With our tight economy, many of us are looking for ways to save money in every way we can. While we commonly exhaust the big things we can do quickly like lowering our grocery spending. A lot of small opportunities to lower the costs around our homes go ignored and while they are small they really add up fast for helping save money.
Quick Changes To Save Money At Home
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1. Laundry
While most people think about laundry soap to save money on laundry care there are several other ways you can save besides the ever-popular making your own laundry soap.
One of the best ways to save money on your laundry costs is to use a laundry line to dry your clothes. You can find a cotton laundry line for indoors or outdoors and clothespins at your local dollar store and it only takes a load or two before you make back that money in energy savings as well as eliminating dryer sheets. For soft line dried clothes give each item a snap in the air before hanging.
If you continue to use your dryer even if just for some loads you can skip the dryer sheets. To speed up drying time you can get dryer balls. Wool dryer balls are popular because they can be scented but you can use hard plastic balls including the cheap ones sold as foot massagers for $1 to help with faster dryer times. This is great for heavy things like towels and jeans.
And if you have an electric dryer, consider adding a dryer vent heat saver. It will push the hot air from the dryer into the house, saving you money on heating in the winter.
2. Reuse water
Getting more use for your water is a great way to be environmentally friendly and reduce your water bill. Placing a pitcher in your shower is a great way to catch some of the excess water that falls in the shower to use for flushing the toilet or watering your garden.
In the kitchen, you will find a lot of great opportunities to reuse water in your garden. The water strained off of pasta or used to boil eggs is packed with nutrition that just goes down the drain. Instead of tossing this water out, strain things into a strainer placed inside a large bowl or pot. Allow the water to cool and use it to water your houseplants or garden. This makes a great fertilizer while giving your plants “free” water.
Or use that old pasta water boiling hot and kill the weeds on your patio!
Collecting rain water from a trough into a rain barrel and using it to water your plants will also save you money on your water bill.
3. Change how you clean
Cleaning supplies can get expensive. You can swap to natural cleaners using items around your home like vinegar, which makes one of the best glass cleaners you will ever try but there is a another change you can make to save money on cleaning supplies.
Switch to buying concentrates in larger quantities when buying cleaning supplies. These bottles do not cost more per ounce than the diluted cleaners in spray bottles and when you mix the cleaners yourself you can get the right dilution for your job while getting more uses from the bottle.
4. Watch your spending
Most of us spend money without really thinking about it. We often spend here and there thinking it is only a few dollars without realizing how much that adds up.
Take a couple of weeks to track everything you spend to start seeing where these little purchases add up.
This will help you choose what small changes you can make like keeping bottled water or snacks to take with you when you run out the door so you can avoid spending much more at a gas station or convenience store.
5. Make do with what you have before you spend
When you discover you need something it can be easy to decide to just go get what you need but oftentimes you do not need that item as much as you think you do.
Before running out to get something, take a moment to look around and see if there is anything you can find around the house instead and get creative. Especially if it is an item that you only need to use once.
Many of us have a lot of things in our homes that we do not even realize. Have you ever bought something and then found out later that you already had that item at home? That’s why you need to do regular decluttering and keep your items organized.
And don’t be embarrassed to ask friends and family!
- Need a floor nailer to put hardwood in one room? See if you can borrow it from someone.
- Need a new freezer? Ask if someone is getting rid of one.
- Think you need a second car? Find someone to car pool with.
The possibilities are endless if you stop thinking about purchasing new as your only option to get what you need.
6. Cancel subscriptions
Many of us have small and inexpensive subscriptions we forget about here and there. A great way to find these is to put your bank card on hold or replace it with a new card and number.
As subscriptions run out you will get notifications of failed payments and can then decide if the payment is worth making or if you want to ditch the subscription. This is a simple way to start cleaning up your finances and save money.
7. Do things yourself
While it may be your first thought to hire help or go buy something pre-made, doing things yourself can be a great way to save money.
While some jobs need a professional to get done right like working on electrical in your home, other things can easily be done by doing a quick YouTube search and giving it a try.
People who have a love of DIY tend to save a lot of money around the house and even on entertainment because those DIY projects keep them busy. And there is nothing like the pride of figuring out how to do something yourself!
You don’t have to make big, sweeping changes to save money. In fact, it is the little things that most often add up to big savings. Start small and you will be surprised at how easy it is to cut costs.