Managing Home Maintenance Costs

A humorous but serious post about going green and saving money at the same time. This post is not too long ago that we thought our readers might enjoy:

Stories from the past that are so true!!!!!!!

In the line at the store, a young cashier told an older woman that she should reduce her energy foot print and  bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags take a lot of energy to produce and are not goof for our environment

The woman apologized to him and explained,“We didn’t worry about energy foot prints back in my day.”

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today…….

Your generation did not care enough to reduce energy consumption and save our environment.”

He was right — our generation didn’t worry about energy foot prints.

Back then, we recycled milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store returned them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn’t worry about energy foot prints back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an elevator or an escalator in every store and office building.

We walked or biked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But he was right. We didn’t worry about energy foot prints in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that clerk is right; we didn’tworry about energy foot prints back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Texas .

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t  burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.  We shoveled snow by hand and did not use a gas guzzling pollution spewing snow blower. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But he’s right; we didn’t worry about energy foot prints back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn’t worry about energy foot prints back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t worry about energy foot prints back then?

There are a number of basic things you can do and should do prior to going on vacation to ensure that your home is well looked after and no damage occurs to your home while you are away. So how does this fall under the general mandate of saving money? Well if you are going to be away, you will want to make sure that your home is looked after with the least cost and so that your home insurance does not become null and void.

There is much more to it that just having your neighbor look in on your home once and a while. We will discuss a few of the requirements and how you can make sure that your cost is minimized, while keeping your home covered and safe.

Insurance Requirements for Vacant Homes

Many people do not realize it , but their insurance companies have a number of requirements about how homes should be looked after while you are away from home. Most companies require that the water be turned off to avoid any possibility of damage from running water if water pipes are broken somehow and start leaking.

This is particularly important in cold climates were the water could freeze in the water pipes could freeze if the heat is shut off for some reason.

Most home insurance companies will specify time frames for homes to be checked to confirm that security has not been compromised, that the heat is still on and that the water pipes have not frozen. Some will request that they are checked every 48 hours if the water is left on, while others are ok with an entire week if the water is turned off.

Check with your home insurance companies requirements and get it in writing so that you fully understand what is required if you are going to be away from home for an extended period of time.

Make Your Home Look Lived In

The old cliche is that a house that is vacant is an invitation for someone to break in, or something like that. The whole point of this is to re-enforce that you need to make your home looked lived in. Keep the grass cut the weeds pulled, the leaved picked up etc. If you live in a cold climate and plan to be away during the winter, have someone keep the snow cleared, the walk shoveled and advertisements picked up.

Place timers in rooms that you typically occupy and have the lights come on at regular times. Have someone check the timers regularly in case the power has gone off to make sure that they turn on the lights at regular hours. Even having a neighbor place garbage our on garbage day is a good idea.

Who Should You Ask to Check On Your Home

This is a really tough question to answer, since it really depends on your situation. If you have good friends, neighbors or family that you can depend on to check on your home on a schedule and keep a record, then you probably want to go that direction.

If you plan to be away for many months, having friends etc check on your home can get to be a bit onerous and they may not want to make that commitment. Perhaps they will also want to go away as well during that time frame.

Another approach is to hire a company to check on your home on an agreed to schedule, keep a record and notify you if there are any problems. If you do go this route, there are a number of safeguards that you want to consider here as well. Make sure you have a contract and that it is clearly spelled out what this company is supposed to do for you. e.g. check security, check the heating system, water plants, take in the mail, landscaping, snow removal, check the lights, respond to alarm system alerts etc.

Summary

A quick summary of what you need to consider when leaving your home for an extended period of time:

- check with yur home insurance company regarding requirements

- turn the water off before you leave

- ask your home sitter to run the water every two weeks to fill toilets and water traps

- establish a schedule for checks in accordance with insurance requirements

- ask home sitter to maintain a written record of checks

- make your house looked lived in e.g. snow clearing, lawn maintenance, lights

- have a contract with a professional home sitter

- make it clear exactly what you need to be done and make it part of your contract.

- stay in touch with your home sitter and ask the neighbors to also keep an eye on things.

Enjoy your vacation and save money by not having any damage or break-ins while you are away on your extended vacation.

The theme of this post is ” do it your self” ! This is by far the best way to save money on home maintenance costs and annual upkeep. Consider that if you need to pay someone to do something around your home and he or she is charging $50 an hour plus dispatch fees etc, you are really paying approximately $70 or $80 and hour before taxes. In other words depending on what tax bracket you are in you have to earn this much in pre-tax income to pay for a handyman to come around and do this work for you.

Most trades people are very competitive and you can sometimes negotiate how much they will charge, however recognize that there is usually a dispatch fee plus an hourly rate after they arrive. Sometimes the dispatch fee will include the first hour. The dispatch fee or call out ( they use various names ) can be as much as $100. Before asking a tradesmen to come over, if you decide to go this direction, make sure you understand the costs first so there are no surprises!

