Can a thrifty home be a clean, tidy home in which you and your family can stay happy and healthy? Conventional wisdom would have us believe not. We’ve been conditioned to believe that in order to keep our homes looking beautiful, cozy and inviting we need to spend a fortune either in employing professional cleaning staff or at the very least spending a fortune on big-brand cleaning products. The commercials all say the same things. They tell us that we’re too busy, too stressed, too overworked as they present us with endless labor-saving devices that we neither need nor (when we think about it) really want.
But with a little know-how and ingenuity, keeping your home safe, clean, tidy and gorgeous needn’t cost the world… or eat too much into your precious free time…
Look at all the cleaning products under your sink! Do you really need them all?
Take a look under most people’s sinks and what will you see? Bottle after bottle of gaudily branded cleaning products that all seem to promise the world, yet rarely ever live up to their bold claims. We’re constantly told that we need one bottle for floors, another for other surfaces. One bottle for the kitchen, one bottle for the bathroom. One bottle for carpets, another bottle for clothes… Is it any wonder we spend so much on cleaning products? And all those non-recyclable plastic bottles aren’t doing our landfill waste problems any favors either.
The truth is that a single homemade multi-purpose cleaner can accomplish virtually all cleaning jobs. Just use a combination of water and spirit vinegar with a squeeze of lemon juice and maybe some essential oils for a fresh scent.
Whatever you can’t accomplish with this can usually be done with a little bicarbonate of soda!
Make small repairs now to save on big repairs later
A little bit of time, effort and capital spent on maintenance now can save you a small fortune later. Whether you’re making sure you’re getting your HVAC unit serviced regularly, getting local Handyman Services to carry out odd jobs or making sure your water heater is well maintained, these small costs can save you big repair costs later down the line. Skimping on these is the very definition of a false economy.
Make your own scented candles and scent diffusers
Have you seen how much people spend on scented candles these days? Brands like Yankee Candle have achieved market dominance and make an absolute fortune… But it’s a cost that’s utterly and completely unnecessary. It doesn’t take all that much time or effort to make your own scented candles. Can’t be bothered? No problem! Just throw some bamboo sticks in a small jar of essential oils and you’ve got yourself a scent diffuser!
Clear away your clutter
Finally, one of the most effective ways in which to make your home more appealing and restful to spend time in won’t cost you a penny! Just find somewhere to clear away all that clutter. We may think that clutter gives the home an idiosyncratic charm, but the truth is that it is visually distracting and can actually cause us mental health problems. It can make us unable to relax and even increase our anxiety levels.
As you can see, it doesn’t take much expense to ensure that your home always looks and smells great while also staying completely safe and conducive to good health.
