According to a 2015 estimate, housing costs of an average American is equivalent to 30 percent of income. This includes mortgage fees, home insurance and so on. One housing cost that some people find unbearable is home maintenance. There are people who even end up borrowing short-term unsecured loans just to pay for home maintenance. Poverty could be a reason. But there are also plenty of other, perfectly avoidable, reasons why you are overspending on home maintenance. Scroll below for several of these:
You Delay Essential Home Maintenance Tasks
If you wait too long to fix a leak or seal the decking, then you will always end up paying more than you should. Repairmen may charge extra to show up at your home on last minute notice. Also, when you don’t maintain your home on time, things like a leak can get worse and cost you more than what it would have initially cost to fix. Of course, unfixed leaks cost you more in water bills as well. So, schedule your home maintenance tasks. If something needs to be done, do it right away without delaying.
You Don’t Regularly Inspect Your Home
If your kitchen faucet starts leaking, you will notice it right away. But what if there’s a crack in the foundation or a leak in a basement pipe? You will not notice these problems right away. And when you do, the damage would have gotten considerably worse, and quite expensive, to fix. You can spot little issues without delay when you regularly inspect your home for problems. Do a thorough home inspection at least once a month. Do it on a weekend when you have plenty of time on your hands. If possible, hire a professional at least once a year to do a proper inspection of your home. An expert will be able to spot very serious issues like cracks in the foundation. A problem like that needs immediate fixing before parts of your home literally start to crumble.
You Overbuy
Some homeowners are just too enthusiastic about home repairs they overbuy. If a faucet is leaking, some people run to the store and buy a brand new faucet. This is overbuying; a waste of valuable financial resources. If a faucet is leaking, you may just need to replace the washer. Think frugally in this regard. There will be a time when you do need to replace an old faucet. When that time comes, you need to make sure you have the money to buy it. Until then, spend money only on the home repairs you need, not the repairs you want.
You Think Way Too Much about What Other People Think
Everyone wants to live in a nice home they can show off. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, don’t constantly compare your home to the pictures in glossy magazines or your neighbors’. If you neighbor gets an expensive fire pit, you don’t have to do the same thing. You can easily make your home more beautiful with cheap and affordable tactics. Don’t run to buy things the advertisements tell you to. Don’t cave into peer pressure either. Be happy that you at least have a home.
Be frugal when it comes to home maintenance, as these expenses can get out of hand. You will need all the money you can save to pay off the mortgage, or you won’t have a place to call home.
