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Great Giveaway – Filtrete Filters

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Congrats to Lacey! The winner of the Filtrete Filters!  You should have an email in your inbox right now girl!

DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post and giveaway brought to you by Filtrete.  All opinions are my own.

One of the things that I did early on with blogging was keeping monthly lists.  Lists help me feel sane (most folks would use the words ‘stay sane’ but we all know that isn’t true in my case).  I am not always good at checking everything off the list but at least it reminds me of the things that I forget to remember.  I want to bring that back somehow…list making on the blog.  I will have to brainstorm how exactly.

Whenever I get a magazine that has a to-do list for my home, it is usually seasonal or monthly…and some of the things don’t apply to me but it helps me remember that I need to create my own list…both for projects, for the boys, and for just general maintenance of the house.  Someone once told me that average general annual maintenance costs for a home is about 1% of the house’s value.  So that means if you paid $300K for your house, you can expect to fork over $3K each year in maintaining it.  MAINTAINING!  MINIMUM!

And that is only if you actually stay on top of the repairs and general up keep and does not include stuff like a new roof or if your furnace breaks.

That seems like a lot to me…but I understand that any house is bound to fall apart if you don’t do your own part in caring for it.

I think of general maintenance as more of an investment…like if I can stay on top of cleaning, fixing and creating a safe and healthy home then I worry less about nursing sicknesses and caring for injuries and more time with these fine looking fellas….

And that is why I have compiled this general home maintenance list for January.  Like Will is saying in this photo…git er dun ma.  git er dun.

January Reminders for Your Home

    • rotate your mattresses (mattresses should be rotated several times a year!  January is the perfect time to give her the twist and vaccuum!)
    • pare down in the kitchen (time to donate the melted spatulas or the donut maker or the rice cooker that you never used. Less stuff = less stress!)
    • prepare for tax season (create a dedicated spot in your house for all the soon-to-be-arriving paperwork – W-2 forms, end of the year bank statements, etc.)
    • freshen the garbage disposal (make a few frozen vinegar cubes and throw them down the disposal to sharpen the blades and freshen any lingering smells)
    • create a home inventory list (furniture, electronics, even socks & bras should be written down in case of a disaster)
    • hire a chimney sweep (if you are the fire-building kind, your chimney should be cleaned annually!)
    • check the water heater and clear any surrounding clutter
    • test fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
    • clear any outside vents
    • prepare your ‘sick kit’ (tissues, pain relievers, decaf herbal tea, etc)
    • get a humidifier (dry air creates an environment for the flu virus to thrive)
    • revisit your pantry staples and replace unhealthy foods with items high in fiber, protein, and antioxidants
    • check the house foundation for any cracks
    • pressure wash and caulk any siding to keep mold and mildew at bay
    • check doors and windows for leaks and replace weather stripping when needed
    • create a disaster plan for your family (make sure you review plans in case of a fire and create your emergency stash for any natural disaster in your area)
    • before putting away those Christmas lights, check for frays and toss any strands that have stopped working and toss any broken ornaments!
    • change out your air filter (3M has one that helps eliminate bacteria and viruses from the air we breathe!)

And Filtrete has decided to help someone out there in their own home with a prize package!

Here’s what is up for grabs:

  • PRIZE: (1) A prize pack of Filtrete Filters and Filtrete Water Filtration Products
  • NUMBER OF WINNERS : (1) One
  • MORE INFORMATION :
    • The Filtrete Healthy Living Filter captures up to 93 percent of airborne particles, like:
      Pollen, Smoke Particles, Pet dander, Household Dust, Smog Contamination, Dust Mite Debris, Lint,
      Mold Spores, Bacteria, Particles that can carry Viruses* from the air passing through the filter.
    • Find a filter in your area – click here.
  • TO ENTER :  Be sure to like the Filtrete Brand on Facebook!  Comment on this post with “Filtrete feels Good!” and tell me what home maintenance task you are tackling this month!
  • PRIZE SHIPS :  Continental US
  • NITTY GRITTY :  This giveaway closes on Friday, January 3rd at 8pm EDT.  Only one contest entry per email address.  The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be announced in an update to this post the following Monday morning. We will email the winner directly, so please make sure you use your regular everyday email address.

GOOD LUCK!

p.s.  Filtrete has an e-newsletter with better living tips!  They are on Facebook!  And Twitter!

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  2. Filtrete feels good! We are renters, so there isn’t much maintaining we have to do… but we plan on replacing old light bulbs. We have a few that are out and a lot that are mismatched (type/wattage/etc.)

  3. Filtrete Feels Good! Working on organizing our basement during the winter months when we’re stuck inside anyways.

  4. Filtrete feels Good!

    Cleaning the unseen grime – getting down on the floor with my toddler, I see it in places I never think of. EWW!

  6. Filtrete feels Good!

    I will be shopping for a more efficient water heater.

    Happy New Year everyone!

  8. Filtrate feels good! I always clean out every closet, cabinet and drawer
    In January. I like starting the year out clean and organized!

  9. Filtrete feels Good! This month I am deep cleaning the home – dusting, washing baseboards, etc. Yuck!

  10. Filtrete feels Good! I am doing a little of everything – when the weather is not snowy and cold, I try to get outside to still tackle this things I didn’t get done this summer.

  11. Filtrete feels good! We’re rearranging furniture for the new baby coming and cleaning out the office closet! I love getting stuff organized.

