35 brilliant ways to save money around your home

Pay attention to your warning lights. Car owners think a glowing check engine light isn’t important because it just means you’ve got an “emissions problem.” Guess what? Emissions problems are almost always caused by an incomplete burn and that means you’re not getting the most bang for your buck. In other words, a check light means you’re wasting fuel. Worse yet, all that extra fuel goes right into your expensive catalytic converter, causing it to fail early. A new catalytic converter can run upwards of $1,000 to replace and then you STILL have to fix the underlying problem that turned on the check engine light in the first place. Many times the check engine light comes on due to a bum sensor or vacuum leak. Replacing a sensor or fixing a vacuum leak can save far more than what you’ll waste in reduced MPG. Stop thinking those warning lights are hieroglyphs and learn how to decipher them.

If your yard is mostly grass with just a few weeds, forgo the expensive landscaper. With one trip to your local hardware store or plant nursery, you can purchase $25-$50 worth of supplies, spend just a few hours on your lawn, and simply wait for the grass to grow.

Learn more in our ultimate spring lawn guide.

If you can see light creeping beneath exterior doors, air is also escaping. Grab a few packages of self-adhesive rubber foam weatherstripping and go to town, sealing any and all doors that lead outside. Weatherstripping already installed but you’re still suffering from a high heating bill? It might be time to replace the strips.

Keep your tyres inflated to the recommended pressure. Surveys show that 50 percent of all drivers’ tyres are underinflated. You can’t ‘eyeball’ tyre pressure and you shouldn’t rely on the low tyre pressure warning light – it only lights up when your tyres are at least 25 percent under-inflated. At that point, you’ve already started wasting fuel. Instead, check them monthly with a tyre pressure gauge (less than $5). Underinflated tyres have higher rolling resistance, causing your engine to work harder and waste almost $600 a year in petrol. Low air pressure also wears out your tyres twice as fast, costing you an additional $150 a year. The recommended air pressure for your vehicle’s tyres is on the decal pasted to the driver’s door or pillar.

If you have a furnace (gas or electric), keeping it tuned up has two big benefits: It makes the furnace run efficiently and it prolongs the furnace’s lifespan. And you can perform the annual tune-up yourself in about three hours. Change the filter every month of the heating season (or year-round if the filter is also used for A/C). Be sure you insert the new one so it faces the right way. The filter protects the blower and its motor; a clogged filter makes the motor work harder and use more power.

Change your spark plugs BEFORE they’re due. Most drivers think their spark plugs last well over 160K kilometres. That’s true for some engines, but not all. In fact, if you own a car with a turbocharger, chances are you should be replacing your spark plugs every 50,000 kilometres. Refer to your car’s maintenance guide for the recommended interval for your particular engine. Even then, it’s never a good idea to squeeze the last drop of life out of your spark plugs. Here’s why. If your 160,000-kilometre spark plugs have 130,000 kilometres on them, they’re 80 percent worn. Misfires and incomplete combustion occur more frequently during that last 30,000 kilometres, costing you almost $450 in wasted fuel. You have to replace your spark plugs anyway, so do it early and pocket the savings. Even if you have to replace the plugs one extra time over the life of your car, you’ll still come out way ahead.

Brake drag can really sink your fuel consumption. Brake calipers have a nasty habit of rusting, binding and dragging down your fuel consumption. How can you tell if your brakes are dragging without having them checked at a shop? Easy! Buy an inexpensive non-contact infrared laser thermometer (about $20 at any home centre), remove the wheel cover (if equipped), and aim the laser at the wheel hub after a drive. Compare the readings from the right and left sides. If they vary by more than 20 percent, you’ve probably got a dragging brake or a wheel bearing problem, so take it in for repairs.

Almost nothing is quicker, easier or refreshes a room more than a new coat of paint. Even switching up a bright white for a trendy, bright grey can change your whole perspective and give you a starting point for new colours and decoration. The average cost of interior painting is around $20-$30 per square metre, and with primer/paint combinations, you will likely only need a 4L tin or less to finish an average sized room. Add another $10, and you’ll be set with rollers, paint brushes and painter’s tape. This DIY repair could potentially save you thousands over the cost of a professional painter.

Follow our guide to painting like a pro.

Though it can seem intimidating, installing your own batting installation can be easy, and take just a few hours if you isolate the need to a few key spaces. Have a drafty attic? Start there. Concerned about a freezing crawl space? Throw on your work jeans and get to work. These insulating spaces will instantly feel warmer and you’ll notice the savings on your next heating bill.

Learn more about insulation here.

This is a fun one. Composite wood panelling may have been all the rage in the 60s and 70s, but unless it’s still in perfect condition and painted white, it’s probably an eyesore. Popping off this decorative panelling can take minutes, and is seriously satisfying. Just be ready: you never know what condition the wall is in underneath. Be prepared to do a little plaster repair and, of course, repaint.

Learn how to repair holes, dents and scrapes on plasterboard.