Whether you rent or own your own home, it’s always important to find ways to cut your costs. Many people set out on their financial journeys with great budget and investing plans but they don’t realize just how much money they may be throwing away at home because they don’t pay attention to home care costs that can be managed frugally.
Let’s take a look at four areas where you can keep costs down and save a lot of money: car care, lawn care, carpet care, and electricity.
The Age of the Backyard Mechanic is All But Gone
A generation ago it made sense for people to do a lot of their own car maintenance at home, such as rotating the brakes, changing the oil, changing the antifreeze, etc. But these new vehicles don’t always play ball with the casual backyard mechanic. Your neighbor may be a pro who works on cars all day long so he knows what needs to be done for late model vehicles.
What you need to do is find a maintenance plan and schedule that works for you. That includes:
- Researching local maintenance services
- Using charity car washes or doing it yourself
- Keeping your car clean and light
- Checking your tires, fluids, and other replaceable parts regularly
Even though you may be paying someone else to maintain your car, you want to work only with reputable and affordable services. Sad to say, but many national chain “oil change” companies have earned bad reputations. The Internet now makes it possible to find out which locations have racked up a lot of consumer complaints. You have no way of knowing if the complaints are legitimate but you should be able to narrow the field so that you know who is generating fewer complaints.
Using the dealership makes sense when you buy a new car and the dealer offers a free maintenance plan for the first 10-30,000 miles. Take advantage of that deal if it costs you nothing extra. Dealerships that have trouble moving cars are more likely to offer special incentives.
You should also consider using synthetic oils, which are not as expensive as they once were and last much longer than natural petroleum-based oils.
When it comes time to wash your car, especially if you own more than one, you should do it yourself as much as possible. Get the family together every weekend for a “car wash hour” so you get the job done quickly. And during those hot summer months this is a great way to cool off. Everyone is sure to have some fun as long as you don’t waste too much water spraying each other down.
If you need to pay for a car wash, then find a local church or school car wash that you can use. You’ll make a worthwhile contribution to charity and still get a clean car.
Keeping your car light means not using it as a storage space. You should not be hauling around extra weight in your car that you never use. Sadly too many people throw stuff in the trunk or back seat and forget about it. This extra weight hurts your fuel efficiency and adds to the wear and tear on your vehicle. The clutter also makes it harder to keep the inside of your vehicle clean.
Modern cars accept USB inputs, too, so you don’t need to keep your CDs in the car. Just rip them a USB stick and put your favorite songs in the car audio system. You’re not saving much on weight or fuel costs but you don’t have to worry about the CDs being broken, lost, or stolen.
Finally, checking your fluids and replaceable parts yourself on a regular schedule will let you know when to schedule a trip to the maintenance shop. It’s better to pay for the replacements than to wait for the repair bill.
You Don’t Need a Lawn Care Specialist If You Learn to Love Yardwork
I admit that I am not the most enthusiastic yard geek on the block but there are some pretty good ideas you can invest in that will help you save money on your yard while keeping it nice looking.
First, find some local fruit trees that you can plant. Keeping in mind that you may have neighborhood covenants to honor, if you can plant fruit trees in your yard they will provide shade, improve the look of your lawn, and also give you some free fruit every year. You want to find pest-resistant and drought-resistant fruit trees, but they will probably require more water than grass.
Although most people think of cacti when they talk about drought-resistant plants, that’s not always the best choice. You can also plant Jujube trees which are deciduous and produce fruit in the autumn (fall).
Another possibility is the Kei Apple tree. This African plant has sharp spines on it and is grown as a barrier plant, so it may not be suitable for neighborhoods with a lot of children. Kei Apple trees produce fruit in late summer.
Natal plums are shrubs that produce fruit. They also have spines and so serve as good barrier plants. The fruit ripens during the summer months.
Pomegranates are good drought-resistant plantings, too. They are sometimes classed as shrubs and sometimes as small trees. The taller pomegranates can provide some shade. The pomegranate flowers in the spring and bears fruit in the fall.
Although most palm trees use a lot of water, Jelly Palms are unusually drought-resistant. They also produce small fruits that can be eaten fresh or made into jams and jellies. You won’t get much shade from a Jelly Palm but it’s a pretty tree.
Lingaro is another shrub/small tree that can grow to about ten feet in height. This is a full deciduous plant that, when fully grown, can serve as a barrier and provide some shade. The fruit is tart but can be made into jams and jellies.
Loquat trees are deciduous and bear fruit in the spring. You can enjoy some shade from them but you may need a pollinizer for them to bear fruit.
Macadamia tress produce the nuts of the same name. These trees can grow to be quite tall and provide a lot of shade.
Persimmon trees are popular in northern climates. The fruits may stay on the tree after it has lost its leaves. These are good shade trees, too.
Fig trees are great choices, requiring less water than many other drought-resistant trees. They also grow tall and provide lots of shade. However the roots can spread far and the milky white sap irritates human skin.
Mulberries are also highly drought-resistant trees, but their root systems are also considered to be “greedy”. They may require pruning.
Strawberry trees produce a bland fruit all year round but do provide a lot of shade and require relatively little water.
Something else you can do for your yard is to compost. Composting is relatively inexpensive and it’s a great way to renew your soil without having to spend a lot of money. Check out the Composting Blog for tips on how to do this on the cheap.
Cleaning the Carpets is Important to Keeping Your Home Neat and Healthy
Carpets are dirt magnets and cleaning them is expensive. Fortunately, there are now some inexpensive carpet treatments you can buy at the store that help sanitize your carpets and you can use more modern vacuum cleaners with improved suction to pull the dirt out. Some vacuums now double as low-budget carpet cleaners, able to suck up moisture as well as dirt.
Don’t wait to clean your carpets every 1-2 years. At least use low-budget cleaning methods 3-4 times a year to help extend the life of your carpets.
If you have throw carpets on hard floors remember to pull up the carpets when you clean because the dirt falls through the threads and can ruin an expensive floor. This is especially important to remember when you live in sandy environments.
Saving Money on Electricity is Easier than Ever
You don’t have to replace all the appliances in your house to save money on electricity. While this is probably a good idea when you buy an older home that hasn’t been updated in at least 10 years, even when you buy a new home with all modern appliances chances are pretty good that the builder has only installed cheap incandescent or less efficient fluorescent bulbs. You want to replace all the bulbs in your home (even if you are renting an apartment) with LED bulbs.
Light Emitting Diodes last on average for 10 years, use about 15% of the energy of incandescent light bulbs, produce less heat, and reduce your electric bills by a lot of money. Check out the light bulbs blog for great ideas on how to save money on lighting.
Conclusion
There are many ways to save money at home. These are just a few of the suggestions you need to start eliminating unnecessary costs from your budget. If you can save $50-100 per month with these and other ideas, you’ll find that the savings add up year over year, especially if you use that money to stay debt-free and to grow your wealth.