There are many ways you can boost your curb appeal while you save money. Saving money is a big deal these days, as many have found themselves having to scale back costs thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is coming at a time when savings accounts are rapidly depleting, with $7 billion being wiped out annually since 2010. While you’re watching every penny, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get ahead and rebrand yourself. You can rebrand and improve your curb appeal while still maintaining your budget and save money.
If done right, you can improve your curb appeal while keeping your budget sane. Here are the best ways you can save money while giving your curb appeal a huge boost.
Use Financing for Lawn Care Equipment
The first impression you make on a person is usually the most important. What does a person first see when they approach your home? If your answer is the lawn, then you are correct! Having a clean and trimmed lawn is very important to boost the curb appeal of your business. The bad part, though, is the funds that you would have had in a typical year is not there, so what can you do to improve your lawn care while still maintaining your budget?
One way is to do mower financing so that you can pay out long-and-long to ensure your grass is mowed and looking nice. No, it’s not the most ideal to finance lawn care equipment, but it will be a savior to your bottom-line for now, and that’s what matters.
Make Your Own Compost
Going out to buy compost for your business lawn is so 2019. Nowadays, you have to watch your budget, which means that you may not have to funds to purchase compost for your lawn. The good news is that you don’t have to go to your local home improvement or garden store to buy compost. You can make it on your very own.
You will have all of the ingredients you need in your trash can and yard, from old banana peels to dead leaves. All of that can decompose into compost that you can use on your lawn, and the best part is that it won’t cost you a dime on your balance sheet.
Make Your Own Mulch
Mulch is expensive to buy, but like compost, you can make your mulch for free as well. Creating and spreading your mulch will save you so much money on your budget and will allow that money to go to other needs in your home. Keep in mind, however, that certain types of mulch can cause groundwater contamination when it rains, so be mindful of that when creating your mulch. It’s great to save money, but don’t pollute your groundwater in the process.
Pick an Alternative To Grass
It can cost some serious money to make and keep your grass green.
The reason for this is that green grass needs a lot of water, and fertilizer, and weed treatment for those lawns that can’t help but grow weeds. All of this adds up, and if you’re on a budget, your dreams of green grass may have to be put on hold for the time being.
That doesn’t mean that your lawn is toast, however. There are plenty of alternatives to grass that requires less maintenance that will save you money. You can consider the bishop’s weed, thyme, or Lamium, all of which can spread easily and quickly. Going with a grass alternative may be best for the parts of your yard that are hard to maintain and save money.
Yes, it could result in your yard resembling a quilt, but it will be a pretty lawn quilt and save money while doing it.
Buy Flowers When They’re Out Of Season
A cute flower bead can bring out a colorful vibrancy to your home, but flowers can also add up and cost you in your budget.
To work your way around this, order flowers while they’re out of season. Seasonal flowers are cheaper than buying them out of season when the price will spike. Your local flower shop should be able to help you out as to which flowers you should purchase. To eschew having your flowers delivered, consider going in person to pick up your flowers, which will only cost you some gas, and you won’t have to worry about paying a delivery person to bring your flowers to you.
Update The Lighting Surrpinding Your home
With winter here, the days are growing shorter and colder. Now is the time to make sure that your lighting is in good shape so that it can provide illumination to your home.
But how can you do that if you’re on a budget? Easy, as you can head to a hardware store and purchase some lights, and install them yourself. First, check your lights to see if you only need new bulbs (which will be cheaper) or your light fixtures need to be replaced altogether. If it’s the latter, then you can head to a store like Walmart or Home Depot and purchase porch lights and save money by hanging them up yourself.
Power Wash Your Siding
When you walk outside of your home, you should take a look at your siding. If you see a lot of black marks where there should be other colors, then it’s time to power wash your home.
Some professionals can come and powerwash your home for you, but you have to save some dough, which means that it wouldn’t be wise for you to hire a professional for this job. It may be best for you to power wash your home on your own. Luckily for you, it’s easy to do your power washing to save money.
Numerous home improvement stores have power washers in stock that you can either purchase or rent, and you can save yourself some much-needed money while getting your sidings cleaned and presentable
Put In Some Window Boxes
Want to make your front entrance to your home look nice, but are short of funds?
