Every year, restaurateurs, jewelers, and owners of florists all begin to salivate as they watch February 14th drawing nearer on the calendar. Not coincidentally, springing for a fancy dinner, a diamond necklace, and two dozen long-stem roses will make your wallet shrivel faster than a raisin left to bake in the Saharan sun.

Let’s face it; whether you are a man or a woman, if you’re in a relationship, there is an unwritten law that says each year on February 14, you must make your significant other feel . . . well, significant.

Some folks are content receiving a nice card. Some folks expect a candlelit dinner at the most expensive restaurant in the city. Some folks expect a new Jaguar, a full-body massage, a trip to the wilds of Borneo, and a pair of ring-tailed lemurs. (Heaven help your wallet if you’re dating someone who expects ring-tailed lemurs and a $74,000 vehicle as a gift.)

You do not have to put yourself in the poor house to express your undying love and devotion to someone—you just need to be creative. Here’s a list of three inexpensive and easy ways to win big on Valentine’s Day, without going broke.

Plan a Date around Your Lover’s Interests

Is your significant other an animal lover? You could take him or her to go horseback riding, to a petting zoo, or to your local animal shelter to adopt a new pet. If your main squeeze is an art enthusiast, you could earn some brownie points by taking them on a trip to a museum in your area. Is your love interest a bookworm? Take them to a bookstore and let them pick out whatever they please. (Most hardcover books cost less than $50.)

Cook Their Favorite Meal

Fancy restaurants are great, but they aren’t cheap, and landing a reservation for the busiest day of the year might not work out too well if you’re calling at the last minute. You can save yourself a bunch of cash (and stress) by preparing your lover’s favorite meal and serving it paired with a decent bottle of wine and some candles.

Create a Day Spa at Home

Sending your boo to a spa for the afternoon can easily set you back a few hundred dollars. Consider giving your lover the spa treatment at home; leave a trail of flower petals leading from the front door to the bathroom, use candles as a strategic (and flattering) lighting option, and turn on some relaxing music for the two of you to listen to while he or she tells you about their day. When bath time ends, guide your significant other to the bedroom so you can spoil them with a full body massage. Bath bombs are inexpensive, a bouquet of flowers should run you no more than fifty dollars, and you can score fragrant massage oil just about anywhere.

Vinegar has so many practical uses we could not possibly fit them all into one post even if we tried to. From erasing stains left behind by a ballpoint pen to cleaning the grout in between your bathroom’s ceramic tile, vinegar is a must-have in every homeowner’s pantry. Here’s a list of five ways using vinegar around the house will simplify your life.

Cleaning Your Coffeemaker

According to the National Coffee Association’s 2017 Coffee Drinking Trends report, sixty-two percent of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis. You probably don’t give much thought to your coffeemaker unless it malfunctions, but do you honestly remember when the last time was that you gave your coffeemaker’s innards a thorough cleaning?

Lime and hard water deposits can lead to a funky cup of coffee, so it is essential to give your coffeemaker a good cleaning once every 40-50 pots. Mix two cups of white vinegar with one cup of water, place a clean filter in your coffeemaker and then run a full brew cycle. Repeat that process three times, and then brew two cycles of clean water. After you clean your coffeemaker, mix equal parts vinegar and salt in the decanter, swirl it around for two minutes, and then use a clean sponge to remove the grime from the pot.

Remove Mineral Deposits from Your Showerhead

Fill a large Ziploc bag halfway with white vinegar, place the bag over your showerhead, and then use painter’s tape to hold the bag in place overnight. When you remove the bag the following morning, all the jets on your showerhead should be free of mineral deposits.

Deodorize Your Dishwasher

If you smell something foul inside your dishwasher, add three cups of vinegar to the bottom of your dishwasher when it is empty, and then run the dishwasher on its standard setting. Your dishwasher will be odor-free in under an hour.

Remove Water-rings from Woodwork

If your end tables show signs of your guests not using coasters, you can make those water-rings disappear by mixing one pint of water with four tablespoons of vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil and applying the mixture to your furniture. Wait ten minutes, and then use another clean cloth to buff the stains away.

Remove Rust from Hand Tools

Ask any DIYer how much money they’ve spent on their tools and you will understand why nobody wants to see rust forming on wrenches. You can remove rust from your hand-tools by filling a shallow plastic container with white vinegar and leaving it in a well-ventilated space overnight (preferably outdoors, away from the elements). When you return to your tools the following morning, wipe them down with a clean rag, and they will be rust-free.

At a glance, the differences between laminate flooring and luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring are barely noticeable. Both come in styles designed to mimic the look of real wood or stone, both are available in a click-and-lock installation method, and both are less expensive than the natural materials they imitate.

To help you determine which of these products is best suited to your home’s unique environment, we decided to weigh the potential pros-and-cons of each in a side-by-side comparison, based on cost, performance, and overall ease of maintenance.

Cost of Laminate versus Luxury Vinyl

The potential cost of installing luxury vinyl flooring or laminate in your home boils down to three main factors:

Quality of the product Whether you intend to do the work yourself Whether you own the tools necessary to perform a proper installation

If you plan to install the flooring yourself, you can find entry-level laminates on sale at big-box retailers for roughly $1.50 per foot. Underlayment, seam tape, pull-bars, transitions, coordinating moldings, and—most importantly—your time, will cost extra. Keep in mind, purchasing flooring is similar to making any other major purchase—the good things aren’t cheap, and the cheap things usually aren’t good.

