Houstonians buying safes on the increase

It's to keep their money safe, both literally and figuratively.

Paul Nelson is a salesman and lately he is showing a lot more of his safes as sales are on the rise.

"They have gone up about 25-30% in the last two months," said Nelson who works for the Sportsman Steel Safe Company.

And you could say Nelson owes his extra commissions to a combination of a break down in trust and a breakdown in our national banking system.

As banks began closing months ago worried customers lined up outside waiting for access to their cash and valuables locked away in their safety deposit boxes. Not long after, consumers were looking to stash their worries behind a personal dead bolt.

And Nelson has heard all the reasons.

"Bank failures, stock market, fears of joblessness leading to more crime," he said.

But not everyone is shopping at safe warehouses. Derrick Goodwill found his peace of mind on an Office Depot shelf.

Though he says he and his wife are just starting out, he would rather have a personal safe than a safety deposit box because he always has access.

"We wanted to have something at the house to put our valuables in," Goodwill said.

Whether you feel your valuables and cash are safer in the bank or your own personal vault, Nelson is still offering his sales pitch.

"Well if the bank is not going to be there tomorrow, then I might as well keep it in my safe," Nelson said.

For extra protection, experts say anything less than a thousand pounds should be bolted to the ground. And make sure a safe offers both burglar and fire protection.