Save Some Serious Dough This Year On Services

At the beginning of the year every year, my husband and I sit down and reevaluate our income and budget and find ways we can cut back. Life is a bit more expensive now with a baby, so we decided to do somethings ourselves that we had previously outsourced. We found several ways to save thousands of dollars every year. 

Dog Grooming

We have 2 dogs and each time they both go to the groomer it costs $150. They were going every other month or 6 x a year. This was costing us $900 a year. This year we decided to bathe and groom them ourselves. I was the only that always took them to be dropped off and picked up, and that might get tough now that I have a baby. I'm picturing a real circus. So I bought a set of trimming shears ($12)  for Otis, the poodle/terrier mix and a pet shaving/grooming set ($29) for Parker the Lab. This will save us $900 this year! 

Nail Care 

If you're one who likes to get manicures and pedicures at least a once a month ($50,) doing them yourself can save you $600 a year.  I bought an Amope, a bubbling foot bath, several polishes and other accessories like cuticle clippers and nail files. I spent about $100 total but now I can just do them in the comfort of my own home and don't have to worry about my daughter and when I'll go or anything. 

Lawn Service 

If you usually pay a lawn service to handle your lawn ($60 a month,) buying a mower ($200) and edger ($60) and doing it yourself will save you a few hundred dollars a year after you buy the equipment you need.  

Maid Service

We are still on the fence about this next one. We are trying to decide if we will take over doing it, or will continue to have her so it... Our maid comes every other week and we pay her $100. That's $200 a month or $2400 a year!! That's a lot of money. If you decide to start cleaning your home yourself, this saves thousands of dollars.  It's a tough one because I really despise cleaning and it takes forever when you're not good at it. However, it's also a big expense. Some people just don't have time bad have overwhelmingly large houses.  Ours is not big, and I still can't get it looking the way our maid does it! 

Handyman Services

We almost paid someone $2k to paint our house during a recent home renovation.  After we buy the paint and other news supplies, we will still save $1500 on this project. 

Basically, if you start doing things you can physically do yourself, you can save quite a bit of money. Save that money for things you can't do. Then you'll have it for when it comes time to call the plumber or something!