Saving Money by having things fixed

One thing you may want to consider before throwing something that doesn't work away is to find out how much it would cost to fix it. Sometimes its cheaper to fix something than it is to replace it especially if its only a blown fuse or a bad plug.

You should also consider fixing anything that has a leak. Leaky water pipes, faucets, and toilets can waste lots of money each month. A leaky faucet on a bath tub can fill the tube in about a week depending on how fast its leaking. Toilets that keep filling themselves can lead to big bucks on your water bill if not fixed. They now have fill valves that have a special catch that is released when you flush to allow the toilet to fill. If the toilet constantly drains its tank, the fill valve has a catch to prevent the toilet form constantly filling itself and wasting water. To flush a leaky toilet with this feature, you push the flush handle which releases the catch filling the tank. After the tank refills, push the handle again to flush. But don't rely on this all the time. If you have this problem, have it fixed anyhow. A toilet problem could be anything from a bad flapper valve, to a bad filler valve. If you think the flapper valve is bad, here is an easy way to check it. Put a few drops of food coloring into the tank, enough to change the water color. After that, watch the bowl. If the water in the bowl changes color, you have a bad flapper valve. This is that rubber piece at the bottom of the tank. This is what opens to flush your toilet. If the water is going into the overflow pipe, that means the filler valve isn't shutting off properly. The overflow pipe is that tube that you see sticking out of the water in the tank. It also has a little tube going into it which fills the bowl. If the flapper isn't bad and the water isn't going down the overflow tube, check around the tank where it meets the bowl. If its wet their, you have a bad seal. These are usually easy fixes, except for fixing a bad seal where the tank meets the bowl.