The downloadable winter 2010 Maintaining Your Home, (PDF).

While many of us would prefer to spend our time and money elsewhere, keeping up on general maintenance of the home is one of the most fundamental ways to keep us from being forced to spend MUCH more time and money when something goes wrong.

Performing home maintenance has other valuable results. As you track and monitor the systems in your home, you will gain an understanding of its inter-workings and gain useful skills. Also, you will feel a sense of pride in knowing that your efforts both keep your family safe and build value in your investment.

The goals of this chapter are:

1. To help you understand the responsibilities of owning a home.
2. To provide you with the tools to help budget for repairs.
3. To provide information and advice on home repairs.
4. To understand the costs and benefits of financing repairs and remodels.

Take-away messages:

1. A lot goes into owning a home beyond simply choosing what color to paint the walls.
2. Staying on top of home maintenance is important to save money in the long run.
3. Energy efficiency and proper insurance can also save you money over time.