I find that people tend to let down all their guards when things are festive, for example, at a Fourth of July barbecue and other similar gatherings. People leave cars wide open, leave valuables laying around, leave doors unlocked and wide open, etc.

Now that your "cherry has been popped", it will be shame on you if this same type of thing happens to you again. You don't have anymore passes to lounge around happy-go-lucky without any situational awareness. I recommend to be more aware generally. Lock doors. Keep an eye out. Get a good watch dog. Fire your current watch dog.

Then again, at some point, you can't totally avoid a highly determined thief. If the thief is determined enough, they'll eventually get you. As a practical matter, you can't eliminate the possibility of all theft. Hopefully, you'll only have to worry about petty thieves.

I hear you. I carry a man bag and do the same thing. I know it's not the best thing to do security-wise, but the downside of losing things or forgetting something at home discourages me from practicing better security.

Regarding the "all-in-one" effect- my wife does have book with all the other credit cards- Kohl's,Best Buy, and all the airline cards.... but its too big to carry, she keeps it in our office (THANK GOD)- now, how do I hide that......

It did remind me I need to remove my SSN from my wallet.

So-

- adding deadbolt to door between garage and house.

- investigating Alarm system

- double checking all doors/gates each night

- checking credit report for activity often

I've noticed a lot of people carry their SScard in their wallet and I was taught the same. It wasn't until I had kids of my own and got their ssn's that I saw the wringing on the rest of the paper you punch the card out from said "do not keep in wallet".
I have all my cards like that in my important documents binder in a gun safe bolted to the floor and wall in my house. For someone to steal it they would have to rip the safe off the floor, then get it down the stairs without squashing themselves

Some other measures that are cheap but effective.
- Add a high security strikeplate to the doorframe around the deadbolt ($6). The deadbolt may be strong, but the inch of pine that makes up the doorframe isn't. Six 3" screws going into the studs through a steel plate is another matter completely.

- Install security hinges on the door ($5). If the door swings into the garage, then the hinge pins are accessable from the garage. Pop those out and the lock won't matter. Security hinges halves lock to each other when the door is closed or make it difficult to remove the pin.

- I do a nightly walkaround the last thing before bed. A cheap and convenient solution to check the garage door is to put a fisheye door viewer ($5-$20) in the door. You can check it without letting in the cold. Also good for "what was that noise?" moments.

-Lastly. Not really cheap but effective. Use a credit monitoring service ($10-$20/month). They will alert you if anybody runs a credit check on you (e.g. Why is the BestBuy in Chi-town running a credit check on you when you haven't applied for card or a loan there?).

I do the same thing. I am forced to lock my car with a key, so I've made it a habit to attach my key chain to my EDC purse. (My wallet, glasses, etc, go inside the purse.) That's eliminated my forgetting my purse in the car but I do occassionally forget to put a bank card back in when I've jumped out for gas and just shoved it in the my pocket as I fill up. The purse then goes on a hook inside the front door when I get home.