Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

4 Ways to Reduce Your Energy Bills This Spring

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Spring has arrived, and warmer weather is right around the corner. As the seasons change, now’s the time to consider how the weather might impact your energy costs in the coming months. Here are a few ways you can reduce your energy costs this season.

1. Clean Your Air Ducts

Cleaner air ducts mean that your air conditioner will work a lot more efficiently, and this is a clear way for you to save both money and energy. The National Air Duct Cleaners Association recommends that air ducts should be cleaned once every three to five years. Doing this can go a long way in ensuring that you not only pay lower energy bills but that your family also stays more comfortable as well. If anyone suffers from allergies, they’re bound to have an easier time when they breathe air that’s not full of dust, pollen, and other allergens that tend to collect in your air ducts over time.

2. Patch Up Any Missing Shingles

If you’ve ever experienced the chimney effect during the summer months, you know how your roof can significantly impact the energy use in your home, and this is why you need to make sure that it’s in a solid state throughout the year. Missing shingles or poor insulation can cause your home’s heating or cooling to escape to the outside, which causes your HVAC system to work twice as hard to keep your home comfortable.

With the friendly weather in spring, this is the best time for you to work on your roof. The roofing industry is expected to grow 4% annually, so you should be able to find an experienced roofer in your area to inspect your roof and replace any missing shingles they come across. This can help you seal your home a lot better and lose less treated air to the outdoors. As a result, you’ll be able to make do with your AC set at a reasonable degree.

3. Clear Your Water Heater

Next, drain your water heater of any sediment so you can improve its efficiency. If your water heater has to work through layers of accumulated particles, it will need more energy while giving a lower output. Since water heating accounts for 18% of the energy used in an average property, the implications of cleaning your heater should be evident. According to Bob Vila, it’s recommended to drain your water heater at least once a year.

If your water heater has additional issues or it’s simply reached the end of its lifespan, you might need to call a professional. Weigh between fixing it and replacing it to see which is the more reasonable expense for you. Making the right call can help you save on energy and get better service, so do some research on top of talking to the relevant professionals.

4. Switch to LED Bulbs

Last but not least, change all the bulbs in your home to LED bulbs. This is a measure that will help you save not just now, but for a long time to come. This is because LED bulbs generally need less energy to run and so they’ll cost you less to keep on. They also have a longer lifespan than normal bulbs so you can also do away with the cost of making frequent replacements. To boot, they give off less heat while running and so they won’t heat your house up and call for more cooling efforts on your part. Given the affordability and ease of this tip, it should probably be the first one that you put to work.

These four tips can help you reduce the energy you use in your home this spring. When you make it more affordable to enjoy modern conveniences, you’re bound to enjoy every moment you spend in your home. You can make some more improvements each season so that in the end, your home is efficient and affordable for you, not to mention attractive and cozy!

Keeping Your Family’s Finances Under Control

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Keeping your family’s finances under control can seem complicated and almost impossible for some people. However, you’d be surprised to learn how easy staying on top of your expenses can be if you’re organized and realistic You must understand how much you can save each month after paying your bills and what can be allotted for doctor’s visits, accidents, repairs, upgrades, and fun. Luckily, there are many tips you can follow to begin your journey, but they could be overwhelming at first. This article will review some of these times to help you learn more about staying on top of your family’s money.

You Must Plan Short-Term, Medium-Term, and Long-Term

It’s not easy in today’s economy, but thinking ahead is one of the most critical parts of financial planning. It’s tempting to live day-to-day and think about tomorrow some other time, but that’s a huge mistake if you want to control your finances. You might want to rely on the advice of your bank for mortgages and other matters, but it’s a good idea to hire an impartial third party. However, essential family finance planning begins with the small things.

You Need to Know Your Family’s Monthly Expenses

First, you must write down what your family must pay monthly, including bills, school expenses, healthcare, insurance, etc. Then, it would help if you looked at your monthly income. Whatever you have left after taking care of the vital parts must be thoroughly planned because you never know when you will have an accident or a considerable repair.

For example, according to Creekstone Designs, around 30% of homeowners decide to remodel their kitchen because their old one no longer works. That’s a considerable investment; you must ensure your family can afford it. However, it’s also essential, because a house without a kitchen can’t function properly.

