Decorating and maintaining a home is expensive, but there are things you can do to cut the cost.
The following post is part of a group writing project on Home Finance: Mortgages and the Real Cost of Home Ownership. For a complete wrap-up of the project, head to Rocket Finance on Friday, February 1.
Lately it seems that every time I turn on the news, there’s a story about the mortgage crisis or an impending recession. The cost of living is going up, and oftentimes salaries aren’t going up to meet those costs. In response to the money crunch, ordinary people like you and me need to cut costs to make ends meet.
I have a lot of experience living on a shoestring, and I’ve put together a list of tips I’ve either heard of or used myself to maintain and decorate my home on a budget. Hopefully these tips are as useful to you as they’ve been to me.
Saving Money on Electricity
1. Set the thermostat at 68 degrees in the winter and 78 degrees in the summer. Use a programmable thermostat to set the temperatures at less comfortable levels when you’re not home or sleeping.
2. Use heavy drapes over your windows. In the winter, it will keep the warm air in, and in the summer it will keep the hot air out.
3. Caulk and weatherstrip the cracks in your house. Our landlord added some weatherstripping around our back door, and it’s made a world of difference!
4. Use ceiling fans. If you get the reversible kind, you can use them to push the warm air down to people level in the winter.
6. Unplug appliances you’re not using. Even if an appliance is turned off, it still uses a small amount of energy, if it’s plugged in. This is especially effective if you’re going out of town.
7. Close the heater vents in rooms you aren’t using.
8. Insulate, insulate, insulate! Our landlord says he went overboard on the insulation in our house, but with heating bills under $80 during the winter, I’m not complaining. You can even make sure your garage door is insulated to save more money.
9. Don’t use the air conditioner in the summer. It’s not real comfortable, but people survived for years without a/c, before it became standard in homes.
10. Switch to CFL bulbs. If you look hard enough, you can find good sales on them. I picked up most of our CFL bulbs on sale for 99 cents a bulb.
11. Wash your clothes less often. I’m not talking about being disgusting here, but many people throw clothing in the laundry after each use, whether it’s dirty or not. If you wear a dress for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning, you can probably forgo washing until after the next time you wear it.
12. Along the same lines, reuse your bath towels before washing them.
13. Have an energy audit performed on your home. Many electric companies offer energy audits free. You can call and have someone come out to your house and tell you about changes you could make to make your home more energy efficient.
14. Install energy saving appliances. I’m not advising that you run out and buy new appliances, but if your refrigerator stops working, look for an energy efficient model to replace it.
15. If you have older windows, make sure you put up the storm windows in the winter.
16. Weather proof your windows with that plastic stuff. Not pretty, but it saves energy.
17. Use small appliances like your crockpot and toaster oven for cooking, rather than heating the entire oven.
18. Keep your freezer full. It uses less electricity that way. If you have extra space, fill it with plastic water bottles.
19. If you do use the oven, cook multiple things at once. Make use of every inch of space in there.
Saving Money on Water
20. Shorten your showers.
21. Put a half gallon water jug in your toilet tank.
22. Let your lawn brown out during the summer. Don’t worry. It will come back during the winter.
23. If you can’t stand the thought of letting your lawn brown out, get a timer for your sprinkler to make sure you never forget to turn it off.
24. Reuse rinse water from hand washing dishes to water plants.
25. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
Saving Money on Cleaning and Maintenance
26. Make your own cleaning products. It’s a lot cheaper, and better for the environment, too.
27. Reuse dryer sheets to dust electronics like the TV and computer screen. The anti-static in the dryer sheets will repel dust from your appliances.
28. Do your own house repairs. If you have a good reference book, you’d be surprised at what you can fix yourself.
29. If you can’t learn from a book, consider taking a class at your local community college. It’s still cheaper than hiring a professional, and the knowledge you gain will be useful for the rest of your life.
30. To unclog a drain, pour a cup of baking soda in the drain and follow with a cup of vinegar. Wait an hour and follow with boiling water. I even unclogged a garbage disposal with this method once. Or you could do what my friend’s plumber husband says. Pour bleach down your drains every week. That will keep them unclogged, too.
