When a burglar enters a home, he only spends about eight minutes searching for valuables. Most burglars know where people hide their valuables -- in the underwear drawer, the sock drawer, under the bed. You can make sure the burglar sends all his time searching and not finding anything by hiding your valuables in unexpected or hard to reach places.

Probably the best way to keep your most important documents and valuables is in your safe deposit box at the bank. The next best way is inside a professional safe, but unfortunately a secure safe can cost hundreds of dollars.

An inexpensive but effective way to hide your valuables is a diversion safe. These safes do not look like the typical steel lockbox safe. Instead, diversion safes are disguises like a hollowed-out book or soda can. Diversion safes look like containers designed to hide your valuables in plain sight.

Common diversion safes include fake brand name containers for soda pop, canned fruit, home cleaners, or even novels. Diversion safes have removable tops or bottoms so that you can put your goods in them, and the safes are weighed so that they appear normal when handled.

Diversion safes cost much less than normal safes. A soda pop diversion safe, for example, usually costs under $20. A faux wall socket to store money and jewelry costs around $10. A fake florescent light container, which can hold more belongings than most diversion safes, costs around $20. A popular and effective diversion safe is a fake stone to hide an extra home key in outside, usually costing around $10. Compare these prices to $50 for a small home safe. Unlike more expensive home safes, however, diversion safes are not fireproof.

Diversion safes are a great gift for college students living in the dorms or with nosey roommates. Many types of diversion safes are for sale on the Internet.