Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
Running our homes seems to be getting increasingly more expensive, so solutions to reduce household bills and general running costs are always welcome. Here we are going to discuss some of the ways you can go about improving the finances of your home with various changes from the significant to the small. You won’t need to do everything that we look at here, but some alterations to your home could give a healthy boost to your bank account in the long term.
Insurance
Insurance is a tricky one, and that makes it the best place to start. You must have insurance related to your property in some form or another, but the cost of it can be rather high. First of all, it is important to distinguish between the different types of insurance that you are going to have, and why you have them before we look at how to reduce those costs.
There are many types of insurance that are open to you if you own a house, or are going to own one, but you don’t necessarily need all of them. The important ones to bear in mind are; homeowners insurance – this protects you against natural damage to the home and while it isn’t legally required you should still have it. And title insurance – this provides you protection against hidden defects and is usually mandatory for mortgage holders. We will come on to the value of these insurance types shortly, but first you should also be keeping in mind the other types available to you that are perhaps not as vital.
Flood insurance, private mortgage insurance, mortgage protection life insurance, and umbrella insurance are all cover that you can get, but they possibly won’t be of value to you. You might only want to have flood insurance if you are in a high-risk area, in fact, it will probably be compulsory, but that said it can be useful to have in case of emergency. The other three, however, are unlikely to apply to your circumstance.
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
So, if you are confident in the types of protection that you will need to cover your home, how about how much you are paying for it? Well here is the most important suggestion with regards to insurance, no matter how many you take out – make sure you are shopping around on a yearly basis. In other words, don’t get out by automatic renewals. There are hundreds of companies out there waiting to provide you with cover, and using comparison websites to find them is the best way to go. In addition to that, if you do find a better price elsewhere you should make sure that you tell your current provider as soon as possible. Retaining customers in an important metric to these companies, so you might find they agree to match or better the claim you have found at a different broker.
Utility
Utility bills are something you are going to be paying, no matter what. However, there are ways to reduce them so let’s take a look at your options.
First of all, as we are near the topic still, use comparison websites again to find better deals. Annually researching the cost of your utility and searching out switching advice is a sure fire way to keep your outgoing at a reasonable level. However, there are alternatives that you can pursue to reduce your costs even more.
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
Sometimes a one-off upfront payment for a piece of equipment will pay back dividends in time. One of these is the purchase of rainwater tanks. These tools can be used to store water that has fallen on your property, which can then be used for all manner of reasons from replenishing toilet water to watering your garden and even as drinking water with a sufficient filtering system. You should see a reduction in your water bills when using a tank like this, and as an added bonus it is environmentally friendly.
Other improvements to your home that will help you reduce bills include solar panels, cool roofs and a smart thermostat. These three changes to your home will help brings down costs, improve its energy efficiency and introduce the help of technology around the house. In fact, employing technology around the home is a great way to reduce utility bills especially when it comes to electricity. Utilizing tech that controls the house lights from a centralized remote control or smart plug sockets that you can turn and off from your phone will help you reduce the use of electricity in the home and thus reduce costs.
Maintenance
Finally, let’s take a look at maintenance around the house that you should keep on top of to reduce outgoings. Looking after your home is going to directly impact the two subjects we have discussed above. A well-maintained home should have lower insurance rates, and a property that has been well looked after will be more energy efficient which will keep heat in the home thus reducing utility bills.
But maintenance is about more than your monthly outgoings; it is also a great way to keep higher-priced one-off payments at bay. For example, looking after your home appliances through regular cleaning and dusting will ensure that they stay in good condition for many years. The last thing you want is to walk into the kitchen one day and realize the refrigerator is broken – they aren’t cheap to replace. So keeping up on the house chores isn’t just an aesthetic thing to do, but it will keep your expensive items in better condition for longer.
Your Home
Finally, keep in mind that it is your home and no matter what outside factors there are you will know what is best. Regularly checking your expenditures, researching for better deals and keeping on top of the house jobs list will keep your money in your pocket for longer and that can never be considered a bad thing.
Recent Comments