Look at adding some cute window boxes, which will bring some added spunk and vibrancy to your entrance. These window boxes can be used to plant flowers and will be a perfect complement to your home on a budget.
Grind Down Those Old Tree Stumps
Have annoying tree stumps in your yard that you’re sick of seeing? It might be time to grind those babies down.
After a tree is cut down by a tree removal service, the tree stump will remain, and while it can grow to be an eyesore, there are ways you can make that stump go away for cheap.
First and foremost, however, you will need to grind down that tree stump, which you can do on your own by renting a stump grinder at your local hardware store.
Stump grinders are what they are, tools that help grind down a tree stump. Use the grinder in a back and forth motion until the roots are exposed. After that, you can remove that stump on your own.
Borrow Some Cuttings From Your Friends
Friends can come through in a pinch when you need to save money.
If you’re looking to grow some plants but are short of the funds, then you can turn to your friends and ask them if you can borrow some of their cuttings. Believe it or not, there are a ton of plants that don’t require seeds or bulbs to be grown. Some of the prettiest plants around your home come from cuttings.
If you think that your friends won’t lend you some of their cuttings, think again! Your friend would be delighted to share their cuttings with you as it will be an opportunity to bond and establish a connection with your brand new lawn, and they won’t charge you a dime for it.
Have Your Roofing Service Redirect Your Downspouts
Asking roofing services to redirect a downspout can do wonders for your yard and your wallet.
Make sure to ask the roofing company that’s working on your home to redirect the downspouts so that they won’t have to be called out again when your lawn floods, saving you some much-needed money in the long run. There is another reason why you should have your downspouts redirected, and that’s to prevent water from soaking into the ground and ending up in your basement, which will lead to flooding. Basement waterproofing can easily solve that issue.
Put Up A New Mailbox
For some homeowners, a mailbox is just an item that holds the mail until you come and retrieve it. However, the mailbox can be a crucial part of boosting your home’s curb appeal.
Over time, a mailbox can succumb to the effects of the weather (or neighborhood kids who have nothing better to do), and your mailbox will take on a look that will beg for you to put it out of its misery. Several stores sell mailboxes that won’t hit you hard in your wallet. Consider purchasing a wall-mounted mailbox, which is cheaper and will weather the weather better than a pole-mounted box.
Update Your Address
When you give directions to your house, people often expect to see your address mounted on your house.
However, house numbers, just like the mailbox, can be worn down over time, making it hard to read. If you are having trouble reading your house number, then it’s time to update your address. You can go with the old peel-and-stick, and that may be the cheapest option, but it won’t do anything to boost your home’s curb appeal.
Get address numbers that add more flair and appeal to your home, something like a numbered plaque that comes in multiple designs and won’t cost you that much. A numbers plaque can accent the curb appeal of your home and will last a lot longer than a peel-and-stick.
Add Some Decrative Planters
The entrance to your home should represent just how well you take care of your home, so it should stand out.
However, that may be easier said than done given your shoestring budget. But creativity doesn’t have a high price tag, and you can accent your walkway to your home with some cool decorative planters. You can get decorative planters anywhere, from the local home improvement store to a dollar store, making this item one of the cheapest you can buy to boost your home’s curb appeal.
If you’re looking to save even more money, you can buy a basic white planter and decorate it yourself using material that you may already have inside of your home. Not only will it give you a cool DIY project to do, but it will save you money will bringing out the best of your home’s curb appeal.
In conclusion, you don’t have to take out a loan to boost your home’s curb appeal. Many households have embarked on a budget to save money for more pressing needs.
That doesn’t mean that you have to give up making your home look nice for the sake of saving money. There is a reason why the “DIY” takes hold of homeowners and the pride of taking care of their home using the resources they already have.
Sure, you may have to watch some YouTube videos to see how you can do some of these DIY projects like creating your mulch and compost, and yes, you may have to finance some lawn equipment to take care of your yard, but in the end, you’ll look at your home’s landscape with pride.
Not only you but the neighbors and anybody who passes by will look at your yard and be amazed. That’s the power of curb appeal, to bring out the best in your home, and thankfully, you can update your home’s appeal without having to break the bank.
