How to Professionally Monitor Your Home for Less Than $20

Home security systems can watch for everything from break-ins and porch piracy to fires and flooding. But from DIY security systems to a professionally installed home kit, buyers must make a choice: Pay extra for professional monitoring or save with self-monitoring. With a professional service, your system connects to a monitoring center that can keep an eye on your home and contact emergency responders even if you aren't available -- but that can come at a hefty price. Traditional home security monitoring from companies like ADT or Frontpoint tend to start at around $50 per month, and quickly rise with add-ons and extra fees (when I tested ADT’s latest system, professional monitoring services came to more than $70 in the end). Those are steep fees for average users, but the good news is there are ways to bring monitoring costs down. Let’s go over the best ways to get important home emergency services down to $30 or even $20 per month, about what you pay for Netflix and much more use ... Read full article.