Home Maintenance equals Money in the Bank

It is Military Saves week! A subject that is dear to my heart as Americans (including military-families) find themselves in more and more financial trouble. Sometimes saving money can be found in the simple things. Today’s blog post on saving money is about what you can do in the day-to-day. There is value in maintaining your home.

Take the time — and I know we are all so very busy — to take care of our ‘stuff’ and you will find more money in the budget for other important things. If we maintain our electronics (invest in a can of compressed air for the computer as an example), vehicles (are you due for an oil change?), appliances, even clothes and carpets they can last longer. It will take time and possibly money up front but in the long run you are saving money to put towards your emergency fund, vacation fund or retirement. USAA drives this point home with a great article about the value of car maintenance:

A well-maintained vehicle performs better and stays on the road longer. If you’re on the road to retirement this can be a big deal. Maybe even as much as $200,000 toward retirement, if, just this one time, you’re able to drive your car for an extra four years after it’s paid for in full. – Maintain your Car and put some muscle in your Retirement Plan

It can be the simple things, I spent 10 minutes giving my oven (a glass range) and microwave a good scrubbing. It was 10 minutes I could have been doing /a lot/ of other things; I am a working Mom of four after all. However, maintaining (which can include cleaning) our household goods is in the long run a great investment of time.

Want to learn a super easy way to get your range and microwave cleaned up? Be sure to check out this blog post: Cleaning your glass-range & inside your microwave (no elbow grease required)

What else can you do?

How does your air filter for you furnace or air condition look? (This will help your furnace work more efficiently and help the life of it as well)
Is it time to vacuum to pick up ground in dirt in the carpet? (If spills and dirt are cleaned up efficiently and quickly your carpet won’t need to be professionally cleaned as often or replaced for that matter.)
Line dry your sweaters so they last a few more seasons. (A $50 sweater is a great investment if it can last several years.)
Call your mechanic and schedule a morning to have your car tuned. (Think of the savings in gas and long-term wear on your vehicle when proparly mainteined.)

The list may seem endless, the possibilities continue to roll around in my head, but just a few moments and a dedicated mind-set reminding us that we don’t need to live in a disposable-world can mean money in your wallet, money in your TSP, money to help you get out of debt.

– Leanne from MilitaryAvenue.com