8 Safety Tips For Women Living Alone For The First Time - Page 15
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Tell your neighbors about your visitors
If you have a boyfriend, family member or friend that is going to stop by on a regular basis, introduce them to your neighbors, or, at least, point them out to your neighbors.
What it does
You want your neighbors to be familiar with who should and shouldn’t be lurking around your apartment. If they see someone trying to break in who claims to be your boyfriend, they should know whether or not that person is telling the truth.
Learn about your neighbor’s visitors
You should, on the flip side, learn who regularly visits your building. Go around and introduce yourself to your neighbors. If you see them in the hallway with somebody, introduce yourself to their guest, too.
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What it does
You, too, should know if someone is posing as a guest to the building in an attempt to break in.
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Don’t post online about it
You’ll be tempted to post brags online about your first apartment that you get all to yourself. You’ll want to post selfies of your apartment, and you’ll want to Tweet about how peaceful it is to have a place all to yourself. But don’t do it.
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What it does
Obviously, you’ll tell friends and family that you’re living alone now, but don’t forget that it’s not just friends and family who see your social media posts. You don’t want complete strangers knowing that you live by yourself.
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Don’t post photos of your building
You may have an amazing pool, a gorgeous view of the ocean, and the most beautiful lobby anybody has ever seen. But keep those photos to yourself and to private albums that you share with friends and family.
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What it does
If somebody really wanted to find you, they could piece information about where you live together from your photos. They might, for example, recognize the surrounding neighborhood in the photo from your balcony. If you have any crazy exes who keep trying to get back in touch, you definitely don’t want to post photos of your new location.
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Take deliveries in the lobby
If you order delivery food or anything that gets dropped off do not give your apartment unit number. Just say that you will meet the delivery person in the lobby or on the street.
What it does
You should do the best you can to control who knows that you live by yourself. You don’t want the total stranger delivering your pizza to see that you live by yourself in your apartment.
Get a dog!
There are so many wonderful reasons to get a dog, especially if you live alone. They’re incredible companions, they teach you a sense of responsibility, they’re good for your health and so on. But more so, they bark.
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What it does
Most burglars and intruders are deterred by the sound of a barking dog. They don’t want to draw too much attention to their presence, so they usually pass up on homes with dogs. Dogs also have incredible hearing and senses of smell, and will usually alert you to an intruder long before he has gotten into your home, giving you a better chance of escaping.
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Buy a bat
Depending on where you live the gun laws could be different. Plus, you may not want a gun in your home. But no matter where you live, you can purchase a baseball bat.
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What it does
It’s one of the most old-fashioned “weapons” in the book, but it never fails to intimidate. You may not want to think of ever having to use that bat, but if somebody broke into your home while you were asleep, you’d be glad that bat was right next to your bed.
Be extra careful about dates
When you lived with roommates, you were probably smart enough not to meet first dates at your home, or even to have third dates to your home. But when you live alone you should extend that to five or six dates.
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What it does
If you meet men online, at speed dating events or anywhere where they haven’t been previously vetted by common acquaintances, you know nothing about their background. And sociopathic men are the best at appearing kind, charming and normal. It takes a while of dating someone to really get to know them, and now that you live alone, you can’t take any chances of inviting men over who you don’t know well.
