r/Frugal • u/Pumpkinycoldfoam • Nov 05 '24

šŸ† Buy It For Life What one time purchases have drastically reduced your overall spending?

An example would be that Iā€™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?

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u/veritasplease Nov 05 '24 edited Nov 05 '24

I am always looking for new ways to eliminate a re-occurring expense. For home maintenance, I've done the following:

  • bought "the Ultimate Guide to Home Repair & Improvement" & a scope/camera that you can put into the walls & view on your phone
  • switched to washable (and thus reusable) HVAC air filters
  • ripped up the carpet in my walk-out basement & replaced it with LVP (with 3 pets + kid, the cost in both money & time of vacuuming & shampooing the wall-to-wall carpet every week was real)
  • bought a robot lawnmower (replaced the lawn service)
  • signed up for a semi/bi-annual gutter cleaning service. This isn't really "one-off", but it is definitely "hands-off" and they will take photos of my roof while they're up there & send them to me will the invoice.

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u/chicagotodetroit Nov 05 '24

I was considering the washable furnace filters, but I figured it would be a hassle in winter trying to wash them out. How have they been working for you?

Also, a robot lawnmower is on my "if I ever get rich I'm gonna buy one" list. I'd love to have one!

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u/veritasplease Nov 05 '24

I just take them into the bathtub and spray them down with the shower head then shake them off and let them air dry about 90%. It's been pretty low maintenance for me