This list includes some of the easiest tricks you can apply immediately to put more cents in your banks.
D.I.Y
“Abbreviation for do-it-yourself: the activity of decorating or repairing your home, or making things for your home yourself, rather than paying someone else to do it for you: a DIY enthusiast. a DIY project..”
<Cambridge Dictionary>
When you own a home, it can be a little tricky when it comes to figuring out why you are spending so much on water bill or electric bill this month. Even with this raging heat that is taking over California, if I can survive without Air Conditioning, I would do it, and it drives my fiancee insane sometimes. Below are some tips and trick I have collected over the years that I think can help you save some money around the house if you know how to get it done yourself:
1) Borrow specialized tools
Gas-powered post-hole diggers and table-mounted routers—from a DIYer in your area for a small fee. Go to Zilok for far better deals than rental retailers offer. Cost: $1 to $100 per day. Savings: $50 or more for the same tool at a rental center. Bonus: Getting to know fellow renovators in your neighborhood with whom you can swap tips.
2) Close closet doors to lower the square footage you’re heating (and cooling).
“Shuttering closets along exterior walls also helps to insulate the house.”
Cost: Zilch—although it may take a few minutes for your clothes to reach room temperature before you put them on. Savings: About $50 per year off your energy bills. Bonus: You and your your family won’t see closet clutter 🙂
3) Turn down the thermostat on your water heater
It’s probably set at 140 degrees F to shorten the wait time for a steamy shower. But 120 or even 110 degrees is plenty hot. Cost: A few minutes with a screwdriver in the utility room. Savings: $30 or more per year on gas, oil, electricity, or propane. Bonus: Your kids are less likely to scald themselves if the max water temperature is 120.
Related: Before buying your first home
4) Install dimmer switches and use energy-efficient halogen bulbs:
Rather than incandescents. Dimmable CFLs are even thriftier, but some flicker at low power. Cost: $10 per switch at The Home Depot, $5 for a Philips Halogena bulb at Bulbs.com. Savings: $20 per fixture on electricity over three years. Bonus: Halogens tend to outlast incandescents, saving more money over the long haul on replacement lights.
5) Replace central-air-conditioning filters:
Once a month during the summer to keep air flowing freely through the ducts and reduce strain on the blower motor. Cost: About $11 for three filters. Savings: $40 or more on cooling costs. Bonus: New filters keep dust and mold from collecting on condenser coils, extending the equipment’s life.
6) Get your chimney swept
In the summer for an off-season price. Cost: Just a little forethought. Savings: $50 per flue. Bonus: Get the job done at your convenience because sweeps’ schedules are wide open.
Related: Where to buy home in Victorville, CA
7) Use your microwave:
Instead of your range; it consumes half the power. Cost: $15 for the Microwave Gourmet cookbook at Amazon.com. Savings: $40 or more per year on electricity or gas. Bonus: Having dinner ready in a fraction of the time.
8) Use your laptop
It runs on batteries, which use 80 percent less electricity than a desktop computer. Cost: Being vigilant about unplugging the battery charger once your computer is juiced so it doesn’t sap unnecessary energy. Savings: $30 per year off your electric bill. Bonus: You can relax on the sofa while perusing coupon sites
9) Choose a light-colored roof
Using pale shingles, particularly if you live down south, will reduce the solar heat your roof absorbs, reducing the need for air-conditioning. Up north, the cooling benefit is offset somewhat by the loss of solar warming in the winter. Cost: The same as dark roofing. Savings: $40 per year or more on summer cooling costs. Bonus: Your “cool roof” may earn you a utility company rebate.
SAVE UP TO $150
10) Get your fall yard-cleanup crew to clear your gutters
Instead of having a gutter guy make a special trip. Cost: $100 for your lawn crew. Savings: $200 or more that you’re not paying the gutter guy. Bonus: There’s no risk of gutter gunk being dumped onto your lawn after all the leaves have been blown and bagged.
11) Set your computer to sleep:
Not just the monitor, but the hard drive, too—so that it automatically dims after 10 minutes of nonuse. Cost: It may doze off when you don’t want it to and you’ll have to punch a key to wake it up. Savings: $75 per year off your electric bills. Bonus: Like people, screens and hard drives age more gracefully with plenty of rest.
12) Wait to replace your grill, lawn mower, or patio furniture:
Until the fall, when stores mark down their inventory to make room for holiday decorations and snowblowers. Cost: Making do with what you have this summer. Savings: $150 or more per item. Bonus: Retailers—especially online ones, such as Target—often provide free shipping on leftover warm-weather gear.
13) Shop for phone, electric, and cable service at Whitefence
It’s like Travelocity for utilities. Enter your ZIP code and compare rates offered by providers in your area. Cost: A few minutes online. Savings: Up to $150 per year on your utility bills. Bonus: The switch to a new carrier can usually be made without an in-home service call or fee, and you can keep your old phone number.
14) Buy a deluxe battery recharging station:
And stop using disposables. A combo unit keeps a supply of AA, AAA, C, and D batteries at the ready. Cost: A one-time investment of $40 for the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower charger and assorted NiMH batteries (the best kind) at Amazon.com. Savings: As much as $100 per year on disposables for dozens of tools and gadgets. Bonus: Never again having to raid your kid’s battery-operated toys to power up the TV remote.
15) Plant a deciduous tree:
On the south, west, or east side of your house. Once mature, it’ll shade your roof and cut your cooling costs by up to 30 percent. Cost: $25 to $70, depending on the tree species, at Fast Growing Trees Nursery. Savings: About $120 per year on air-conditioning. Bonus: The tree drops its leaves each fall, so you’ll still get the warming benefit of winter sun.
16) Skip extended warranties:
They’re a hedge against the cost of repairing everything from LCD TVs to furnaces. But odds are that you’ll never make a claim. Cost: If something breaks, haggling with the manufacturer to get it fixed for free or paying for repairs out of your own pocket. Savings: $50 to $200 per warranty that you don’t buy. Bonus: Not getting snagged by the fine print. Warranties may exclude your particular problem or contain a depreciation clause, meaning the product’s value goes down as it ages—and hence, the payout shrinks.
17) Comparative shop online:
For everything from light fixtures to fridges. Then ask your local retailer to match the lowest price you find. Sears, for example, will match most online quotes for appliances and even reduce it by 10 percent of the difference between their advertised price and the better deal you found. Cost: A few minutes surfing the Web, plus some printer ink. Savings: $150 off a new French door–style fridge. Bonus: Better customer service than you’ll get online, and no worries about shipping charges or mail-order returns.
18) Install a ceiling fan:
In the winter, run it at low speed in a clockwise direction to recirculate the warm air that rises to the ceiling. This will allow you to lower the thermostat a couple of degrees. Cost: About $200 for the fan. Savings: $100 per year off your heating bills. Bonus: Reverse the fan direction in the summer and the airflow creates a windchill effect, making you feel cooler.
19) Buy firewood in the spring when it’s cheap:
Logs will dry out and be ready to burn by the time snowflakes fall. Cost: Time stacking wood in a dry spot outdoors so that it can season in the open air. Savings: Up to $100 per cord. Bonus: In the off-season, you won’t run into any shortages of your favorite hardwood.
Hope you find these tips simple enough to do it yourself.
Credits:
This post is inspired by Josh Garskof from ThisOldHouse.com
