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Discontinue delivery of the newspaper, and any other regular deliveries that you receive at your home. Do this by calling the company or stopping in to tell them the dates that you do not want deliveries. Do not leave a note taped to the door to notify the delivery person, other people might see the note and be alerted to your absence.
Step2
Notify the Post Office to forward, or stop delivery, of your mail while you are away. The other option is to make arrangements with a trusted neighbor to remove your mail from the box daily.
Step3
Arrange for someone to provide lawn care of snow removal while you are away from home so your house does not appear empty.
Step4
Put indoor and outdoor lighting on a timer. Set it to go on and off at the same times of day that you would usually turn them on and off if you were home. It is also a good idea to put a radio on a timer so it can come on and off throughout the day.
Step5
Leave your shades and blinds in whatever position you would normally have them. If possible, you could have a neighbor open them in the morning and close them at night, if that is your normal routine.
Step6
Check all windows and doors in the house to make sure they are locked before leaving home.
Step7
Activate your alarm system if you have one. If you do not have an alarm system and you are away from home frequently, you might want to consider purchasing one. If you do not want to purchase one, pick up window stickers that say the house is monitored and protected by an alarm system and put them on the windows anyway. The stickers might be enough of a deterrent for a would be thief.
