The Easiest Ways to Save Money and Elevate Your DIY Homeownership Skills

Owning your own home is a joy, but may also require learning new skills to save money on home maintenance, repairs, and updates. Here are numerous resources that can make it easier to tackle many projects around the house.

How-To Tips and Ideas

Summer is the perfect time to work on many landscaping, home exterior, and outdoor lifestyle projects. Or, to escape sizzling temps, consider tackling an interior repair or renovation!

Whether you’re looking for new ideas or how-to solutions, check out these channels:

  • The Handyman – A professional handyman provides advice and tutorials on primarily interior household projects.
     
  • This Old House – Like the TV show, these videos show you how to complete large and small projects inside and outside your home.
     
  • Bring Your Own Tools – Tutorials on remodeling, maintenance, and home improvement projects.
     
  • Lowes Home Improvement – A collection of DIY interior and exterior projects from the home improvement chain.
     
  • DIY Creators – Basic tool tutorials, mixed with furniture building and other home projects.

Energy Improvements

Besides reducing the costs associated with your mortgage, energy improvements are one of the best ways to save money as a homeowner. There are many ways to do it:

First, determine priorities.

A home energy audit can pinpoint which changes will produce the most significant and fastest energy savings. Or, if you want to attempt to analyze problems on your own, review these tips from ENERGY STAR®.

Before selecting projects, it’s a good idea to review What You Need to Know When Considering Home Energy Improvements from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Explore insulation options.

Adding insulation is one of the best ways to generate energy savings, particularly in a home’s attic space. Plus, it’s usually much easier to access attics than the space inside your walls or under the floor in a crawl space, making attic insulation an excellent DIY project.

If you want to add attic insulation, several videos can help you learn what to do—and what NOT to do—as well as related considerations.  

Select appliances wisely.

The cost of any appliance includes the cost to operate it. Before investing in a new dishwasher, refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, or other appliance, consult ENERGY STAR® for ratings, savings calculators, and rebates.

Optimize air circulation.

Stay cooler, even in high temperatures, with a ceiling fan that pushes air down on you. Reverse the direction in the winter, so warm air resting near the ceiling circulates closer to the floor.

Don’t have ceiling fans? Learn how to convert an existing light fixture into a ceiling fan. If you need to start from scratch, learn how to install the wiring, junction boxes, mounting hardware, and switch plates.

Save energy, naturally.

Learn how to plant both deciduous and evergreen trees to provide more summer shade and winter warmth. In addition to reducing energy bills, planting trees also helps fight climate change.

Secondhand Supplies

If you want to save a little more money on your next project, look for the materials you need on Craigslist, in Facebook Marketplace, in your local classified ads, or by visiting a Habitat for Humanity ReStore near you.

Remember, when it comes to money, a dollar saved is better than a dollar earned. That’s because you pay taxes on every dollar earned, but get to keep 100 percent of every dollar you save.

No matter what kind of project you tackle, it will improve your confidence as a homeowner, keep more money in your pocket, and instill more pride in your home. Imagine the delight in being able to say, “Yeah, I did that myself!”