Sadly enough, I see home invasion stories such as this in the news almost every day. Usually intruders just kick-in the door. In my opinion, the most effective and least expensive thing you can do to protect yourself is to add good door security hardware to your doors to make them as secure as possible. You can get what's called a Door Security Pro ( http://www.DoorSecurityPro.com ) which will stop door kick-ins. It's a long, thick metal plate that reinforces wooden door frames which is what usually breaks when someone kicks in a door.