31. Let your faucets drip just a little bit if you expect the weather to be cold enough to freeze the pipes. Paying for the minute amount of extra water is cheaper than paying for a burst water pipe.
32. Check your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore for home improvement/repair materials.
33. To clean mini-blinds, put an old sock on your hand, dip it in rubbing alcohol, and run your sock-covered hand over the blinds. Works like a charm!
34. To remove lime deposits from a showerhead, pour vinegar into a plastic bag and tie the bag to the showerhead, so it is submerged. Wait an hour, and you should be good to go.
35. Before attacking a remodeling project, talk to people who are knowledgeable about remodeling. Never attempt a project without the knowledge you need to do it right.
36. If your locks are sticking, consider trying cooking oil to fix them. Rubbing pencil lead across your key and inserting it works well too.
37. Turn an unused coat closet into a pantry by adding cheap shelves. I’ve done this twice, and I’m not real handy. If I can do it, anyone can!
Saving Money on the Telephone, Internet, and Cable
38. Drop your land line and use your cell phone.
39. Cut out unnecessary services like call waiting and caller ID.
40. Use email or instant messaging instead of calling long distance.
41. Try a digital phone service like Vonage.
42. Use a dial around number for long distance. I used to use One Suite, and I never had any problems. And at 2.5 cents a minute, the rate is hard to beat.
43. Use a free 411 service instead of paying. One to try is 1-800-GOOG-411.
44. See if you can get bundled savings for your phone, internet, cell phone, and satellite services. Our phone company offers a few different bundles, and it’s a lot cheaper than paying for each service separately.
45. Threaten to drop your cable service. It’s amazing what companies will do to keep you as a customer. Of course you should only try doing this if you are actually willing to drop your service. This works well with cell phone companies and XM radio, too.
46. Actually drop your cable service, and any other services that aren’t absolutely necessary.
47. If you don’t have cable or satellite, and you have an older TV, request a coupon for the converter box you will need to keep receiving a signal after February 17, 2009. The $40 coupon will bring the cost of the converter box down to $10.
Saving Money on Decorating
48. Buy cheap furniture from eBay, Craigslist, thrift stores, or other places that sell inexpensive items.
49. Use sheets to make window coverings. Emily even made a valance out of a $2 tablecloth from the thrift store!
50. You can also use sheets or cloth napkins to make throw pillows.
51. Sheets also make nice cloth napkins.
52. Use family photos for decorating. It’s cheap, and it adds a homey feel to your house. I enlarged a bunch of our wedding photos for our bedroom. It adds a romantic touch.
53. Use your children’s artwork for decorating. One family I know frames a piece of each child’s art, and rotates the art throughout the year. It’s good for your child’s self-esteem as well as your budget.
54. To change the look of a room, paint. There are lots of different paint effects that you can use. Check out a how-to book from the library.
55. For painting small areas, check paint stores for returned custom color paints. They’ll often sell them at a steep discount.
56. If your sofa is in good structural condition, but the look just needs updating, use slipcovers to add a new look.
57. To update the look of a wood dresser, paint and add new hardware. Add a little decorative stamping, if you’re brave.
58. Check carpet stores for remnants if you need an area rug. My mom did this when I was little, and you never would have guessed that our area rug was just a remnant.
59. Use bedsheets in the next size up to make a pretty duvet, if you want to change the look in your bedroom.
60. Use decorative boxes, baskets, or pots to organize things.
61. Only use white sheets, towels, and washcloths. They look better longer, because you can bleach them when they get dingy.
62. Use fresh cut flowers from your garden to add a touch of spring or summer to your house.
63. For cheap, but attractive office organization, cover boxes and bulletin boards with fabric you buy on clearance.
64. Embrace minimalism. Less stuff = Less maintenance = Less money.
Saving Money on Landscaping
65. If your county offers free or low cost mulch, use it! The county where we used to live offered free mulch from the landfill, and we could get as many truckloads as we needed without paying a penny! You can’t beat that!
66. Decorate old containers and use them for planters. You can pick up all kinds of cool containers at garage sales!
67. Use a weedpopper for weeding. It’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly than chemicals.
68. Check freecycle for free plants. I find them all the time. I have a whole row of strawberry plants that I picked up free last year.
