I'll give you a little hint o this one. open all door and remove all debris from your shelter. DO NOT loot everything, but in stead ONLY loot what you need to mke the metal workshop, and a crowbar and shovel. Leave the reast where it is, then it will not be robbed.
As you do not need to worry about food ( at all ) until day 3, you could see if you have time to make a bed on the first day. If not then don't take the materials, leave them where they are.
Then you go out at night, spending the first night on a safe place with plenty of everything.
Run through the place, use the shovel and crowbar for access, then move all the loot to one spot for easier access next time.
Remember ( having it written down for the first 7 days is good) exactly what you need to make the bed, and the stove ( for food on day 3) and then really only spend the rest of the night gathering everything into the one cashe for later.
Now if you was robbed it won't matter, there would be nothing to loose. Buld the bed ( if you didn't on day 1) and sleep. DO NOT END DAY.
Once you wake up, hurry to make the stove, and make sure the "our things" tab is empty.
Franko the trader may actually arrive on 2, it will make you sleep a bit later thoguh but yoy really have nothing for trade this time, so just X him out and return to bed.
Next night you focus on getting enough for the "boarding up" and only enough for ONE meal. then return home.
Next day, now day 3 make the meal, then sleep...
You might get visitor, even sometimes a second survivor already this early ( but usually between day 5-7), now you may have found that you have enough to board up the place, do so
If the survivor comes then you have a second pair of hands, at this time anyone is good to have.
Now you have either a second survivor or you are rested and no longer hungry, so it is time to upgrade your workshops, again if still alone, you take exactly what you need and nothing more, food now not before day 5.
return home and sleep, then upgrade, maybe depending on you can also make the hatchet and maybe a saw blade.
Now is the time where you are more or less guarnateed to get a second survivor, again at this time anyone is an asset.
With the second survivor you can now guard, and thus you can now begin to take all things from your shelter and from the cashes you left in the filed.
Now you have a chance if robbed, and it will be less, now start to build and upgrade your shelter, sleeping with one, working with the other.
Use the trader for what he is, and make the most out of your days.
eventually there will come a 3rd and even a 4th survivor knocking and then you are really just "waiting things out" as the game then is getting fairly easy.
So there you go, as for the safe zones, you have them, just don't loot more then exactly what you need in the shelter.
Also if you have something pending, or a meal ready to be eaten, these things will not be rodded. So starting a build just before night "saves" the rescourses for that build through the night.