On average, a good-quality laminate product usually runs $4–$8 per foot (not including all the extras), with an additional cost of $2–$7 per foot to cover installation. The cost of high-quality luxury vinyl flooring is $4–$8 per foot, with additional charges for installation.

Advantage: Even

Performance

Flooring manufacturers use high-density fiberboard (a combination of resin and wood byproducts) to create a laminate’s core, to which they then attach a photo of real wood covered with a wear layer and a coating of aluminum oxide. Laminate is popular with many homeowners because it is scratch resistant and cost-efficient.

As a wood-based product, laminate flooring often fails after exposure to excessive moisture or humidity. Over time, pets’ accidents, wet shoes, repeated mopping, and spills are likely to inflict damage on a laminate floor. If you need flooring able to withstand heavy foot-traffic and you don’t plan to install your new floors where moisture may become an issue, laminate flooring may suit your needs.

Luxury vinyl is available in two styles: tile, better known as LVT; and plank, better known as LVP. LVT mimics the appearance of stone, marble, and slate, whereas luxury vinyl plank mimics the appearance of hardwood. Depending on the style and product you choose, there are two methods for installing luxury vinyl products: floating method (meaning the planks or tiles interlock, but do not attach to the substrate), or the glue-down method (meaning the product attaches to the substrate).

Luxury vinyl’s molecular structure makes it durable, dimensionally stable, and impervious to moisture. If you need new flooring in your basement, bathroom, or kitchen, luxury vinyl is a smart choice.

Advantage: Luxury Vinyl

Ease of Maintenance

Laminate flooring’s smooth surface makes it easy to clean; a quick spin through your living room with a microfiber duster or a broom should be sufficient to remove any crumbs, dirt, or dust. Unfortunately, using a wet mop on laminate flooring will eventually lead to buckling, swelling, and chipping of the planks. Luxury vinyl flooring takes the lead in this category of our comparison because of its moisture-resistant properties.

Advantage: Luxury Vinyl

 

As is the case with most things in life, there is a right way to clean hardwood flooring, and a wrong way to clean hardwood flooring.

Maybe your chosen method for cleaning hardwood floors is a technique passed down to you through the ages from your great-grandmother. Maybe you recently had hardwood flooring installed and aren’t sure of the correct way to care for your new flooring.

Whatever the case may be, having hardwood flooring installed isn’t exactly cheap, so it is in your best interest to protect your investment by cleaning and maintaining your wood floors the correct way.

The Wrong Way to Clean Hardwood Flooring

Vacuuming with an upright—The wheels and beater-bar on many upright vacuum cleaners will drive dirt and particulate matter into the finish on a hardwood floor Using oil-based cleaning products—The chemicals in many floor-cleaning products leave behind a waxy film that discolors hardwood flooring’s protective finish Oversaturation—Water is wood’s mortal enemy; excessive exposure to moisture will cause cupping and discoloration of the planks Sweeping against the grain—Always sweep in the same direction of the plank’s grain Steam—Again, excessive moisture and pressurized steam are a big no-no Vinegar—Don’t believe everything you read on the internet; vinegar will damage your floor’s polyurethane finish

The Right Way to Clean Hardwood Flooring

Microfiber Dusters—Use a microfiber duster and a spray bottle filled with one of Bona’s specialized wood-flooring cleaners to remove any dirt you weren’t able to remove with your soft-bristled broom Clean Frequently—The more diligent you are about maintaining your floor’s finish, the longer your floors will stay shining bright and beautiful

For information on Bona’s wood-cleaning products, visit them online at https://us.bona.com/products/Bona-Clean—Refresh–Hardwood-Floor-Cleaner.html

The cost of remodeling a bathroom can add up to thousands of dollars after you factor for a new vanity, toilet, bathtub, flooring, and plumbing fixtures. Refreshing your bathroom, however, is a project you can complete over the course of a weekend, for less than $500—and it could pay for itself in only a year’s time.

Invest in a High-efficiency Toilet

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the six-gallon-flush toilets of yesteryear cost homeowners more than $100 per year in added utility costs in comparison to today’s high-efficiency toilets that use only 1.6 gallons per flush.

With proper planning, a few wrenches, a new wax ring, and a new supply line, you can install a new toilet for less than $200. Not only will your new commode use less water than your current model, but it will also pay for itself in less than two years time.

Install a New Showerhead

Showerheads are another source of wasted water and increased utility bills. The average American household sends forty gallons of water down the drain every day while showering. To put that in perspective, think about how much space you would need to store 14,600 one-gallon containers in your home—those containers represent one year worth of showers.

You can reduce the amount of water you waste each year by swapping your existing showerhead with a high-efficiency model that meets the EPA’s WaterSense standards, and it won’t cost you more than $40.

Put a Coat of Fresh Paint on Your Vanity

If a full remodel isn’t in your budget, you can brighten your bathroom by putting a fresh coat of paint on a tired-looking vanity. This project may take a little longer than replacing your showerhead, but you can give your bathroom a new look for the cost of a can of paint, a few sheets of sandpaper, and a new 2” paintbrush.

Replace the Accents

Since you have a few hours to kill while you wait on that fresh coat of paint to dry, now is a perfect time to take a trip to your local Bed, Bath & Beyond to find a new shower curtain, new bathmats, and matching towels. Bed, Bath & Beyond sends out 20%-off coupons at least once a month, so be sure to check the mailbox before you go shopping.

New Hardware

Now that you have transformed that drab vanity to make it bold and a bright, spend a few extra bucks on some brushed nickel hardware to replace those dated, brass drawer handles from the early eighties.

Voila! You just breathed new life into your bathroom without touching a sledgehammer!