You wouldn’t leave the door wide open or the keys dangling in the door of your McHenry County new home for just anyone to walk in, would you?  Be just as careful and guarded with the figurative keys to your identity. The credit experts at Equifax recently posted tips to protect yourself in the article “Avoid Identity Theft: Get in the Habit of Protecting Your Personal Information,” on the Equifax Personal Finance Blog.

Many of the tips offered seem basic, but they require a bit of extra time to execute. Do you shred mail that contains your personal information? Have you recorded all your account information and stored both electronic and hard copies in secure places? Have you changed your passwords recently? Are those passwords hidden away in a safe place or just tucked under your keyboard? Have you emptied your wallet of extra credit cards you’re not currently using?

Reorganizing the drop zones in your home may help with protecting your identity. Make sure you have a paper shredder in your home office as well as by the door where you bring the mail in. Go ahead and shred it now. . . instead of waiting for later. A little organization around the home office will go a long way toward accomplishing these goals.

The Equifax Personal Finance Blog offers more tips, too. Take a look, then come back and tell us your favorite measures for protecting your identity so we can learn from each other.