Now if you are quite rich and can afford it or you can make this much and more at your work, while the handy man is doing what ever you need, then it is a different scenario. For most of us we cannot make $70 or $80 and hour and so it makes sense for the average consumer to do the work themselves!

Another major advantage is the satisfaction of completing something on your own and doing a great job at it. There is a real sense of achievement in completing a small project at home which many people find rewarding when they are finished.

I do not Know How to Do These Things

But, many will say they do not know how to do this type of work. There are so many ways to learn how to do basic repairs that most people can pick up what they need to know to do most jobs. Sure it may take you a bit longer to complete a job, you may need to buy some extra parts or tools, but the combination of reward and reduced costs to you more than pays for the extra time and tools you need.

The internet is an unbelievable resource to find all kinds of basic help on a whole variety of tasks.  Some people though need the confidence of actually talking to an expert to completely understand how to complete a job. While others may have a specific situation that needs some discussion and thought about how to complete the job.

Most home improvement stores such as Home Depot, and many others have experienced staff that have spent many years doing this type of work. For example, if you are changing a tap, there is a plumber who has hung up his tools to work in a Home Depot store and will be more than happy to give you some pointers on how to complete your task. They will even help you pick put out all of the parts and the tools you will need to complete the job.

If you are tackling a more major activity such as laying hardwood floor for example, most of these same stores will put on training courses from time to time, based on demand to show people how to properly set up hardwood flooring installations and complete the job.

Making Mistakes

Of course you are going to make mistakes! If this is the first time you are trying to complete a repair on something, drywall a basement, paint, install wall paper or lay hardwood floors, you are going to make mistakes. This is just part of the learning process and it will depend on how much preparation you do and how much training you get in advance.

There will be some extra expense due to your mistakes since you may need to buy extra tools or parts. However in most cases this extra cost will not come anywhere close to the cost of labor if you were to hire someone to complete the job. If you have to purchase tools, you will have these tools for many other jobs as well so their costs are not wasted in any manner.

Summary
Doing the work yourself can save you lots of money especially when you take into account what it costs you in before tax dollars.  Always find out the charges will be if you do decide to call someone in to do the work. The money you save will more than pay for the tools and the parts you need. Learn how to do various tasks by talking to the experts. A good source can be found at many hardware stores like Home Depot. Even if you make mistakes, it is ok, you have saved more than enough money to fix your mistake in most cases.

We decided to start this blog about how to save some money while maintaining our homes after watching many people lose their homes and also the significant economic hit that everyone took over the 2008 and 2009 period. They are only now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and everyone is trying to conserve their funds until they get a new job or even if they have a job. Every dollar in your pocket is one that can help you and your family in the future.

This is the first post and I guess it is pretty general in nature, but that is ok, we wanted to introduce the topic and set the stage for more posts to come. Some people can literally save thousands of dollars every year ! That is more than enough to enjoy a nice vacation or pay off a few extra bills that we all have.

If you could fix something yourself or complete an upgrade without having to call a repairman, wouldn’t that be a nice thing! Imagine having a repairman come over to fix a tap to replace a 50 cent washer and then be charged $50 or $75 for the guy to show up! Some even charge more than that.

One of my motto’s, even if I screw up the first time, or have to buy a new tool, I am ahead of the game since I have saved money or I have a new tool I can use for other jobs or both!

We hope to be able to post a new blog post every week covering topics on how to reduce your homes upkeep costs and your annual maintenance costs as well as annual operating costs. There are a lot of common sense things that can be done and then there are areas that fall into the upgrade area which will not only make your home more sale able, but they will also reduce your monthly utility costs. We sometimes call this monthly operating costs.

Either way there is a real trade off between money saved and the amount of money you need to spend to save that money. Spending a $100 to reduce your heating costs by $200 a year would be a reasonable deal,  however if you need to spend $10,000 and it takes 10 years to pay it off with savings, you may want to reconsider unless there are other reasons to spend the money. Maintenance or repair of some thing is usually a trigger, so you may as well invest in something that will save you money. Low flow toilets are a good example of this sort of thing.

This particular post is general in nature, however we plan to complete posts each week which will fall into one of the major categories:

Energy Savings

Cost Savings

Repair

Maintenance

and more as we complete posts.

Initially we will focus on summer time issues, however as we draw closer to the fall, there will be more posts aimed at the fall and winter as well were people in northern climates must pay a great deal to heat their homes and run their lights.

This is a great opportunity for people to follow us and contribute to any of the posts that we put out on our blog. If you have a particular subject that you would like to hear about, please leave a comment and we will glad to consider it for our blog.  As time permits we want to also cover energy saving devices that are just coming onto the market such as windmills and photo optic systems that generate electricity and push power back onto the grid.