Where Does It Go?

There are many times I wonder about where my money is going. Of course, I know where the biggest chunks go with a mortgage to pay, utilities, groceries, etc., but the other place my money goes is to repair various things around the house that break. I particularly loathe spending money on plumbing repairs, but there is no way around it; if your plumbing doesn’t work, you have to fix it. I am sure I feel the same as most other people. I just want things to work as they should. I don’t really want to spend time and money repairing things – I want them not to break in the first place. With that being said, I would much rather spend money having an item serviced or repaired than to have to replace the whole thing. That’s when the big bucks really fly out of the window. It can be hard though, especially in this economy to spend money servicing something that is not (as far as you can see) broken. Maybe if our home comfort systems had an “I need servicing” light like our cars have a “change oil” light, it would be easier. Especially if it buzzed or dinged until we had it serviced. My car is relentless about reminding me until the oil is changed. It is not good for your furnace to be turned on each year without being serviced. In fact, it could be dangerous. Just as driving around in a car without ever changing its oil is dangerous and very damaging to your car. For more information on what to do for your home comfort system, read “What’s Good for Me Is Good for You.”

The Maintenance Issue

It is common knowledge that we must take care of things in order for them to work the way they were designed. If we don’t change the oil in our cars, bad things will happen. But isn’t it still a bit annoying when the “change oil” light comes on? Now you will have to find time in your already busy day to spend at least 30 minutes having your car serviced, all so that you can continue to drive it without any problems. I will admit this is a tri-monthly experience I don’t enjoy and wish there was some kind of reward to be had for keeping up with all those oil changes. Don’t get me wrong, I know the real “reward” is the money I am saving by keeping it maintained as opposed to “letting it go” and then having to spend a ton in repairs. We all know this to be true when it comes to cars, but we turn a blind eye to the same logic when it comes to our home comfort systems. We continue to use our home comfort system year after year, even after it has spent months being unused and we don’t want to spend the money to have it serviced so it will run safely and efficiently. Unfortunately, not applying the same maintenance logic we use with our cars to our home comfort system is costing us more money in the long run. Read “The Easiest Way to Save Money I’ve Ever Seen… is about to end” to learn more about maintaining your home comfort system and all the many rewards that go along with it.