Money Crashers: 6 Things You Should Maintain & Take Care of to Save Money Long-Term

One of the key tenets of the ecofrugal life is, to inversely paraphrase Aldous Huxley, "Mending is better than ending." In other words, it's almost always better for both the environment and your wallet to keep something you own in good condition than to toss it and buy something new. (Of course, there are some exceptions, like our old microwave that would have cost more to repair than to replace with a good used one, or a threadbare pair of socks that would cost an hour to darn one more time and only a dollar to replace. But it works as a general principle.)

My latest piece for Money Crashers takes that basic principle and turns it into solid, practical advice. I name six items that are particularly useful to maintain, mainly because it makes such big difference in their overall lifespan, along with the key maintenance tasks that matter most for each one. Most of these are high-end items that would cost a lot to replace, like cars and major appliances, but clothing also makes the list because it's so easy and cheap to do. (Remember that pair of pants I repaired two years ago in the hopes of making it last out the winter? I'm still wearing them.) 

This article may not tell you much you couldn't have learned by R-ing TFM. But it condenses all the key info from more than six manuals' into just one place — and it has the advantage of being right in front of you, not buried in a drawer somewhere. See? Here it is:

6 Things You Should Maintain & Take Care of to Save Money Long-Term