Save Money with These Simple Household Chores and Tricks
You’ve spent a lot of time and money making sure your house is a wonderful home for you and your family. Yet without proper, ongoing maintenance, issues can arise that cost you money and require time-consuming repairs.
As the saying goes: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is as true for your household as it is for your health. By properly maintaining everything from your roof to your countertops, you will avoid expensive repairs and save money.
Here are some tips and tricks to save money and maintain your household. They don’t require any special skill and will keep your home in top shape.
Use DIY Cleaning Products
The cleaning products you get at the store can be expensive and use harsh chemicals that are hard on your household items, and on your health.
In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency includes indoor air pollution among the top environmental dangers, and much of this pollution comes from cleaning products.
Good thing you can make your own cleaning products with many of the ingredients you already have in your home. With olive oil, castile soap, baking soda, essential oils, lemon juice, vinegar, and water, you can make many cleaning products to keep your home spic and span.
Here are a few concoctions you can make to keep your home clean and your wallet full:
- Mix together equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and voila – you have an all-purpose cleaner good for cleaning most surfaces.
- For marble, granite, or stone countertops, skip the vinegar, which is too acidic for these surfaces. Instead, combine water with rubbing alcohol or vodka.
- Rather than using fabric softener, keep your clothes soft with your own softener. Make a batch by adding 20-30 drops of an essential oil of your choice to a one-gallon jug of vinegar, and use 1/3 cup of the mixture for each load of laundry.
- Clean windows and mirrors with a mix of one part vinegar and four parts water.
- Clean varnished wood with a combination of two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of vinegar, and a quart of warm water.
- Tie a bag of vinegar around your showerhead and leave it overnight to get rid of all the built-up residue without any scrubbing.
There are so many others! You can make your own gentle cleaning products to clean everything from your couch upholstery to your yoga mat. They will extend the life of the items in your home while saving you money.
Note that most DIY cleaning solutions last up to a month, though some ingredients can lose their potency more quickly than that. If in doubt, mix enough for only one use.
Stop Leaks
Don’t ignore that leaky faucet or showerhead. A faucet that leaks one drip per second can waste enough water to take 180 showers in a year. That’s a lot of water and money going down the drain.
Leaks can not only cost you money but also provide the right conditions for mold to grow, and if that gets out of hand, can require professional help to get rid of.
Repair any leaks as soon as they happen. Look for these sources of leaks people often miss:
- Test for a leak in your toilet by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If the color makes it to the toilet bowl, you have a leak, which can easily be repaired with an inexpensive toilet repair kit.
- Check your washing machine hose at least once a year to make sure it isn’t starting to leak. Replace it every three years if it is plastic, and if you see the metal ends of your water supply lines are discolored or rusty, replace them right away.
- Don’t use Drano. Its acids damage your plumbing, causing premature leaking which can lead to expensive repairs. Use a drain snake, which you can purchase at a hardware store, instead.
Maintain Your Roof
Your roof is important, and replacing it is expensive. Make your roof last longer with these maintenance tips:
- Keep your gutters clear. Clearing your gutters may be an annoying chore, but it’s a necessary one to keep your roof strong. As debris accumulates in your gutters, it adds extra weight and pulls at your roof’s fascia, which is expensive to fix.
- Watch for moss and algae. Moss and algae can slowly build up on and around your roof, eating at the roofing material and compromising your roof’s integrity.
- Insulate and ventilate your attic. Insulating your attic not only keeps your home at a better temperature, but also prevents moisture buildup on the underside of your roof. Combined with proper ventilation, this will ensure moisture doesn’t damage your roof rafters.
Other Tricks to Save You Money
- Care for your floors by moving your furniture. By periodically rearranging the furniture in your rooms, you can minimize the wear and tear on high-traffic areas. This will extend the lifespan of your carpeting, rugs, and other floor coverings.
- Don’t let drafty windows cost you money. Drafty windows can lead to hugely expensive energy bills in the summer and winter. Check the caulk line that holds your windows in place, and re-caulk if it’s dry, cracked, or weathered.
- Keep termites away from your home by getting rid of wood. Don’t leave old tree stumps in your yard, stack firewood near your house, or put up an untreated wood fence. All of these are an invitation to termites, which you really don’t want as houseguests.
- Change your air conditioning filters. Dirty filters make your AC less efficient, so replace them every month in the summer, or as often as every two weeks if you’re in the midst of a really bad hot spell.
You don’t need to be a full-fledged handyman to keep your home in tip-top shape. Use these tips and tricks to save money on your energy bills and extend the lifespan of your appliances and household items.
You’ll spend less money on expensive repairs and have more money to spend on the things that really matter.
Contributed By: Mehran Aram, a graduate from the University of San Diego School of Business in 1984, founded Aramco Mortgage in 1998 after spending almost five years in the industry. Today, Mehran Aram is President and CEO of The Aramco Group, and has recently been honored with the distinction of CRMP(Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional) a certification held by less than 50 brokers nationwide. Mr. Aram currently heralds the title of “Mortgage Analyst” on San Diego radio stations: AM 600 KOGO, AM 760 KFMB, AM 1170 KCBQ, AM 1210 KPRZ, FM 98.1, and Fox News Monterey’s AM 1460. Garnering endorsements across the state of California, including from radio personalities, Roger Hedgecock, George Chamberlin, Mark Larson, and Ladona Harvey, Mehran Aram along with his nearly 20 years of industry experience has effectively become California’s Mortgage Expert in reverse mortgages, refinances and purchase loans, among many other loan products.
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Category: Family Finances, Home Improvements