69. Ask good friends for cuttings from their plants. Most good friends won’t mind.
70. Grow plants from seed, rather than spending the extra money for starts.
Saving Money in Other Areas
71. Recycle. Most cities have free recycling programs. And throwing less stuff in the trash will cut down on your garbage bill. If you’re really interested in going green, there are a lot of other frugal things you can do, too.
72. Compost. It saves money on both your garbage bill and fertilizing your plants. It’s good for the environment, too.
73. Don’t upgrade your appliances and furniture unless they wear out. The cost per use is negligible if you use something until it dies.
74. If your water heater is old, consider replacing it before it completely dies and something bursts and causes damage to your house. Of course, if you are going to replace your hot water heater, replace it with an energy efficient model.
75. If you feel that your property value was assessed at higher than the actual value of your home, have it reassessed, so your property taxes are lowered.
Do you have any additional frugal home tips? Please share in the comments!
Here is the complete list of participants in the series Home Finance: Mortgages and the Real Cost of Home Ownership:
- My Thoughts On This Whole Mortgage Crisis And Why I Don’t Feel That Bad @ My Two Dollars
- Why renting is right for us right now @ Mrs. Micah
- Why We Have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage @ My Dollar Plan
- Debt-To-Income Ratio and Why It Matters @ Moolanomy
- Catch a Falling Knife - Buying the Housing Slump @ Millionaire Money Habits
- Can we afford the Payments @ PaidTwice
- Pay off Credits Cards with a HELOC @ Debt Free Revolution
- So You Want to Buy a Fixer Upper @ Remodeling This Life
- Frugal Hacks For Your Home @ Being Frugal
- American Subprime Crisis—Should We Care @ Plonkee Money
- Mortgage escrow accounts Explained @ Cash Money Life
- Don’t Use Your House to Pay for Your Life @ Rocket Finance
- Why the Sub-Prime Crises has not Affected Canada Yet @ Four Pillars
- That Damned Rent vs. Buy Question @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
- Predatory Mortgage Lending and the Subprime Market @ Chance Favors
- After Foreclosure Guide to Housing: It Ain’t Easy @ DebtKid
- How to Avoid Foreclosure - The Definitive Guide @ Credit Withdrawal
- Homeowners - Avoid Foreclosure by Thinking Like Investors @ Two Wise Acres
- The Real Cost of Home Ownership @ Single Guy Money
Photo by gailf548.
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January 31st, 2008 at 5:00 am
Great article, thanks for including my post!!
Gotta try some of those tips.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:03 am
wow, this is an exhaustive post. i’m sure i’ll be using some of these tips!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:14 am
These are terrific ideas!
Thanks for including mine and really, thank for including ALL of these tips!
It is so easy to overlook so many of these ideas because they seem “small”, but once you start combining a few or all of them, they can save you a lot of money(and sometimes a lot of time as well!)
Great job!
Take Care
LJ
January 31st, 2008 at 5:33 am
What a thorough and detailed list! Thanks for all the ideas - and thanks for including my idea!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:33 am
WHOA! Excellent list!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:47 am
An awesome and thorough list, Lynnae! Thanks!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:51 am
I like the post & thanks for the link.
Mike
January 31st, 2008 at 6:34 am
Outstanding list!
January 31st, 2008 at 6:35 am
Whoa, this list kept going and going . . .
Very thorough. I would add one more, if you DO use your oven, after you’re finished using it and you have turned it off, let the door stay open to release some warmth. Obviously this works best in the winter! Our electric oven runs a little fan to cool down and opening the door shuts off the fan and warms the kitchen.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:38 am
Nice, head spinning, so much info.
Here’s an extra element for 5. Line dry your laundry: Let it dry in the house (in winter) if the air gets too dry. Promotes better sleep.
CtR
January 31st, 2008 at 7:03 am
Loved the list and loved all the links, too!
I always wear my jeans (and all my pants, actually) multiple times before washing. Shirts usually only get one day because of the sweat factor.
Thanks so much for the ideas!
January 31st, 2008 at 7:18 am
Great list Lynnae, thanks for including me!
