A few years ago when I decided to exit the workforce and stay home with my children, we started watching our utility bills very closely. At the time, we were living in a home that been built in the 1960’s and we were looking to do anything we could to even save $20 per month. Although replacing our old single paned metal windows was not an option, we found all sorts of places we could improve. First, we just decided we were keeping the house unrealistically warm 24/7 during the winter. We found that we slept better and would save a few dollars if we simply lowered the thermostat a few degrees while we were sleeping. Another spot where we paid attention was our front door. The house had shifted some and left small cracks in between the door and the doorway. We identified everywhere we could see light and applied foam insulation. We used the type of insulation that has adhesive on the back and is usually referred to as weather stripping. This stuff is cheap and is an easy way to prevent air from entering or escaping your home, particularly if you have an older home with some quirks. Any local hardware store or big box home center has this stuff. It’s not expensive at all. We found that we were saving several dollars a month in no time. Remember that saving $5 a month comes out to be $60 a year.

I am starting a new weekly series based on the maintenance of your house. This includes the home, as well as the items that require routine maintenance that are within your residence, I’ll call this household maintenance. Home Maintenance is essential not only for the preservation of your house, but to ensure that it is operating at maximum efficiency.

I have now had the privilege of owning three different houses, all with different maintenance needs as I lived in them. The house that I currently live in is by far the easiest to maintain, because it is the newest of all three. Many of the items in the home haven’t had time to wear down, wear out, or stop working.

But, what if you live in an older home? Older homes have a tendency to require more maintenance, mostly because they are old, not because of the lack of quality. The first house I owned was well-maintained, requiring minor repairs and fixes along the way. It was an easy house to maintain because someone had consistently followed through with all the little things as the house aged. I moved from this house because it was small (792 sq ft), and while well-maintained, didn’t fill the needs of our family.

The second house I owned and lived in the longest seemed like a good house. After living there for much less than a year, it was evident that the house had not been maintained over the years. There were many issues and small fixes that had to be done to the house that should have been done over the years to keep the house well maintained.

Our current house is about eleven years old, and while it is not showing evident signs of wear and tear, the maintenance is what keeps the house in good condition so that major repairs are avoided, or not required. Routine maintenance may seem costly at times, but avoiding the maintenance may result in more costlier repairs down the road.

Several months ago I purchased a few containers of ornamental Blue Arrows grass that were on deep discount at the grocery store of all places. I was pleasantly surprised to find these at $.25 each because I had actually been looking for some at The Home Depot, but wasn’t interested in paying the premium price for the full grown plants at $15 each.

The plants have had several months of growth now, and have reached a nice size that are gradually hiding the gas meter. Their full height potential will reach three foot. As they continue to grow and fill in the area, they will begin to draw the eye toward that area of the yard because of their height and width, without either the gas meter or electric box being in view once they are full grown.  I will actually be able to place the grass in other parts of my yard once they are established or share with my family.

Since my husband does all of our lawn care each month, he saves us a good chunk of money doing the work himself rather than hiring someone to do the work for us. Yes, I admit that I like the convenience of hiring someone to do the work for us. Hiring someone allows us more freedom time wise by not having to worry about when the yard is going to be taken care of. The time that we save by hiring someone though may outweigh the financial benefits of doing the work ourselves.

We did have to make some investments in the equipment to do the yard work ourselves, but these investments pay for themselves sometimes in the same year they were purchased. We have a lawnmower, a weed-eater, a big shop broom (for the grass on the sidewalk), and a fertilizer spreader.

We mow our yard on average about every seven to nine days. I’m not sure what the going rate is for a lawn mowing service, but I’ll just estimate $40 each week for mowing and weed-eating our front and back yard. Our yard begins to require lawn care sometime in late April or early May and requires lawn care through September or October. This is about six months of lawn care which would cost us around $960 a season. The $960 would easily cover any start-up equipment required to care for your lawn, and any maintenance required on your newly acquired lawn equipment. It would probably even cover the cost of gas, oil, weed-eater line, and lawnmower blades that require sharpening.

The bottom line is that mowing the yard isn’t always fun, but I like the money we save by doing the work ourselves. I won’t even complain if the grass gets tracked into the house, as long as the yard is taken care of.