Without a doubt, the last month has been filled with economic uncertainty. The United States Congress took forever to raise the debt limit, having the new legislature signed into law the very same day the country was due to hit the debt limit. Last week stocks plunged, regained ground, plunged, and came back again.

Because of these things, fears of another world wide double-dip recession – and maybe even a depression – are starting to run through people’s minds.

Due to all of this economic and political uncertainty, people quite literally are looking for something to keep them and their cash, jewelry, gold, etc. safe. And that’s why, according to an article published on CNNMoney entitled “Booming Business of Fear: Sales of Safes Soar,” sales of home safes and vaults climbed dramatically over the past week.

Author Blake Ellis writes:

Amid the market turmoil, sales of security safes and vaults have spiked. While some shoppers sought to protect whatever valuables they had left, others needed a place to stash their newly-acquired safe haven assets such as gold and cash. Port Charlotte, Fla.-based Value Safes said it sold an average of $13,000 in safes a day in the past week, more than tripling its daily average of $3,500 from the previous week. On Amazon.com, SentrySafe’s $170 1.2-cubic foot combination safe was among the site’s biggest “movers and shakers” Friday, with sales rising 44% over the past 24 hours. Print Maximum Security, which sells safes for jewelry, coins, guns and other valuables, said it has seen demand climb by more than 30% over the past two weeks. “People are just plain scared,” said Nancy Bryan, owner of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Maximum Security, who noted that sales started increasing about three years ago at the onset of the recession. “What is happening to our financial markets is the most recent addition,” she added. “Folks are worried about the decreasing value of the dollar, burglaries on the rise in their neighborhoods … and even the possibility that the unrest we are seeing in other parts of the world slipping over to our country.”

To me, it’s pretty amazing how much the economic outlook has changed over the past few months. It seems just back in April, economists were calling for rapid economic expansion during the second half of 2011 and in to 2012. Then as things like the debt-ceiling debacle, lack of job growth, and the European debt crisis began to unfold (or re-unfold as was the case with jobs and Europe) started to reign in those expectations.

Now, the expectations are so dire for some that they are purchasing safes to protect their cash and other valuables in case everything goes haywire.

That’s a really big change in sentiment for just a few months time!

Hopefully things don’t get so bad that the safes are necessary, but for only $170, it might not be a bad investment to make, especially if you don’t already have one for important documents like birth certificates, passports, titles to your home and cars, etc.