January 31st, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Great tips…
The little things really add up. We all die from 1000 cuts!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:57 pm
This is a fantastic list! Lots of great (and pretty simple) tips!
February 1st, 2008 at 3:17 am
Awesome list Lynnae, book marking this on on del.icio.us. Thanks for including a link to my article (ok, well my Dad’s) on #28.
As for #1…all for 68 in the winter…actually we go to 67 at night, but no-way I could do the 78 during the summer…I’d sweat to death!
February 1st, 2008 at 9:27 am
Great list. I really like the stuff on plants and landscaping. Well done.
February 1st, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I don’t know how many times in the last house my wife used #54…
It got expensive! 
Good post!
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:40 am
re. #30… thanks for the tip. but doesn’t bleach wreak havoc on our water supply? Will non-toxic bleach work?
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
If you ask an HVAC man he will tell you that shutting off vents in an unused room is a bad idea.
It really doesn’t effect the cycling of the system either unless the air from the system reaches a thermostat via that room and then closing it may cause the system to actually work longer.
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
@ Lise - I honestly have no idea. I’ve always used the baking soda & vinegar trick, so I never really thought about it.
@ Jay - Thanks for the info. I hadn’t heard that before.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Don’t shut off your vents in any house that uses floor vents such as an old home with a crawl space underneath or a trailer (yeah for trailers!). My dad owns an HVAC company in Austin, TX and that is what he tells people. If you have a newer house with ceiling vents then you can close them off in rooms that you will keep to door closed such as an unused bedroom. Under no circumstances close a vent near your thermostat- your whole house will become over heated in the winter or fidget in the summer (i.e. waisted energy!)
Hope this helps!
Also, being the vegetarian I am, I would of course have to say eat less meet to save money on groceries!
February 12th, 2008 at 5:44 am
I have one more tip for anyone out there who cares:
Use an Induction Cooktop for cooking. Induction cooktops use magnetism to directly heat up compatible (ferromagnetic metals) pots/pans and therefore do a very good job conserving energy. Induction cooktops are around 80-90% efficient, whereas gas or heating elements are only around 30% (and less) efficient. This means that when you cook, by using an induction cooktop, you’d be paying less than 1/3 of the energy cost!
Sure, some countertop-integral units of induction cookers are really expensive, but there are more and more inexpensive units available these days.
February 12th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Great list! I’m going to have to look into doing a few of those around my apartment.
Thanks!
February 25th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Lynnae: What a great list of rules! I bet some people will be surprised how much the nickel-and-dime stuff affects their budgets, and how making a few simple changes can have a noticeable impact.
I second the notion about drying clothes indoors. When I lived in Alaska, my laundry added much-needed humidity to our air on those below-zero days. I still use drying racks in my apartment in Seattle, even for sheets — they dry surprisingly quickly this way and it saves me from having to put those quarters in the dryer. When I run out of rack room, I’ve found I can drape a sheet over the floor lamp (after unplugging it, just to be on the safe side).
As for re-wearing clothes, I wrote a blog essay on that very subject. If anyone is interested (and if it’s okay to post URLs), they can find it at:
http://blogs.moneycentral.msn......n-sam.aspx
Best regards,
Donna Freedman
February 26th, 2008 at 10:17 am
My crock cooker and toaster oven are my best friends, for my energy bill, my wallet, and my waistline!
When I started living alone, I bought a 1-quart crock cooker that is just perfect for one or two people, and it’s so nice to come home to dinner!
I also bought a smaller, apartment-sized fridge. It cost nearly as much as the full-sized one, but it uses less energy, and I don’t fill it up with food I will eventually throw out.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Awesome list, Lynnae! This will be fun, combing through your post and the comments.
April 5th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
this is a great list! it’s hard to add anything to it, but i have a few. we replaced our outdoor light switches with digital timers right in the switchplate. i couldnt tell you how many times we left those lights on before. showers typically use far less water than baths. dollar store batteries sometimes come from the same factory that produces name brand batteries. we saw this on 20/20. dollar store candles last just as long as yankee ones do.
i cant wait to start leaving more comments. this is a great site!
