Collaborative post
Now more than ever before, many people are finding that their homes are their sanctuary. With most people spending more time at home over the past year than they probably ever have in their lives, there has been a lot of time to reflect. Spending extra time at home has led many people to take on new projects and to make significant changes to their lives with the increased time that they have had to spare. When spending so much time at home, it makes sense to make your home as attractive and comfortable as possible without spending too much money in the process. Now is the perfect time to take on those home maintenance projects that you have never had time to tackle in the past. Carrying out jobs yourself rather than paying someone to do them on your behalf can save you a large amount of money over a year. But, the cost savings don’t end there; while you have increased time to spare, why not make the changes needed to your home expenses to reduce your running costs and other bills? You may be surprised by the amount of money that you could save!
Get Energy Savvy
Your energy is likely to be one of your biggest household expenses, so finding ways to reduce your consumption will help to keep your bills lower. Replacing all of your light bulbs with energy-saving alternatives is an excellent starting point. Other smaller changes that you can make to save money on energy costs are to boil the amount of water you need in the kettle and turn your central heating thermostat down a little. Switching off plugs for items around the house that are not in use will help prevent persistent, low-level drains on power. Switching off lights when they are not being used is also helpful, but you may grow tired of telling the rest of the household to do the same!
Make the Switch
Assessing your main regular household expenses and working out how to make savings on them is one of the most significant changes that you can make to your finances. If you automatically renew all your bills at the end of their contract, you could be missing out on some big savings. Setting aside a couple of hours to go through your main expenses such as mobile phone contracts, energy providers, insurance providers, and your broadband deal may seem like a mammoth task, but it is worth the effort. Spending just a few hours reviewing your options and searching for better deals will be so worth it when you start to see your monthly bills start to reduce.
Comparing your energy provider with the competing providers available will help you establish whether you are on the best tariff and whether your supplier provides you with the best value for money. If it seems likely that you could save more by switching to a different supplier, then why not follow this up to find out how much you could save on your bill?
Fix-It, Don’t Throw it Away
Do you have appliances and other items in your home that require repair? If so, why not save yourself some money and fix it yourself? Learning how to repair things around the house is a useful skill that you can reuse time and again in the future. As a society, so many everyday objects end up in landfill sites. To reduce waste and save yourself money, it makes perfect sense to repair items whenever possible to keep them out of the landfill.
The fix it, instead of replacing it principle, can be used throughout your home to reduce waste and help you stop spending money. Mending furniture items is another example, as most furniture can easily be upcycled to give it a new lease of life. Repairing or repurposing items can help you to save a large amount of money over the years, so it is worth a little time and effort to realise the cost savings.
Keep Up With Your Household Maintenance
Home maintenance is certainly not the most exciting activity, but it is essential, especially if you want to cut your household expenses.
Getting hands-on and tackling jobs yourself when it is safe to do so will give you some impressive savings. Keeping up with maintenance tasks such as clearing your gutters, protecting exterior woodwork with preservatives, and cleaning your windows should help you keep on saving money and keeping your home looking at its best.