A very small percentage of people are burglarized in their home each year in this country. The problem is, you can never be sure you won't be one of them. So, do you feel safe in your home? When I was growing up we never locked the doors at my parent's house. Those days of feeling that safe are long gone.

The average family in the United States lives paycheck to paycheck. They have many things they need to worry about financially. When it comes to spending money they want to save it whenever they can and they tend to not spend on "luxury" items. A quality home security system is one of those luxuries, or is it?

Having worked in the insurance industry the last eight years I know how important it is to have a security system. I know that the insurance company will do whatever they can to increase your homeowner's premium and sell you a bill of goods. I also know when and if a loss occurs they will do whatever they can to pay you as little as they can. A lot of people rely on insurance companies to save them for some reason. They had a loss and think the insurance company will make it all OK. Well, I am here to tell you this is not the case. Insurance companies are multi-billion companies for a reason and it is not for being overly generous with your premiums when you make a claim.

Maybe I am just overly cautious. Maybe I feel having a security system in my home is worth more than the average person. I would just hate to see what would happen if my house was broken into and something happened to my wife or daughter. I can replace my TV and my furniture. I can repair any damage done. But when I hear of children being kidnapped or women being raped in their homes I just want to do everything I can to prevent that from happening.

So, the real question is do you think a few hundred dollars is too much to spend to protect your material belongings and your safety as well as your families? Many people think in order to have a quality security system you need to have one that is monitored by a company such as ADT, Brinks, or Guardian. Those companies charge a monthly monitoring fee. Those companies are also billion dollar companies for a reason.

Technology is constantly improving and as a result you can build yourself a quality security system for a fraction of the cost of a system from any of the three companies mentioned in the previous paragraph. I also think that they will do a better job in protecting your home. I did a comparison of ADT and a build your own system through X10 Wireless. A basic system through ADT would cost me $2226 for the first year only. This is a combination of the system cost and the $47.99 monthly monitoring fee. I built a better system through X10 Wireless for just under $700 and this was a much more advanced system, to even include multiple cameras and recording devices. I could have added a few more components if I wanted and still be well under $1000.

My suggestion to you, take a look and see how affordable it really is. You may be pleasantly surprised at just how inexpensive a nice system is.