April 18th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Wonder if the utility companies are scamming us??
We did an experiment. This past January and February, we turned off the heat and hot water heater to the upstairs of our two story home and stayed downstairs (we have separate water heaters and heat pumps up and down). We quit washing dishes and used paper plates and cups. We went from 1-2 loads of laundry per day to 2 a week. We turned our downstairs thermostat to 68 or colder. Well, guess what, hardly any difference at all in our bill or “reading”. 13 whole kilowatts less than the month prior with the same temperatures and no different from the same time the previous year. So really, why bother? I think they are just manufacturing these readings. We also had no change in use when we were gone from our house for a month one year. Hmmmm. When you call them up and tell them they act like they cannot hear what you are telling them and go into their pat speech about things you can do to cut back on use–infuriating!!
April 19th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
also
to save money on phone calls use Skype. You can make calls on your computer. Its free computer computer anywhere in the world, but you can also call landlines and cell phones very cheaply
April 20th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I buy all of my shoes for my husband on this site. I have also bought Heelys for my kids ($20 off the price in stores even with shipping). This way, my family keeps with the new fashions and I am able to stay within my budget. Virtual Exchanges
June 15th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
At this rate I’ll be saving enough money to start my own NASCAR race team. It just amazes me some of these I’ve never even thought of.
Ron Ripple
June 21st, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I was just chilling today, bored pretty much and then I ran across this post while looking in the arhives..many many useful tips here…sweet and thanks for the hard work!
August 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Great suggestion of home energy audits. There are so many things that can be done, big and small that can add up to big savings.
Programmable timers on thermostats and water heaters also ramp up significant savings on utility bills. I am passionate about home energy conservation. Maybe I should blog more about it.
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 pm
i think the thermostat at 68 degrees in the winter and 78 degrees in the summer is key to saving alot of money
August 24th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
One other item for insulating is to use window & door “snakes”. My wife made these things that are just 1″ tubes the width of the windows. We filled them with cotton balls and fish-tank rocks (new, not fishy:-). We put these on the sills & joints of the old windows & at the base of the doors all winter long - a very noticeable drop in drafts!
September 27th, 2008 at 5:23 am
I second the idea of fixing your own appliances or plumbing around the home. This website tells how to repair and find parts.
http://www.repairclinic.com/
Often we will take a broken part with us to the plumbing supply place and they will tell us how to repair it. We have saved TONS this way.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Buying energy efficient appliances can really help but with the fridge you can take it one step further. Don’t buy a side by side fridge (stick to the ones that have a freezer on the top or bottom) because the side by side is less energy efficient than the other models. Also, models with the automatic ice makers actually use more energy than models without.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Love this article!
December 18th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I live alone. Because I do, I can do a lot of things that other people can’t. I used to buy washcloths in 12-pack bundles for $1.99. I have probably dozen right now. PREPARE yourself, because I don’t want to gross anyone out, but I use them as toilet paper. Not if I do #2, just if I do #1. I throw them in the wash with everything else. I do a 2nd rinse because I’m on a well and don’t pay for my water. Since they are all cotton, I can also throw in a cup of bleach, just for good measure. Nothing infuriates me more than going to the store and paying $10 for a pack of “double roll” toilet paper. One other thing I have trained myself to do: I go to the bathroom immediately before I leave work.
BTW I’ve been doing this for 10 years and never get sick. And, I’ve never gotten a flu shot.
April 14th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
great list!
One more - if 3 or less people eat in the house, consider preparing food in large amounts (things like soup or mixture for hamburgers),dividing into small portions in plastic boxes or zip bags and freezing. If you have a large freezer you can have different kinds of food, and each day defreeze enough for a meal - preparing and/or cooking in bulk saves on ingredients and energy, as well as time, and of course is much cheaper than buying prepared foods. Also try hamburger recepies that combine meat and vegetables - some of them are awesome!
April 16th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
A lot of good ideas, but #9 is not practical in swampy, excessively hot Houston.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 am
I love simple, easy and frankly, common sense approach to being green. It’s the easy things that last the longest.
Sandy’s last blog post..Earth Day Is My Birthday Green Goods Giveaway