As any homeowner will tell you, there are always more expenses involved in home maintenance than originally expected. Just when you think you’ve accounted for everything, another unforeseen expense pops up.
While certain expenses can’t be avoided, such as the mortgage and utility payments, many financial burdens can be greatly reduced via simple preparation. Ultimately, your goal should be to setup the home in such a way that the monthly upkeep costs are minimal. With that said, here are some things everyone should be doing to reduce unnecessary expenditure in their homes:
1. Use Energy-Efficient Appliances
In newer and updated homes this is typically a non-factor, as the majority of fairly modern appliances are considered “Energy Star Compliant.†However, if you’ve yet to upgrade or if you’ve just purchased a home that still contains outdated appliances, the first step should be replacing them with more up-to-date models.
If you have an appliance that is energy efficient but is in need of maintenance or repairs, it is often cheaper to have it fixed than to replace it altogether. Plus, it’s easy to find out how much the fix will cost by obtaining a free quote from a popular service provider like Service Force repairs.
2. Practice Proper Maintenance
Most major and expensive repairs can be completely prevented by practicing scheduled maintenance. Many property owners are tempted to put off maintenance, relying on the common but erroneous logic of “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.†In actuality, the saying should be “if it’s in need of maintenance, fix it before it breaks completely.†Creating a home maintenance budget and schedule will help you account for such expenses in a realistic and practical manner.
3. Install Smart Home Devices
Aside from using energy efficient appliances, it’s also a good idea to install smart home components. Most importantly, you’ll want to start with the addition of an electricity usage monitoring device, followed by the installation of a smart thermostat, smart bulbs, dimmer switches, outlet timers, and any other add-ons that will reduce your monthly kilowatt hours. With smart home technology revolutionising energy efficiency, it would be silly to stay stuck in the past in this regard.
4. Centralise and Recycle Where Possible
Another way you can eliminate unnecessary bills is by doing away with expenses that aren’t essential, or consolidating multiple bills when possible. For example, if you’re currently paying a separate internet, cable, and mobile phone bill, you might consider the option of paying only for an unlimited data plan with your mobile carrier and then tethering your data connection to your devices to turn three bills into one.
Alternatively, if fast and reliable internet is a must, you might do away with your cable bill and use online streaming services like Hulu and Netflix instead. Likewise, you may want to look into the possibility of installing a water recycling system in your lawn or garden, and/or handling lawn maintenance independently rather than outsourcing it to a lawn care company.
Upgrading to a Solar Setup
In closing, one final step you can take to drastically reduce or eliminate your monthly utility bill is to install a solar panel setup that’s capable of handling all or most of your home’s power needs. Although the cost of such a system might be intimidating initially, it’s basically guaranteed to pay for itself in the long-term. Furthermore, if you wind up producing a surplus amount of electricity, it can be routed into the grid and your local utility provider will actually pay you for the kilowatts you provide instead of the other way around. With many companies out there that sell you solar panels, who is out there if the worst were to happen, being mis sold solar panels. PV Solar Ltd are a trusted agency in this field and would be happy help.
