A couple of weeks ago, we were rushing though the airport and spotted a HSBC billboard ad - "$ 1.6 Billion is hidden in the backs of American sofas"

It got us thinking about the different places people hide money around the house, which lead us to www.thesimpledollar.com and an interesting blog...

"Twenty Places to Hide Money at Home

Besides Under Your Mattress"

In the event of a burglary, under the mattress is one of the first places burglars look for cash, so by finding another place to store it, you're drastically reducing the likelihood of having your emergency cash stash found or stolen.

My recommendation is to choose one of these hiding places and place your cash there rather than actually under your mattress:

1. In an envelope taped to the bottom of a kitchen shelf.
2. In a watertight plastic bottle or jar in the tank on the back of your toilet.
3. In an envelope at the bottom of your child's toy box.
4. In a plastic baggie (or in foil) in the freezer.
5. Inside of an old sock in the bottom of your sock drawer.
6. In an empty medicine bottle in the bathroom.
7. In the pocket of a particular shirt in your closet.
8. In a "random" folder in your filing cabinet
9. In an envelope taped to the bottom of your cat's litter box.
10. In an envelope taped to the back of a wall decoration.
11. In between several pages in a random book or two on your bookshelf.
12. Buried in a jar in the back yard.
13. In an envelope in the glove compartment of your car.
14. Underneath a potted plant (or even buried in a small jar in the soil).
15. In an envelope taped to the bottom of a dresser drawer so you can reach it from the inside of the drawer below it.
16. Inside of a big coffee cup in the back of a cupboard.
17. Inside your Christmas decoration box.
18. Inside of an empty bottle of Guinness in the back of the fridge with the cap seemingly in place.
19. In a plastic bag inside a flour or coffee container.
20. In an envelope inside of a DVD case.

Some of these ideas make more sense than others. Now, it's up to you to decide if you want to use any of these storage spaces for your important stuff!