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Comment by luckyland | Hacker News Reader

Do most burglars really assume people store cash in the home in the first place?

It makes me wonder if I'm missing something really basic about how most people organize their finances and homes.

A lot of the economy is still cash-dominated, especially among immigrants, the poor, and people with under- or un-reported income sources. That's where a burglar really hopes to score. (See also how part 2 of the article mentions a burglar's hope to find hidden drugs.)

I think most burglars would be after possessions over cash, since they're harder to hide and more likely to be left out. (I don't lock my computers up, and they are out in the open, though we do have 4 vicious-sounding dogs.)

I keep a few grand in small bills stashed around the house. It's one of those things you just might be ridiculously glad you have in the unlikely event you need it. Imagine a natural disaster or a ten day blackout.

Or just losing your wallet with all your cards...

That isn't as disruptive as you might imagine.

I'd like to know how to survive for a week without my debit card, then. It's my only really consistent source of money.

Or imagine the FBI freezing your bank accounts. If there's a 10 day blackout, odds are you're not going to able to buy much, anyway; ditto for natural disasters - and you can usually drive far enough away to get money from a place with power. If your assets are locked, you're screwed no matter where you go.

well I've contemplated such acts myself, and while Cash is one of the main goals, high value items such as jewelry, computers, and various electronics are the main target... If I was going to actually rob a house, I would make 2 quick sweeps, the first for the high value items stated above, and the second for weapons and money. And it's not always high value items that are taken, I once had a friend who had his electric razor stolen, it wasn't terribly expensive 50-60 dollars at most, but apparently the thief needed one.

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