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Tips For Home Owners - Be a Home Owner, Not a Home Moaner
Thu 19 Nov 2009 - 21:35
Tips For Home Owners - Be a Home Owner, Not a Home Moaner
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Perkins]Andrew Perkins
Are you a home owner or a home moaner? You may be both, especially if there's been a sudden unforeseen emergency that's got you or a contractor under your sink, in your cellar or on the roof. Here are several tips to keep the moaning to a minimum and the joy of owning to the maximum.
Tip 1: Budget - Having a Home Improvement Nest Egg can keep your Holidays Bright
$10 per week. Doesn't sound like much, but it adds up over a year. Put that much away every week (set up an automatic deduction so you don't even see it), and you'll have the cost of a major appliance covered in one year. Do more and you'll have some extra insurance that's accruing interest - and peace of mind.
Tip 2: Audit - A quick and painless audit of your home will help you focus on your needs.
You can quickly audit your home for the things you can't do without. They fall into these categories:
Infrastructure: Roof, windows, electrical, plumbing, water pump(unless you have city water), furnace, hot water heater. We're looking for the most expensive things that you may need to replace.
Major appliances are the ones you can't do without. You actually can do without a TV - a computer on the other hand may fall into this category;). Major appliances include: refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, as well as other "big ticket items" that would be impossible to do without.
Next, you'll want to do an age and lifespan analysis of each of these:
Roof: Age____ Lifespan 25 yrs CTR (Cost To Replace)________
Windows: Age____ Lifespan______ CTR (Cost To Replace)________, etc.
Tip 3: Don't Spend it! - After a year's worth of saving, don't blow it 'cause the new year's here
Hooray! No disasters! I can hear that little consumer part of your brain saying "And look at that cash... hmmmm. I can spend it since it wasn't so hard to save!" DON'T. Machinery doesn't know or care that the new year is upon us. Having $520 in the bank (and hopefully earning interest) is your insurance that you don't have to spend that much plus interest in case something blows up! Besides, in two years, you'll have enough saved that a smaller appliance can give up the ghost and you'll still have a cushion. Also, think about the roof over your head. Yes, that will probably need to be replaced at some point, and that's going to be v-e-r-y expensive to replace. Keep the money in the account, use it ONLY for replacing the necessities, and nothing else.
Tip 4: Research - Invest some time in researching newer appliances so you can make a sound decision.
Research into new appliances shouldn't be a chore, it should be more like shopping for the inevitable. Find the three appliances or parts of the infrastructure that are most likely to fail, and keep your eyes on the sales. Is the hot water heater getting on in years? Look into tankless, and how much that would cost (one for each bathroom, plus the kitchen). Washing machine walking around the cellar? A new one would be nice, but look in the pennysavers, craigslist, Sunday papers, and other options. Three $100 washers over ten years is still cheaper than one $700 washer, even with the cost of recycling. Are your windows trying to break your arms every time you open or close them? Find the best, and least expensive replacement windows you could have installed, or go to Craigslist, FreeCycle or pennysaver and see if there's some you or a contractor friend could replace them with over a weekend. Remember: No one says you need to replace them all at once (except perhaps your spouse).
Andrew Perkins hosts [http://www.dabblings.net]dabblings.net and MakeHeat.com, where he writes about DIY experiments and updates the latest news on solar heating, cooling, green and environmentally friendly alternatives. He is a network administrator and computer technician who's been in the field for over tweny years. Come see the latest solar information and news at [http://www.makeheat.com]makeheat.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Perkins http://EzineArticles.com/?Tips-For-Home-Owners---Be-a-Home-Owner,-Not-a-Home-Moaner&id=3282821
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