You Must Plan What to Do With Your Remaining Income

Your income after bills should be used for saving accounts, emergency funds, and fun, because you can’t deprive yourself or your family of lovely treats occasionally if you can afford them. However, there are a few things you might have yet to consider to reduce your regular expenses. For example, changing things around your house, such as your fence, can be beneficial. According to Foremost Fence, aluminum fencing has become more popular because it barely needs to be maintained after being installed in comparison to other options.

If you have children, you need to have funds for many possible things that could happen. Unfortunately, these matters are unpredictable, but you should at least have enough to cover medical costs if necessary. According to Pediatrix, there are 33 kinds of pediatricians your child might have to see, and you need to be able to cover them.

The most important part of planning your family’s finances is to be prepared and keep track of everything. You can reduce your costs wherever possible. You can also bring your spouse and the rest of your family to plan what to do with the money and how to keep things in check. Teaching your children about handling money can significantly benefit a household’s finances, so you should know how involving them in these matters can help.

Working On Your Debts

If you have school loans and credit card debt, you should start working to lower them. While some try to pay the debt off all at once, you should take your time and pay the minimum or just above. The same goes with mortgages and similar.

If you’re doing well at work and have settled all your expenses, it might be tempting to want to lower those debts as quickly as possible. However, it’s not always the best choice for your finances. If you have a ten-year mortgage, pay it in ten years as you originally planned. Work on your other loans and debts, but ensure you can contribute funds to your other plans, such as saving accounts and emergency funds. You never know what could happen later.

Following this advice, you should start controlling your family’s finances quickly and without much problem. You must be smart about money, but stay calm and not allow yourself to become overwhelmed by your budget. Once you budget everything and have a plan in place to make payments, you can spend on your wants and needs.

4 Tips for Cleaning Your Home on a Budget

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It’s essential to clean your home.  This is because it’s one of the things that can help you to keep it comfortable and safe. While maintaining a pristine home under various circumstances may cost a lot of money, you could cut these costs if you try. Please have a look at the four tips below that stand to help you clean your home on a budget. They will also help you to enjoy a space that feels every bit as fresh and unique as it looks.

1. Invest in Quality Cleaning Supplies

The first thing that you need to do is to invest in quality cleaning supplies. Get your cleaning supplies from a janitorial supply store or a local hardware shop to have an easier time. They’ll have much better quality items in stock that you won’t keep breaking. Buying flimsy, cheap supplies several times will likely cost you a considerably higher amount of money than you’d have to spend on getting quality items once. When you get the supplies you need, remember to clean your entire house and the various elements as often as they need to be cleaned. For instance, manufacturers suggest you clean heat exchangers at least once every five years.

2. Shop Around for the Right Cleaning Service

When you need to pay for a cleaning service to get your home in better shape, it’s a good idea to shop around for one. This is because various cleaning services will have different pricing options. They may also offer differing cleaning solutions, so it’s best to find a company that can give you the specific service you need. While shopping around, you may be interested to learn that many cleaning services, according to Thimble, cost $100 to $150 for each job that they do. This should give you a good idea of the costs that you’re likely to encounter. This way, you’ll not be likely to get overcharged and should be on high alert if a cleaning service asks for a lot less.

3. Clean Regularly

If you want to lower your expenses on cleaning your home, it’s best to clean often. Doing this can help you keep the amount of cleaning needed each time to a minimum. You’ll also spend less time cleaning your home to get more done quickly. While doing this, ensure to dispose of waste safely and responsibly, recycling and composting as necessary. Paper is one of the most recycled materials, according to Reader’s Digest. This means that you can live more sustainably if you clean frequently and eliminate waste correctly.

4. Declutter Religiously

Last but not least, you should declutter your home regularly for the best outcome. Doing this will make it easier to clean and keep your home tidy. To have an easier time once you declutter and get rid of everything you don’t use, ensure that everything has its spot in the house. You could donate or sell unnecessary items around your home so that you don’t have to pay to keep them in storage when you may never use them again. Practice getting things back to where they need to be once you’re done using them, and there will be less that needs to be done to get the home in good shape.

These four tips should help you clean your home on a budget and enjoy living in a clean and beautiful space. While it may be hard to form the habits you need to practice to keep your home clean, it’s worth the effort. Teach your family the same habits, and they could benefit from them for the rest of their lives as they’ll know what to do to keep their homes clean on a budget.