So you’re one of the lucky 2/3 of Americans who own a home and no longer have to pay rent. That’s great, but by no means is home ownership cheap. With the rising costs of living, finding ways to save money is something that everyone should do.
Here are 17 things to do immediately that will reduce the maintenance costs of your home over the long haul. You can read about them and click any of the links provided for more information.
1. Check Your Insulation – Seal Drafts And Insulate
If you have an unfinished attic, pop your head up there and take a look around. You should see insulation up there between the beams, and there should be at least six inches of it everywhere (more if you live in the northern part of the United States).
If there’s inadequate insulation up there – or the insulation you have appears to be damaged – install new insulation. Here’s a great guide from the Department of Energy on attic insulation, including specifics on how much you should have depending on where you live. Many states offer financial incentives, up to a 75% refund for instance, to encourage homeowners to better insulate their homes.
2. Lower The Temperature on Your Water Heater Down To 120 Degrees Fahrenheit (55 Degrees Celsius)
This is the optimum temperature for your water heater. Most people don’t use water hotter than 120 degrees — indeed, water hotter than that can scald you or a child — and thus the energy needed to keep the water above 120 degrees isn’t used effectively. Lower the temperature, save money on your energy bill, and you’ll never skip a beat.
3. Better Than A Doorbell Camera & No Monthly Fees
PixieLens Cam is a compact yet powerful device that offers cutting-edge features without any installation or subscription costs. Enjoy crystal-clear, full HD recordings and live feeds with a 150° ultra-wide-angle lens that captures every corner, day or night, thanks to its superior LED night vision. The magnetized base ensures easy installation on any surface—indoors or outdoors—without the need for cables or batteries.
With this device you can monitor your home from your smartphone or computer with user-friendly apps available for both iOS & Android. Engage in two-way audio communication, receive instant alerts, and enjoy peace of mind.
PixieLens Cam is the smart, portable solution that saves hundreds annually, making it the most cost-effective upgrade to a home’s security.
4. Home Title Lock – Is Your Home Title Still In Your Name?
Did you know that with a simple forgery of your signature your home and all your hard earned equity could be stolen? Title insurance company FCT estimates at least one attempted title or mortgage fraud takes place every four business days. Here’s what happens to unsuspecting homeowners. It’s been years since you finished paying off your mortgage, so the letter in the mail from a bank saying you’re in default and now owe money comes as a shock.
Not only did you not take out another mortgage on your property, you’ve never even dealt with that bank before. Yet the documents you’re presented with say otherwise.
At this point, you realize you may have been the victim of fraud.
So how can you protect yourself from this fraud? You can sign up with a service like Home Title Lock that monitors 24/7 to monitor any tampering with your home title. If they detect any tampering they will inform you and their team of lawyers gets to work to restore your title. If you’re a homeowner, this is one of the most important things you can sign up for.
5. Most Homeowners Get a Big Car Insurance Discount. Make Sure You Claim Yours.
Homeowners typically get big discounts on car insurance. But here’s the rub – your car insurance company won’t tell you this.
What you need to do is use this free online tool to compare insurance company discounts side by side. Then you’ll see just how much you can save.
This is the internet’s leading free consumer comparison website, where you can compare rates from name-brand companies. Better still, they’ll show you the discounts you are missing. Most users can save up to $600/yr. Not bad for a few clicks.
Give their free service a try – it takes all of two minutes, and like we mentioned, can put up to $600 back in your pocket.
6. Breakthrough Device That Could Cut Power Bill By Up To 90%
It’s no secret that the price of electricity is rapidly rising this year, but thanks to this new Nikola-Tesla-inspired technology, consumers can save hundreds to thousands of dollars every year on their electric bills.
Simply plug the device into any wall outlet, and it begins to re-amp your home’s electric currents. The result is more efficient power distribution and usage, that you benefit from in the form of lower power meter readings.
7. New Genius Invention Cleans Virtually Everything In Your House
What’s it? RubyHP Scrubber is a handheld cordless electric device that does most of your cleaning. It cleans everything from bathroom tiles to shower corners, stoves, car windows, and more.
Why is it selling like crazy? Wherever dirt lives (tight spaces, corners, or smooth surfaces), RubyHP Scrubber has the power to get to it. When you clean with RubyHP Scrubber, you don’t need to spend hours scrubbing, mopping, and wiping. It cuts cleaning time by more than half and takes most of the stress out of cleaning.
Who are snapping up RubyHP Scrubber? Cleaning your bathroom, kitchen, and living room with this little device is effortless. You’ll save money, time, and energy with it. So many folks who cherish cleanliness are ordering RubyHP Scrubber right now.
8. Buy Non-Perishables in Bulk and Use Coupons
Many people never even bother to look at some of the larger packages of nonperishable items – they think it’s just too much. Try looking at the cost per unit of all of the sizes and choose the one that’s the best deal. Check for coupons and coupon codes for items you go through a lot of. There are many coupon sites out there with updated daily deals on hundreds of items. Simply search for what you need (and don’t buy what you don’t need, even if it’s on sale!) and if a good enough coupon presents itself, buy it in bulk.
Spread out over months and over a lot of items (think of all of the nonperishables in your home, from salt and sugar to soap and shampoo – food is just the beginning), this can add up to a lot of trimmed wallet fat.
