Tips for Saving Money on Home Ownership and Routine Maintenance

Who doesn't like saving money? Especially now as the overall cost of living in several areas has increased significantly. We are all currently looking for ways to save some money to help lessen the sting of inflation and one of our biggest costs is our home.

Owning a home means regular upkeep and maintenance as well as daily living costs like cleaning supplies and utilities. But there are some ways that you could save a significant sum on housing costs with these helpful tips.

Flooring

One of the biggest and most controversial ways to keep your flooring in top condition for a longer amount of time is to become a shoe-free house. Some people may not love the idea of banning shoes from being worn inside the home but it is a huge contributing factor to the wear and tear of the floors.

The biggest enemy of flooring in your home is dirt and the biggest contributor to dirt in any home is carried in on the soles of shoes from outside. This is especially true for homes with carpeting. If you are worried about inviting guests over and asking them to remove their shoes you could offer them some slipper socks that you could gift them or a pair of slippers to use to stay comfortable while walking around your home.

Drains

Something that happens often in many households is a clogged drain. It can be very pricey to call a new plumber to help you unclog a drain. Something that can easily be done to help prevent a drain from clogging is the simple use of a plastic clog grabber. This is a version of a plumbing snake and is much cheaper because you can use it yourself. Additionally, it is a good idea to get those handy little drain covers that have several tiny little holes only allowing basically water to travel through. If something doesn't go down your drain it can't clog it.

Caulking

That silicone line around the edge of your tub and sinks is much more useful than you may realize. It is there to keep water and moisture from getting behind tiles and into the drywall or underneath your sink edge and into the wood portion of your countertop. Water causes a lot of damage and can lead to mold and mildew and maybe even the huge cost of replacing these items.

Many people don't realize that they can prevent this stuff from happening by replacing caulking once a year. If your caulking is in good condition then simply replacing it as soon as you see any signs of wear and tear is a good method. What's great is that caulk is very cheap and easy to apply.

Toilets

Beyond a very necessary cleaning, most people do not think about maintaining their toilet. It is good to make sure you do regular checkups of your toilets as they get a ton of daily usage and are very expensive to replace in an emergency situation. Make sure you are using proper cleaners that are not harming the rubber parts inside the toilet tank. It is also good to check up on the flapper valve and the wax seal along the bottom of the toilet.

Landscaping

Yardwork takes a significant amount of time. The more yard you have the more work it is going to be. This is why many people opt to hire a landscaper to help them out with their yard maintenance. One way to save on yard maintenance is to try and do at least a portion of it on your own. A big way to save is to stick with a walk-behind mower unless you have a very sizable yard. It may seem like it is a huge time saver to have a riding mower but unless you don't absolutely need one it is better to stick with the lesser maintenance cost and the lower upfront cost of a walk-behind mower. It is also good to take a few minutes to check your yard for debris like glass and rocks that could be harmful to the mower and to you.

Consider sticking with simpler products

A good rule of thumb for purchasing items for your home is the simpler it is the less it is going to cost to fix and maintain. The more fancy attributes something has and the more computer components it has the more difficult it will be to fix. For example, owning fancy appliances with smart features is great and seen as desirable to buyers but these can be a real bear to have repaired and may need repairs more often as compared to simpler appliance models.

Another example is opting for a robot vacuum versus a push vacuum. The robot vacuum seldom needs to be thought about until the collection bin becomes full or the vacuum tries to clean something that it simply cannot or needs to be repaired.

There are many small tips and tricks you can employ around your home to save money that may not be huge savings on their own but when done in a collection of other small money-saving strategies can add up to a significant amount of money.

For more information on living in Prosper Texas, including Prosper Texas real estate, please contact us anytime.