The craziest places people hide their cash around the home

Even though it means the money isn’t earning any interest, will be devaluing at the rate of inflation and is at risk of burglars, over 3% of people keep a total of £5.6bn worth of physical cash literally hidden in their homes.

And even if you think that you’ve expertly hidden your money in genius locations, the chances are a burglar could think of it too – or at least throw stuff around until they find it.

Here are some of the craziest places that people hide their cash at home …

Under the mattress

This is not just an expression, it’s actually a really common place for people to hide their cash. In fact, one in ten Brits admit that they use their mattress as their own (insecure) vault. Because of that, it’s one of the first places a burglar will check.

In your underpants drawer

It’s a popular place to stash both cash and jewellery, which means it’s often the jackpot for thieves who will make a beeline for your pants drawer. And no, hiding the cash at the back of the drawer doesn’t make it any safer. Sorry.

In a (surprisingly portable) safe

You might decide to get a strong box or safe for your cash but, spoiler alert, if a thief can carry it away then all you’re really doing is giving them something to carry your cash in.

In a kid’s room

This seems like the perfect place to hide some money. Why would a thief bother checking a baby or child’s room when they could be checking adults’ bedrooms for jewellery boxes and expensive watches?

Unfortunately, there’s another pretty big risk in a child’s bedroom: the child. Kids are very unpredictable and so there’s always a chance they will open the bag or box and play with the contents. It would be pretty upsetting to discover that your hard-earned cash has been shredded to make straw for My Little Ponies or thrown around the garden.

In the laundry basket

Not only is this an unsafe place to hide your money, there’s also the risk that you’ll accidentally scoop it up and put it on a hot wash. You know that sinking feeling you get when you spot a red sock swirling around in a washing machine full of white clothes? Now imagine how you’d feel if it was a bundle of £20 notes you could see sloshing around.

Buried in the garden

If you’re starting to realise that hiding money in the home isn’t safe then you can probably also work out that the garden is even less safe.

Burying money might put off an opportunistic burglar but what about people spotting you digging from nearby windows? And what if you can’t find it again? And what if the bag it’s in rots and your cash turns to mush? Even the new polymer notes aren’t completely indestructible.

In the freezer

Putting your money ‘on ice’ might seem like a perfect place to hide it, but there have been far too many films where cash is hidden in a freezer. Even the stupidest thief can take inspiration from Hollywood and find your savings chilling next to the frozen peas.

In a tampon box

Okay, on the surface this sounds like a great place to hide cash. After all, it’s a small, anonymous box that a burglar isn’t that likely to go through. But it’s also a box that visitors to your home might well open if they need to borrow some sanitary products. The last thing you want is to hide your money somewhere people might go looking for things.

In the toilet cistern

Again, do you think that burglars don’t watch films? This is such a common place for people in films to hide drugs/money/the secret plans so it’s also a really common place for thieves to check – especially if they have a hunch that you have cash hidden somewhere.