9. Deduct Your Mortgage Interest On Your Tax Return
A report from Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation estimates some $70 billion in mortgage interest deductions annually among American taxpayers. Make sure you get your fair share — not just because mortgage interest can be substantial, but this tax break alone opens the door for many taxpayers to itemize other, smaller breaks instead of settling for the standard deduction. Simply use Form 1098 if you have paid more than $600 in mortgage interest in the tax year.
10. Don’t Pay For Another Costly Home Repair Out Of Pocket Again
It’s always a disruption when appliances like ACs or washing machines break down. Worse yet, most of us can’t afford to go out and replace or repair them on the spot, yet are forced to, since they are rarely covered by home insurance policies. They always seem to break down when we need them most, but next time, you don’t need to pay out of pocket for anything…
Clever homeowners are using this new Choice Home Warranty, and are saving thousands in the long run by protecting themselves against unexpected home repairs. All appliances you can think of are covered entirely by this program, and in many cases, they’ll completely replace your appliance with a brand new one. Without paying a penny out of pocket or unexpectedly, you can save yourself the financial impact and inconvenience of future break downs.
Enter ZIP to Check Eligibility Here
11. Save Money on New Windows
Many people opt to replace old drafty windows at home with new energy-efficient ones. Replacing old windows can also lower your utility bill by 40% per month and increase your home’s curb appeal. You may also qualify to save $100s in seasonal discounts from manufacturers like Pella, Champion, and Andersen. Make sure you find the best price you can get by shopping around to compare pricing from local professionals.
12. Keep Your Family Safe During Power Outages
Surge light bulbs automatically turn on the moment an outage strikes — keeping you and your family safe. They’re easy to install (screws in like a normal bulb), self-charging, and provide hours of energy-efficient lighting. Never worry about a power outage again.
The best part is that Surge are simply great bulbs even when power outages aren’t a problem. The LED technology uses 80% less energy than a typical lightbulb, and it can last up to 25,000 hours — that’s years, if not decades of use.
13. NovaWave – Access All TV Channels Anywhere, Anytime
With all the new monthly fees that you have to pay for streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and on and on you might as well have stuck with cable!
That’s why millions of Americans are completely cutting the cord on their traditional cable bills but also on their streaming service bills as well, allowing them to save $100+ per month in unnecessary fees.
All your local news, weather, sitcoms, cooking shows, kid’s shows, sports and thousands of movies are available for free with this new device called NovaWave.
14. Automate Your Thermostat or Use A Post-It Note
In my first home, I would manually turn up the thermostat as I walked out the door to work, and I would manually adjust it down when I came home in the evening. Last year I replaced all of the thermostats in my house with the Nest learning thermostat. It learns your schedule to keep your home comfortable when you are home. Nests’ are pricey, but according to the Nest website, some energy companies will give you a $249 Nest Thermostat free when you sign up for some of their plans. Definitely check with your utility provider to see what you can get from them. If you can’t get a free or discounted smart thermostat from your utility provider, you can go the manual route like I used to. Go get a sticky note, and put it on the door you take to leave your home. Write a reminder to change the thermostat as you walk out the door. Simple and free.
15. Child Proof Your Outlets – Even If You Don’t Have Kids
My first home which was built in 1999 had this next problem. The inside outlets located on the exterior walls were like mini vacuums when it came to transferring air from the inside to the outside.
If you have an older home or a poorly constructed home you’ve probably got the same problem.
Electrical outlet boxes typically don’t have any insulation behind them, creating what is basically a hole in your wall. On a windy day take some incense or a match and put it in front of an outlet (one without a plug in it of course) and see if you can see air movement. In my situation I noticed this during the winter when I felt a cold breeze coming through the outlets.
The simple solution? Install socket sealers to improve energy efficiency. All you have to do is remove your outlet cover with a screwdriver, put on the outlet sealer, and put the cover back on. Easy!
The second step is to put in those plastic child-proof outlet plugs.
16. Consolidate All Your Existing Debt Into One Simple Payment
Debt consolidation is the process of combining all your unsecured debts into a single monthly payment. Generally this allows for much lower payments on a monthly basis than the sum total of the separate debts – making life a lot more manageable. The likelihood in these circumstances of reducing interest rates is very high, and there are many firms out there who will walk you through the process making it simple and painless. If you have more than $20,000 in debt, then this is something you should do right away. You can get the best quote to consolidate all your unsecured debt by clicking the link below.
17. Heat Up Your Room Instantly and Save Thousands a Year On your Electricity Bill
Looking for a better way to heat your home this winter? This remarkable new device called Vital Heat can heat any space in under 5 minutes and costs just pennies to operate. Simply plug into any outlet in your home and feel the instant warmth start spreading.
Vital Heat uses NASA-inspired PTC ceramic technology that heats up fast and is extremely energy efficient compared to other outdated heating methods. It’s the newest and easiest way to turn your home into a cozy warm oasis this winter without breaking the bank.
Best of all Vital Heat requires virtually no installation and barely sips on your electricity to keep you and your family toasty warm all winter. It is also loaded with safety features like auto off function and touch guard, so it’s safe to use around kids and pets, and you don’t need to worry about knocking it over unlike some other heating devices.