My 31 Day Financial Challenge- Day 21: Evaluating Your Expenses – Housing

I thought these were some really great tips to help save on housing. That being said, none of these apply to our current situation except one: refinance. Which as it happens, we did last year. We went from a 7.3% interest rate on our mortgage to 5.25%. Our monthly payment dropped by about $170! That money played a significant role in allowing me to stay home with our daughter rather than return to work.

Some of the other suggestions Trent made were unconventional but definitely worth considering. Most people wouldn’t really consider renting a room in their home or negotiating with their landlord but either option has potential to increase your cash flow or decrease your expenses. He was also absolutely right when he mentioned the importance of preventative maintenance. This is an area I have always struggled with. I tend to forget about those kinds of little household tasks unless something needs to be fixed. Sometimes just tackling those kinds of tasks can seem overwhelming if you don’t consider yourself a handy person. But I’m going to try and work some of these tasks into my regular cleaning routine in the hopes of actually keeping up with them.