There are always a few things you can do to improve your home, and the majority of them are some changes that you can make without too great of a financial commitment.
However, what should you do about improving your financial standing?
Is there a single hack that focuses on saving you money rather than teaching you to spend less to do the things you like?
Well, you’re in luck, because we’ll go over some of the better ways you can save money while also maintaining your home’s beauty and the functions it offers.
It’s all about making baby steps toward the goals you’ve set for yourself, and some small hacks for improving your quality of life at home are no exception to this rule.
With just a quick few adjustments to how you handle the resources at your disposal, you could cut your electricity bill, be more energy efficient and even teach yourself to be more responsible with your money.
Homemade cleaning agents
While this does sound like a stretch, seeing as clothing and dish-cleaning supplies aren’t generally expensive, it’s still a decent method if you’re looking to save some extra cash this month.
In fact, if you learn to like these handmade cleaning methods, you’ll want to implement them for much longer than just a single month.
A really good cleaning agent can be made with only 3 ingredients, and you’re probably already stocked up on those.
Some baking soda, vinegar, and a splash of bleach can go a long way, sometimes even further than what standard, store-bought detergent could do, although you should always try it on your own and see the difference for yourself.
You can save yourself hundreds of dollars by turning this into a standard thing in your home, and with enough experience in making these cleaning agents, you may also be able to help the rest of your family deal with their monthly expenses.
Keep your AC filters clean
This move has a number of benefits attached to it, starting from the fact that it’ll help your appliances run more efficiently all the way to it being much more healthy for you and the rest of your family.
During wintertime, you may even want to swap these filters out every month, mainly due to how much more the appliance is used then.
For wall and free-standing units, you should make it a habit to clean or replace their filters every month, and definitely replace them every year if you’re looking to get the most out of their very limited lifespan.
It goes without saying that choosing not to turn the AC on when it’s not absolutely necessary can do wonders for your electricity/heating bill, so you may also want to keep track of that one as well.
Unplug the electronics that aren’t in use
You may have noticed that even when some of your devices aren’t turned on, they have a small red light indicating that they’re turned off.
To no one’s surprise, this light is also powered by electricity, and if you let it be turned on at all times, you’re practically allowing free money to slip away directly out of your hands.
Naturally, going through your household and plugging out every single device from its own socket is a taxing assignment, to say the least, but even that is somewhat manageable with the help of a power strip.
A single flip of a switch turns off all of the connected devices, and up until you need them again, you don’t need to worry about them wasting any precious electricity.
If you spend a lot of time outside of your home, you can also spend some money and buy a wi-fi controlled outlet, which will let you constantly be in control of how much electricity you’re actually spending.
Freeze fresh food
Fresh vegetables and fruit are extremely difficult to come by in the cold, winter months, and even when you do run into them, they’re incredibly expensive.
Thankfully, we’ve had the technology to deal with this for the better part of a century, and fresh ingredients can be stored for later without the risk of them spoiling it.
This is even more true if you’ve got unused space in your freezer that could be filled with this produce.
Apart from freezing fruits and vegetables, you can also store meat like this, although it will lose its taste and texture after spending too much time in the fridge.
Meat isn’t all though, and you could even freeze soups and sauces to incorporate into your meals with complete ease.
Additionally, you can stop up on some of the items you believe will be low in supply in the following months, allowing yourself to avoid the high prices while also having access to all the foods you love.