Do you go through cycles where you spend money one day like it didn’t matter and, not too much further down the long, you start wondering how and where you can cut corners?  Most people have a lifetime pass on that particular merry-go-round.

Of course, the less time you spend riding it the less you’ll have to wonder where the money meant.  And while there are a million and one ways to cut your living expenses, here are five that are easy to adopt and really work.

We hope you find them useful:

1. While they help your laundry feel soft and smell great, single use dryer sheets are not only wasteful but filled with potentially harmful chemicals. Instead, why not make your own. All you are some old towels and/or tee shirts.  Make sure they’re clean and you always have enough on hand for a week’s worth of laundry.  Take a couple of the cut up “sheets” to start, dip them in a mixture of distilled white vinegar and your favorite essential oil, store them in an air tight container, and pop one on the dryer as needed.

2. Get a few more washes out of your bar soap by collecting the scraps, melting them over the stove, and pouring the mixture into bar molds. Let them dry and voila, brand new bars of soap!

3. Stop buying costly flower vases and storage containers. Instead, thoroughly wash and dry mason jars, coffee cans, and other food storage containers, and use them for storing tool bits, pencils, crayons, and art brushes, or as a shabby-chic home for a bright bouquet of flowers.

4. Why turn on the hose or fill the watering can to water your garden? Install a rain barrel below the eaves of your roof to collect run-off rain water. Just be sure to check that rain water collection is permitted in your area.

5. You might be tempted to surround your central air conditioning unit with lush foliage to make it a little more visually appealing. However, such vegetation can reduce airflow and make your unit run less efficiently. Trim back shrubbery and remove weeds around your unit to reduce electrical consumption and lower your home cooling bill.

You know what else you can do to keep your AC costs under control.  Contact Boden Plumbing, Heating & Air today and request our annual preventative maintenance service.  By having this service performed once a year, you can look forward to fewer repairs, longer system lifespan, and lower utility costs.