Cost Saving Ideas to Preserve Your Cashflow
After buying your duplex, the monthly cash flow is around $175. After the honeymoon has worn off, one fact occurs to you: things break. One month, the tenant reports the shower head broke. The next month, the yard light has burned out. Not long after, the toilet is clogged thanks to someone’s Tonka Toy collection going for a swim.
Here are some tips to protect your cashflow from being eaten away by minor maintenance.
Tip #1: Gift Cards. With Christmas and the holidays approaching, what better way for your family to tell you they love you than with gift cards from Lowes or Home Depot. People may snicker at the idea but when you’re bleeding money each month the gift card concept sounds better all the time. Birthdays and anniversaries are also good times for gift cards.
So unless you really want that pink bunny suit from Aunt Mildred, play the guilt card and get your family into the gift card spirit.
Tip #2: Coupons. Still think that coupons are for little old ladies trying to save a dime on canned corn? Lose that notion. The next time you jump into your car to go to Lowes or Home Depot, print out a coupon for 10% off your purchase. If you have to replace that shower head, might as well save some money while doing it. Also using coupons make those gift cards from Aunt Mildred last that much longer.
Where to get coupons?
Change of Address: Every time you fill out a change of address card, a thick package of coupons arrive at your new address. Use them all!
eBay: Yes, everything is for sale. People sell packs of coupons on eBay for $10 or less. Buy from someone reputable and make sure your coupons have bar codes on them. I got burned once because my coupons were barcodeless.
Google: Go to Google and type in "Lowes Coupon" or "Lowes Online Coupon" and watch the sites appear. Most sites have links that allow you to directly print out a coupon to take. Other sites may require that a coupon be mailed to you.
Tip #3: Videos. Watching videos can save you money? Face it: you watch YouTube at work. Stop watching NInja Cat and learn something useful.
Your tenant’s toilet is clogged. You worked that plunger until the bathroom floor was covered in water. Nothing. Before calling the $80 plumber, watch a video instead. Just because one technique didn’t work doesn’t mean another one won’t.
This happened to me. When the plunger refused to remove the clog, I almost called a plumber, Dreading the $80 service call and watching a butt-crack, I found a video talking about a plumber’s Auger. Spending $7 on an Auger sounded more appealing that an $80 plumber butt-crack so I did it. It worked. Good thing to because a month later, the toilet got clogged again. Come to find out, the water pressure isn’t the greatest and it will require an occasional Auger to clear it.
Do you think a plumber should share that information with me? Each time I call, I’m handing him $80 for five easy minutes of work. I’d rather not.
At the end of the day, every investor wants to keep their cashflow coming. The higher the cashflow, the better. Don’t let trivial problems eat away at your money. One day, when you have dozens of rental units, your handyman can worry about those repairs. But until that point, don’t be afraid of a little elbow grease.
Find this useful? Please give it a thumbs up!
Another idea for your clogged toilet may be to replace it. Not only will you receive less (or no) calls for clogged toilets, you will also see water savings on your water bill. Caroma Dual Flush toilets offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the nineteen eighties and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.5″ trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. All of Caroma’s toilets are on the list of WaterSense labeled HET’s http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and also qualify for several toilet rebate programs available in the US. Please go to http://www.caromausa.com for more detailed information or visit http://de.youtube.com/ecotransitions to learn why they actually work better than any US toilet. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli
that cat is too cute… i suspect that they trained it
Good tips! I especially like the one about watching videos – I find a lot of useful “how to” videos now on YouTube. Some of this stuff isn’t that hard to do once I know how it’s done. Appreciate the tips!