Posts with tag: reducing your home expenses

Owning a house can be expensive, and not just because of the mortgage repayments and deposit. All of the small things can add up to have an impact on your finances.

Even if you are meticulous in managing your money, there are simple ways to reduce your home expenses.

Controlling your mortgage

Often, your highest regular expense is your mortgage repayments. But you could reduce the affect it has on your spending.

• Look into remortgaging to benefit from low interest rates.
• By cutting the time left on your mortgage, you will save on interest in the long term.
• Pay half of your monthly mortgage payments every two weeks.

Cut your utilities

Being in charge of bills means that you can be strict about turning the lights off. If this is something that concerns you, or your bills are still high, you can follow these simple steps to help:

• Make sure that your heating system works correctly; you do not want to waste energy by constantly turning up the thermostat if it is faulty.
• Consider using apps to control the heating when you are out of your home.
• Use timers on your lights so that they’re only on when they need to be.

Save on water

In the bathroom, fix any leaks immediately and consider flow-restricting shower heads.

You can also save water in your kitchen, by only using the dishwasher when it is completely full. Washing your laundry in full loads will also use less water.

Learn DIY

There are many small projects around the house that you could learn to do yourself, and save on calling in professionals.

• Curtains can be easy to sew if you use plain colours or a simple pattern.
• If you don’t want to replace furniture, but it could do with an update, try refinishing or redecorating them yourself.
• You could even do minor maintenance jobs like clearing the gutters yourself, if they are easy to reach.

If your priority is keeping costs down, these simple tips could stop your home having more of an effect on your finances.