By the time that most of us are 48 hours out from a vacation, the reality is that we're so excited to go somewhere else that we usually don't tend to give the house what we are leaving behind a lot of thought. However, how much fun can our time away really be if we're worried the entire time about if we thoroughly secured our home (or not)?

For this reason, it's always a good idea to have a checklist of things that you should make sure you do before going away for several days. If you're wondering what should go on that list, we have enclosed five things below:

Make sure to have an alarm. There are a lot of people who think that they don't need a security alarm, but it's definitely an easier way to sleep at night (whether you're at home or you're away). As a matter of fact, there are almost 2 million people within the United States who currently have one and for around $1,500, it really can be a worthwhile investment.

Install motion lighting. What thief wants to try and break into a house with lights shining on them? This is why it's a good idea to install motion-sensor lights and security lights at the entrances (including the windows) of your house. Speaking of lighting, a house is pretty inviting when it's completely dark on the inside. For that reason,
you might want to leave a couple of lights on indoors too.

Alert the neighbors. Whether you have an official Neighborhood Watch on your block or not, you can't go wrong with letting the people next door to you (on both sides) know that you'll be away. Of course, the key thing here is to make sure that that are people that you can trust. If they are, they will probably be more than happy to watch over the home, get the mail from your box and the newspapers off of your porch.

Be careful with your keys. If you have someone watering your plants or feeding your cat while you're away, try not to give them a set of keys because keys can get lost and if an intruder finds them, they now have several ways to invade your home. Instead, provide a neighbor, family member or friend with one key to the front door or garage. Sometimes accidents do happen and so if they do happen to lose it, leave enough money for them to call a locksmith California, New York or wherever it is that you personally reside so that the locks can be changed immediately.

Make your doors stronger. Did you know that roughly two-thirds are all burglaries are due to forced entry into a doorway? There are two ways that you can make this more challenging for an intruder. You can either make your locks more secure by replacing the metal plate that is mounted on the door jam (which you can do for under $20 with a advice of a sale associate at a home improvement store) or you can replace your short mounting screws with three-inch ones that will reach all the way to the door's studs. The burglar won't see or feel it coming!