Save Money & Pay Off Debt by Showing Your Appliances Love! (2024)

Tips like thesehelped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story inSlaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.

Welcome to 31 Debt Free Missions! This year on Queen of Free, during each day in January, we will provide 31 concrete debt free missions or challenges for you to take on to #SlayDebt and take charge of your finances this year. Each mission will take you less than an hour (some will only require 15 minutes). Whereas,31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth(which I’m reworking this year and reposting in January, too) focused on some of the philosophical changes you need to make in order to be successful with money,31 Debt Free Missionsare action steps to put into place after you have your thinking straight. Even better, during the month of January, we’rerevisiting each of these challenges in order to sharpen ourmoney saving and debt slaying skills.

Are you ready? Your mission is as follows:

In your kitchen, in your laundry room, tucked into a small closet, you might not be able to hear them but your appliances are crying. They are longing for a little tender love and care, friends. They know how much you need them. They know youdepend on their steady service and devotion to keep your house running. All they want is for you to take care of their parts and pieces. And that’s today’s mission: to be a hero to your appliances. It’s not just about showing the love, it’s also about making sure each one runs efficiently so you can save money on lower electric bills AND so you don’t have to replace them as frequently. In less than an hour you can knock out each of these mini-missions.

Feel like it’s taking forever for a load of towels to dry? You need to check both the lint trap and your dryer vents to clean out excess fluff. Not only will loads dry more quickly, but you’ll save money on your electric bill, and oh yeah your house is less likely to burn down. So there’s that.

Before you think I’ve totally dove off the deep end and hit my head on the bottom of the pool, this is a great idea. The coils in the back and the vents in the front of the exterior of your refrigerator can easily get clogged with dust and hair. Take your shop vac or simply the hose attachment of your vacuum cleaner and suck it all out of there. Again, you’ll save money on the bill and the refrigerator will last longer. Add in the bonus factor of food staying at a more consistent temperature and not going bad as quickly and you’ve entered the savings trifecta zone, friends. Get on that.

If you’re like me,the Restaurant Challengehas you missing your fancy lady coffee this month (Um, no I totally did not think twice about taking a swig out of someone’s abandoned Starbucks cup in the dollar section at Target this week. You have the wrong plastic tiara wearing redhead.). This why you need your sweet little percolating buddy more than ever before. Be good to your coffee pot and give it the latest in java spa treatments. Simply run 1 part white vinegar and 3 parts water through the machine. Let it sit for fifteen minutes. Then, run 2-3 cycles of water through the system to knock out the rest of the calcified residue that can build up. Your coffee pot will last much longer and the coffee tastes better. Bonus points, the hot water/vinegar mixture works as fabulous drain cleaner. You’re welcome.

This mini-mission will increase the life of your furnace (something that’s totally not fun to replace) AND your air quality. You can purchase a new filter or cut your own from a roll of fiberglass (that’s what we do). If it’s not too thick with dust and dirt, you can vacuum that badboy out too and re-use the filter over again. This one also goes into the saves you money and also keeps your house from burning down category.

Cloudy glasses? You may need to run a an upright glass filled with white vinegar through an empty cycle on your dishwasher. The miracle frugal elixir will break down the grime from the inside of your dishwasher and help the machine run more efficiently.

When we moved to our house, we took on a water softener that was a rental unit. During our debt slaying journey, we discovered that it broke and we noticed absolutely no difference in the water. We discontinued renting it and have never gone back. Our microwave also went kaput and we opted not to replace it (still haven’t nearly three years after being debt free). Some appliances are necessary but some you can get away with either pausing while you’re paying off debt or living without them entirely.

Did you see the previous Debt Free Missions? Knock them all out this month!

• 31 Debt Free Missions: Take the Restaurant Challenge
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Run Your Credit Report
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Set Up a Tax Box
• 31 Debt Free Missions: 5 Memberships to Ditch
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Adjust Your Withholdings
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Quit Using Credit Cards
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Go to the Library
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Eliminate Cable
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Pantry Prep
• 31 Debt Free Missions: 3 Phone Calls to Pay Off Debt
• 31 Debt Free Missions: The Bank Field Trip
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Hit Unsubscribe
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Stop Money Leaks
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Maintain Your Car
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Save Money on Prescriptions
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Kill the Fees
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Change Car Insurance
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Reorganize the Game Closet
• 31 Debt Free Missions: Build your Budget

Alright, chop chop. You have much to do! Get busy. Do you have a suggestion on maintaining an appliance so it goes the distance while paying off debt? Leave it in the comments.

My book is now available:Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.You can also check outInspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Freeon Kindle.

This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!