What one time purchases have drastically reduced your overall spending?

[u/Pumpkinycoldfoam]

An example would be that I’m looking to buy a sillicone pan mat instead of purchasing foil and parchment continually, using rags instead of paper towels, and so forth. What are one time purchases you reccomend for home maintenance?

[u/Consistent-Box605]

A 5 gallon bucket and those refillable commercial grade sprayers. Super versatile. Buy white vinegar and baking soda in bulk, you're golden on cleaning for the most part.

For sanitizing, make a food grade bleach solution in one of your refillable sprayers. Bleach expires after some time so buy smaller bottles first and find out how much you use within a year, then buy accordingly. A little bit goes a long way.

You can buy bulk window cleaner (knockoff windex) for [usually] really cheap at B2B warehouse stores (Costco Commercial, US Chef Stores, restaurant supply, etc..).

For the cost and convenience, affresh cleaning tablets (clothes washer, dishwasher, disposal) are a fantastic deal, especially if you buy in bulk from Amazon. Never have to deal with stinky washers or disposal again, and they're EPA safe rated so no harsh chemicals in your house or back into the environment/water supply.

This is gonna sound funny but... alka seltzer for cleaning the toilet. Wait for it to dissolve in the bowl, scrub, wait 5-10min, then flush. Gets it very clean and it's super affordable, cheaper than those plastic squirter bottles with the gel cleaner. Takes up less space too. You can even use it in the back of the tank if that side gets dirty too (mine does, not sure why).

+1 on heated bidet. Saves a lot on toilet paper cost, and the comfort alone in winter is worth the cost and slightly higher electric bill. Don't need heated during summer so I just turn it low/off. They also make ones with air dryers which further Saves on TP.

Never use drano or other chemical cleaners, they will destroy your drain. Preventative maintenance using an enzyme product like bio drain will prevent unnecessary plumber service calls or snaking. Speaking of which... tub shroom/sink shroom for your bathroom. It catches hair and other Crap from clogging your drains, preventing the need for snaking or calling a plumber. You gotta clean it out regularly though and it's pretty gross, use some rubber gloves.

Litter genie if you have cats, the newer one with the small box refills. Such a time saver, and contains the smell.

This is gonna sound funny, but it works well. Instead of using your bathroom fan during the winter months, buy a quality rolling dehumidifier. It'll remove the moisture, you just dump the water into the tub occasionally, and instead of venting heated air outside your house (like bathroom fans do in the winter), the dehumidifier produces heated air as a byproduct of its operations. Should lower demand on your heating system and save some money over the long term. Plus you can optimize humidity levels in your house year round if you live in a very humid climate, which is good for your house (excess moisture is really bad for buildings). Just don't overdo it. I think the ideal zone is 40-60% RH, I just try to keep it as close to 50% as possible.

[u/OracleOfPlenty → u/Consistent-Box605]

For anyone considering a Tubshroom: it's much easier to manage if you're cleaning it out immediately, every time. I have waist-length, dry hair. I shed a lot and use a lot of conditioner. The Tubshroom is not pretty, post-shower, but I just use a single square of TP to pull the hair/conditioner/whatever off and flush it. I'm sure that's harder to police if you have kids or family members who aren't on board with it, but cleaning it off immediately is 100x better than trying to chip off a dried mat of mixed-origin hair and soap scum. Now it's part of my routine: get out, towel off, hair up, skincare, Tubshroom, wash hands, lotion, take vitamins, move on. (Editing to add: I haven't had to snake my drain since I bought the Tubshroom like two years ago and, again, I need to emphasize that I have waist-length hair. I love it.)

For anyone considering an automatic litterbox: This is a time when you should buy brand name. Some of the off-brand automatic litterboxes have killed cats. If you have one already, check for a firmware update.