Spring Clean and $ave!
April 6, 2016
Ah, spring. A time of new life, warmer weather, and cleaning out your entire house. For most, spring cleaning is not a time that is looked forward to with the same excitement as Spring Training or Easter candy sales. However, spring cleaning is a good time to give your home a fresh start and make it a happier, more efficient living space. You can also use your spring cleaning time as a way to help you save (and maybe even earn) a little money.
De-junking
Make a few bucks off of the items you want to get rid of. Here are a couple places you can get the most out of your old items:
• Sell old gizmos and gadgets online at Gazelle.com, or on sites like KSL or Craigslist. • You can also use KSL, Craigslist, and Ebay to sell any furniture, appliances, or other items that you don’t need anymore. • Take your gently used clothes and accessories and sell them to a used clothing store like Plato’s Closet or Kid to Kid. There are also online stores you can send your clothes to, such as thredUP. • You can sell your books to Amazon in exchange for gift cards. • If you prefer, you can also try to sell all your “previously owned” items at a yard sale. Ask around, many neighborhoods have set aside days for yard sales in the spring.
Cleaning
Now comes the fun part. You can save money when you clean by making your own cleaning products, repurposing, and cleaning things you never even thought to clean.
• Vacuum your refrigerator coils and clean out all that dust. This can help increase your fridge’s energy efficiency. According to a study by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, this can save you about 6% on your fridge’s electric bill. This may only be a couple bucks a month, but every bit counts, right? • Clean or replace your air conditioning filters. A dirty filter can use 5%-15% more energy according to the Energy department. This can result in significant savings if you are keeping your filters clean and ready to cool. • Clean and repair your vacuum cleaner. Not all vacuums are beyond repair! Sometimes, all it takes is a quick wipe-down and a replaced belt to make it like-new again. Take the rolling brush out and use a pair of scissors to help cut and remove all the inevitable hair and thread from it to help your vacuum clean more efficiently. • Make some of your own cleaning supplies. They can be cheaper, more efficient, and less toxic than ones you find in the store.
Organizing
Sure, you can go to the container store and buy a container to organize every item in your home. But this can get expensive.
• Use coffee tins and paint them all different colors. These can be used to organize and decorate your home. • Save those glass food jars! They can be used to store crayons, paint brushes, cotton balls and q-tips, and much more. • Check your local dollar store. They often have organization and storage items, all for the low price of one dollar.
If you’re looking to give your house even more of a spruce this spring, you can use your home’s equity to make improvements! Visit our website to learn more.
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