The idea of investing money can take lots of different forms. But one of the ways that people don’t often think about is through maintenance. By maintaining individual pieces of equipment or even theoretical constructs of your life that involve finances, you can save money or create a more efficient financial pathway for yourself, thus creating a sense of investment.
For some examples of this, consider the ideas of maintaining major appliances, keeping up the value of the house, utilizing the benefits of continuing education, or regularly tuning up your vehicles. All of these are concretely considered maintenance. But they can also indirectly be considered investments in the future.
Maintaining Major Appliances
When you maintain your major appliances, you extend the life of them, thereby requiring less frequent purchases to update your life in the future. For example, if you maintain your outdoor grill, you’ll end up spending less money over time on purchasing new grilling equipment. If you maintain your furnace, particularly by keeping it clean and making sure fixtures are appropriately taken care of, you’ll find that your heating bills are going to be less over time, and you’ll be more comfortable. So, the idea of maintenance is directly associated with the idea of investing.
Keeping Up the Value of a House
A clear example of maintenance as an investment would be in keeping up the value of the house. If you spend some time maintaining the current value of your residence, then when it comes time to sell, you’ll either get more money from the sale right away, or you won’t have to spend as much money quickly trying to reassert its place in the real estate market. If you invest in keeping your house up to shape, that means that cleaning it and updating it later won’t cost as much. The return on investment is significant the earlier you start these positive routines.
Continuing Education Benefits
Then there is the idea of investing in yourself. When you take continuing education classes, you’re benefiting yourself and the people that you teach. By always keeping up-to-date with the latest teaching methods, not only are you creating the best version of your professional self, but you’re also helping to provide an education to your students in the most modern way possible.
Regular Tune-ups for Vehicles
And then, there’s the concrete idea of regular tune-ups for vehicles. You should get an oil change and a tune-up every so often for your car as a way to provide scheduled maintenance. This is an investment because if you don’t do these maintenance activities, there’s a far more likely chance that your car is going to be damaged or malfunction in some specific way. Parts can overheat. Belts can become frayed. Engines can run poorly. Without the investment of regular maintenance, serious financial consequences can occur.