Holiday’s and other busy times bring out the worse type of crowd, which is the purse snatchers. This does not mean that you have to make yourself an easy victim, with some effort you can help make yourself much less attractive to the purse snatchers in your area and help ensure you return home with everything you left with.

First, if any way possible leave your purse at home. This means reducing the amount of stuff you take with you yes, but it also means you have no purse to snatch. Taking just a small wallet with some cash, a credit card if necessary, and your ID is much less bulky than carrying around an entire purse and also much easier to hang onto as well.

Second, leave any excess at home. This includes cash, credit cards and anything else that you do not need an abundance of. For example, if you are carrying around an entire drug store in your purse it is going to get heavy and cause you to become much more relaxed in how you carry your purse, reducing the weight in the bag means you are less tired and more alert to pay attention to who is getting close to your purse. In addition the less cash and credit cards, that you are carrying the fewer problems you will have if your purse is snatched trying to replace items.

Third, always stay in areas that are well lit, and never go to an isolated or dark area by yourself. Try to find someone who you trust to escort you if you need to go somewhere that is dark and always hold your purse very tightly. A woman walking by herself with purse in a dark area is just a sitting target. Make sure that you avoid looking this way by avoiding those dark areas.

Fourth, if you have to carry a purse consider keeping your wallet in your pocket. This will help you avoid losing your money, ID, or credit cards in the event that your purse is stolen. Remember, the less you have in your purse that is valuable the better off you are. Keeping everything in your purse is not a wise idea if you are carrying a lot of items.

Fifth, always keep an eye on your surroundings. Never lose sight of who is around you. If someone looks suspicious, you should especially watch them, but never ignore the people who seem “normal” as well. You never know what a thief will look like, so carefully observing everyone who is around you will help you make sure you are on guard and well prepared to protect yourself and your stuff.

The final suggestion that you should follow is never fight with anyone who is attempting to snatch your purse. Regardless of whether it cost $10 or $1,000 it is not worth your life to fight over a purse. If someone is attempting to snatch your purse let them have it, and instead take careful note of where they are going, and what they look like so you can immediately notify the authorities in your area and file a police report to press charges.

Never feel as if not fighting is your way of letting the criminal win. Allowing someone to take your purse is much easier to handle than allowing someone to cause you serious harm. Never do anything that can jeopardize your safety. A purse is easily replaceable while it is much harder to replace your life. Being safe is a conscious choice that you can make, choose wisely.