Carpet Cleaning on a Budget

As you enter the world of adulthood, you enter so many different areas of responsibility and one of those is home ownership. Home ownership doesn't start and end with the mortgage payments, but rather continues on with all of the upkeep and maintenance of the house. By upkeep and maintenance, I mean the cleaning of the house and the efforts needed to keep the place looking nice and well cared for.

One of the things you need to consider when it comes to cleaning your house is not only the regular dusting and vacuuming, but also the carpet cleaning. Now, you don't need to clean the carpet every week like you may need to clean your bathroom, but when you do clean your carpets, you need to make sure that it's done well and you also want your carpet cleaning to not wipe out your entire budget. If you need clean carpets and are struggling with your finances, here is how to have clean carpet while still on a budget.

Carpet cleanings are not necessarily inexpensive and they shouldn't be expected to be inexpensive. Carpet cleaning is intense work and takes up a lot of time, so it's only expected that it's not exactly cheap. There are a variety of carpet cleaning services out there, so when you're actually choosing your carpet cleaner or carpet cleaning provider, take your time and do your research so you can find the best product or service at the best price. After you settle on a service or company, then the budget part comes into play. Because you do need to deep clean your carpets and because it will always be a little bit pricey, you work with a budget by keeping your carpet in good condition all the time, so you don't have to deep clean it often.

Prevention is the key to keeping your carpets clean on a budget and here are the things you need to keep in mind and implement as you keep your house clean.

• Eating. Don't allow routine eating in the areas in your house with carpet. Keep eating limited to the kitchen or dining areas; this way you can better prevent food spilling on or getting stuck in the carpet, necessitating more visits from the carpet cleaner. This is the best way to prevent carpet disasters, and while your kids may not be too thrilled about this at first, you will definitely be glad when your carpet can stay clean between deep cleanings.
• Act. When spills happen, food drops, or mud from shoes is stomped into the carpet, you need to act immediately. Grab some of that carpet spot remover found in any house cleaning aisle, and scrub until the spot is gone. You don't want the offender to become any more lodged into the carpet, so when something happens, act fast, thus preserving the cleanliness of your carpet longer.
• Carpeting. If you have especially light colored carpet or dirt prone carpet, have people take off their shoes when they come inside the house. To preserve the carpet's cleanliness, you can actually do a lot by simply taking shoes out of the picture. Also, if you have a pet, you'll want to keep your pet away from carpeted areas as much as possible. While this may not be entirely possible, minimize the contact your pet has with your clean carpet if you're significantly concerned.
• Frugality. If cleaning the carpet really isn't financially feasible for you, then there are a couple of other options. You can invest in your own carpet steam cleaner, but this can also be expensive. One easier solution (especially if you're just getting into the home-buying game) is to rent for a while. Depending on your lease, it may be your landlord's responsibility to clean the carpet, and so if money is especially tight, then take that particular burden off of your shoulders.

Having clean carpet on a budget definitely is possible, and just takes a little bit of extra effort to minimize the frequency of when you get your carpets cleaned. If you're successful, you'll only have to pay to have your carpet cleaned once every year or two. By implementing these simple tips, you'll be saving yourself money and enjoying clean carpet!