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Just Doing My Best: Homemaking by the Season - Home Maintenance

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

 

Homemaking by the Season - Home Maintenance

If you are anything like me, home maintenance is one of the more mundane, albeit necessary tasks of keeping a home. However, for few hours of work, money will be saved for weeks and months to come.

First, there are several good websites that feature checklists of the chores we should focus on this spring. A great place to start is Bob Vila's Home Maintenance Checklist. Among many other suggestions, he mentions changing filters. We will soon be turning on the A/C units and considering they are usually the most expensive drain on our electric bill, having these operating at maximum efficiency will save us money. You may also want to take a peek at the unit outside and make sure it is clear of grass clippings and lawn debris. If the air flow is restricted by leaves and grass clippings, the unit will be less effective. Lastly, check your unit to see if it functions as you expect, before you actually need it. You will get repair service much quicker in the spring than you will on the first hot summer day when many people are turning on their units for the first time.

Second, if you have never planted a garden before, this is the year to start. As you know, food prices have been climbing and the job market is still unsteady. Free food growing in your backyard will make your grocery budget stretch even further. It is not too late to start, though in some parts of the country, it is certainly time to be quick with your garden plans. Phoebe at Cents to Get Debt Free loves gardening and blogs her progress, so if you need some inspiration, be sure to check out her site. Even if you think you do not have room for a garden, square foot gardening provides efficient use of a small space and container gardening requires even less space.

A quick frugal tip if you are wanting to start a garden: The smaller family owned nurseries are going to be much cheaper than the big box garden stores. In our area, we have several that are so small that the business is conducted from a greenhouse on the family's property. I do not even recall seeing advertisements or even large business signs for this type of nursery, but they have more variety and are probably half the price of the larger businesses. These businesses depend mainly on word of mouth suggestions and the locals who just drive by. If you are new to this hobby, consider asking friends and family where they buy their plants.

Lastly, we are probably all familiar with the fact that spring cleaning should be done. Rather than provide a checklist of the necessary chores, I just had to show you how to make it more fun. I found a CD at Amazon called Lifestyles: Music for Spring Cleaning. I had to laugh because it is certainly not the type of music that would get me through a day of tough cleaning, but maybe someone would enjoy it. It's beautiful music though. If this is not your style of music to clean to, pick out a selection of your favorite songs as well as a reward for yourself to enjoy when you are finished, and see if that helps you get through these necessary chores.

Come back tomorrow for a more relaxing and amusing way to enjoy the warm Spring weather.

This post is linked to these great sites:
Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer
Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Comments:
Great ideas! I have started my spring cleaning and made it through about half of the house. I need some motivation to get the job finished!

I am also trying to grow some cherry tomatoes in a container this year. Hoping it goes well!!
# posted by Blogger Tracey : April 21, 2009 at 9:40 AM
 
Great list, and I totally agree about the local nurseries.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : April 21, 2009 at 5:22 PM
 
I saw your link on Blissfully Domestic, and I'm glad I came to visit your blog. Thanks for all the great tips!
# posted by Anonymous Lori : April 21, 2009 at 6:18 PM
 

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