When it comes to your home, costs can add up. In addition to rent or a mortgage, there are electric bills, heating/cooling bills, cleaning expenses and other maintenance costs that can demand a large part of your monthly budget.
Fortunately, with a few quick and inexpensive home hacks, you can cut down basic home expenses — sometimes by as much as several hundred dollars a year. Here are a few ideas.
Change your furnace filter
Filters catch dust, pet hair, dirt and other small particles to help keep the air clean. But when they’re clogged and dirty, your HVAC system has to work much harder, resulting in higher energy bills and potential breakdowns. Change your filters every 90 days (or more, depending on if you have pets or live in a rural area with more dust) and you can cut back on energy bills while also keeping the air clear from allergens.
Change to LED bulbs
Swapping out your standard incandescent light bulbs for LED bulbs will not only save you money — around $200-$600 per year in energy costs — but they’re also better for the environment. LED (or Light-Emitting Diodes) bulbs use 75 percent less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs, so you’ll also be paying less often for light bulbs, too.
Make your own cleaning supplies
Creating an arsenal of store-bought cleaners is a hefty part of the home budget. But it turns out some of the items you probably already have — think baking soda and vinegar — are extremely effective at cleaning dust, dirt and grime. A quick internet search will reveal homemade recipes for kitchen cleaner, bathroom cleaner, glass cleaner, brass cleaner, stain remover and more. Plus, you can add your own herbs to make a solution that has your favorite fresh scent.
Smart thermostat
While it might cost more up front, a smart thermostat will result in big savings well into the future. With a smart thermostat, you can control your thermostat from your phone, allowing you to tweak the temperature when you’re not home and ensure you aren’t wasting money to heat or cool your home too much when you’re gone for long periods of time. Some smart thermostats can also be operated through voice command, too, or sense when you are home and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Clean refrigerator coils
Similar to air furnace filters, when your refrigerator coils are dirty, your appliance has to work much harder to perform its basic function. The result? Higher energy bills and a greater potential for a breakdown. Every six months or so, grab a Shopvac and an old toothbrush and remove all the dirt from the coils (likely located at the back or bottom of the refrigerator). This 15-minute task could save you 30 percent on your energy usage.
Eliminate paper towels
Easy to access and even easier to dispose of, there’s a reason paper towels are a standard feature in most kitchens. But ditching them in favor of cloths is a quick way to save money. Yes, you’ll do more laundry. But you’ll eliminate waste while adding a chunk of change back into your monthly budget.
Turn off energy vampires
Energy vampires are devices or appliances that suck energy even when they’re turned off. Examples include phone chargers, MP3 players, video game consoles, cable boxes and devices that turn on via timer or remote control. Simply unplugging the unused device, using power strips or enabling the sleep feature on devices that have one can save you around $100 a month in energy costs.
Set ceiling fans correctly
This home hack is as simple as flipping a switch. Changing the rotation of your ceiling fan can help heat or cool your home much more efficiently and inexpensively. In the summer, set the fan to turn counterclockwise, so the air pushes down and cools your off. In the winter, reverse the setting to a clockwise direction, and the fan can help redistribute warm air.
While these solutions won’t completely eliminate your home expenses, taking a moment to clean, tweak or change a few of your habits can help you save on your monthly budget and potentially push those savings into paying down debt, purchasing something you’ve had your eye on or planning for retirement.
