Where Are My Keys???

By Patty Gardner

Have you ever locked your keys in your car?  Or locked yourself out of the house?  That’s a mistake that can be a nuisance and an expense.  I was at the gas station the other day and parked behind a lady in a van who was just finishing up with the locksmith.  You can guess what happened to her!

But there are ways to prevent unnecessary hassle and expense when you lock your keys where they shouldn’t be.   Here are a few ideas:

1. Hide a key somewhere on your automobile.  My husband has a little hide-a-key box on his truck (I won’t tell you where!).  He’s used it several times!

2. Hide a key somewhere outside your house.  But you definitely need to be creative about where you hide it.  Under the mat or in a flower pot on the front porch is probably not a good place.  Think outside the box on this one!

3. Give a house key to a trusted neighbor or nearby family member.  Then if you get locked out you can retrieve the spare or see if they can bring it to you.

4. It’s a good idea to have a spare key for all your cars and doors in a central location.  We have a cabinet where we keep our spare keys.  Those keys have come in handy MANY times!  In fact, just today my daughter was visiting and locked her keys in her car.  Lucky for her I still had her spare key hanging in the cabinet.

Another time I was home alone and a bit jumpy so I locked the door between the kitchen and the garage.  I remember telling myself to unlock that door before I went anywhere.  Unfortunately I forgot and when I returned from the store later that day, I was locked out!!!  Fortunately I eventually remembered there was a key in the cabinet.

5. If you’re unlucky enough to have a car with an expensive key, a spare key for the cabinet might not be practical.  But there are still options.  Sometimes you can have a spare key made that will only open the door but won’t start the engine.  And most of the time all you need that spare key for is to get inside the car where the keys are!

6. Some people keep a spare key in their wallet.  If you happen to lock your keys in the car but not your wallet or purse, you can retrieve the key from your wallet and you’re on your way.

7. If you have a lot of keys and it’s not obvious what they’re for, it might be a good idea to label them.  You can attach a tag, use a sharpie to write directly on the key, use a special key chain, etc.

So don’t get caught without your keys!  Try one or more of these ideas to prevent future hassle and expense from misplaced keys!