The Best $10 You Can Spend to Improve Your Home, According to Reddit
Even the most straightforward home repairs can end up being super costly — especially these days. So improving or upgrading your space without spending what feels like a million bucks is always a delight, which is why Reddit users in r/homeimprovement recently took to discussing the $10 home improvements they swear by.
One user sparked the discussion by asking: “What’s the best $10 you can spend to improve your home?” And although the contents of the original post have since been removed, the comments section is still filled to the brim with easy, budget-friendly buys that users swear by to keep their homes in tip-top shape.
The top response? “Door weather stripping,” which the commenter noted “will save you hundreds over the course of its lifetime.” Plenty of fellow commenters agreed, with one person adding, “I had a bad experience with these, until I learned that the goal should be sealing, not insulating. A cm of foam strip isn’t going to give you any measurable R-value [the measure of insulation’s ability to resist heat traveling through it], so it needs to be compressed somewhere that it’s helping make a tight seal. The foam strips work best when you have one of those latches that pushes back a bit so the strip pushes well up against the edge. I’ve found the plastic v-strip to be the best balance between quality of seal and ease of install. Just cut with a pair of scissors and peel+stick, and it’ll keep out all drafts,” they said.
“On that note, bronze spring weatherstripping sounds like it should be the worst, since metal is such a strong thermal conductor, but it’s actually great,” they added. “It forms such a good, durable seal that the sealing it provides far outweighs any thermal bridging.”
Another highly rated comment: “Cleaning supplies,” followed immediately below by “Bar Keepers Friend.” This endorsement yielded plenty of enthusiastic responses, with one person writing: “Cleaning my tub for the first time in years. Tried bleach, Scrubbing Bubbles, and nothing worked. Then I tried Bar Keeper’s Friend. Y’all. I had no idea how white my tub was supposed to be!”
Other users came through with equally helpful suggestions, including “caulk,” “fresh batteries for your detectors,” and “the little plastic cover for food in your microwave to prevent chaos on the roof and sides.” Each recommendation is proof positive that you don’t always have to break the bank to keep your home running smoothly.