  12. Filtrete feels Good! I’m planning to de-clutter this week. I will be donating old furniture, clothes, and anything else I can find. Thanks for hosting this giveaway!

  13. Filtrete feels good! I am de-cluttering all of my kid’s rooms & my craft room, deep cleaning bathrooms, & trying to scrape together enough pennies to paint my kitchen.

  16. filtrete feels good! Actually purchasing new filters is on my list for this month, as is paiting some never ending trim, and making some cute hat stands for the master bedroom.

  17. Filtrete feels good! I’ll be spring cleaning the whole house. With a little one on the way, we are anxious to get this house ready for a little one.

  18. Filtrete feels Good! hmmm… how about ‘Winter Cleaning’ aka ‘Fall Cleaning’s overgrown self!

  20. Filtrete Feels Good!

    We are cleaning, I mean REALLY cleaning everything and hopefully washing our washing machine and cleaning our dryer vent! Woo! Exciting stuff over here.

  22. Filtrete feels good! I just wrote a to-do list today including changing my furnace filter and switching the last lingering incandescent light bulbs to fluorescent.

  27. Filtrete feels Good!! Just got our furnace cleaned and inspected!

    PS…love the family picture! So cute!

  30. Oh man…my to-do list just doubled in size. The top of my list is the home inventory, for insurance and disaster purposes. Thanks for the reminders, Katie!

  32. All sounds good, but I think here in Chicago pressure washing and caulking may have to wait til April or May! It’s 11 outside right now.

  33. Filtrate feels good! We will be busy looking for our first home while we stay with family!! Typically in January I do a deep clean of every room including purging/donatings unused items, washing rugs, inspecting the outside of the home and going through Christmas decorations to determine what to keep for next year.

  34. Filtrete feels Good! We are cleaning out the storage area in the basement, purging and donating unused items.

  37. Filtrete Feels Good! This month I plan on getting more of our photos hung on the wall! Maybe not so much a maintenance thing, but everything else is done. 🙂

  39. Filtrate feels good! We are listing our house soon. Today I decluttered the pantry and funny…got rid of the rice cooker I never use!

  40. Filtrete feels Good! My husband just cleaned the chimney while he was on the roof taking down Christmas lights, but I plan on decluttering in January and selling a lot of stuff on Craigslist.

  42. Filtrete feels good! Wow – I think I need to do almost everything on your list. I’m saving up for a humidifier (currently using the poor mans – bucket o’water by the vent), noting where my icicles are so I can address that problem in the spring too, oh and I need to double check my smoke detectors too, yikes… Looks like my January will be a busier month than I thought! I also never knew the 1% maintenance rule of thumb. Thanks for the tips!

  44. Filtrete feels good!! I am doing some early Spring cleaning to make room for the new Christmas toys and other stuff. We’ve already made a couple of trips to Goodwill and we have a few more planned.

  45. Filtrete feels Good! We always do a last-minute end of the year clean and donate to Goodwill session right before the New Year.

  46. “Filtrete feels Good!”

    We have many household tasks we need to do, but I’d say the one at the top of the list is cleaning all of our wooden blinds- we have them all over our house!

  51. Filtrete feels good! We bought a foreclosed house shortly before I was injured in an accident so while I am recovering I have noticed our plans becoming more extravagant! Ha! I definitely agree that keeping a home well maintained helps keep large problems at bay. While searching houses we could tell which houses were well kept and which weren’t.

  52. Filtrete feels good! I’ll rotate the mattress…and maybe clean out the kitchen, if I’m feeling ambitious!

  53. Filtrete feels Good!
    I love organizing so have most of that completed and plan to complete my taxes ASAP. I do plan to add my socks and bras to my home inventory list though 🙂

  54. Filtrete feels Good! My husband is super on top of most maintenance–changing smoke detector batteries and testing every month, this month we clean out our file cabinets, just refreshed our emergency kits in the house and cars…I’m hoping to go through and purge–I see a big donation to Goodwill coming soon 🙂

  60. Filrete feels Good! We replaced our furnance filter last night. I can tell your Jan list is definitely regional as “Pressure wash caulk and siding…” is on there. It is -3 here today in Wisco so that is a Spring item for us. 🙂 Nonethess a good reminder to tackle once things warm up!

  67. “Filtrete feels good”! We need to tackle the weather stripping on our front door and the front entrance in general. It looks run down

  69. Filtrete feels Good! Hubby and I are still renovating our newly purchased (but in need of some TLC) home- so we are tackling just about everything! Our focus is kitchen and baths this month.

  71. Filtrete feels good. Replacing air filters, cleaning baseboards and fans, and cleaning out garage.

  72. Filtrete feels Good! We live in a rental so I will be working on purging my son’s closet (currently half of it is used for my storage) so that we can organize his new toys/desk better.

  75. Filtrete feels good! I think we’re playing catch-up in January. We have to replace a dishwasher, figure out why the right side of the sink leaks, and replace all the guts in the master bath’s toilet, since it leaked so much today we had water coming thru the kitchen ceiling! Yay, fun times…..

  81. “Filtrete feels Good!” love that little tip of the vinegar cubes- will have to give that a try! thanks!

  83. Filtrete feels Good! I’m trying to repack Christmas decor in a more organized fashion this year, then on to deep cleaning. Not waiting for spring this year.

  84. Filtrate feels good! Just had water pipes reroute due to a slab leak-boo! Paint touch ups and readying rooms for baby #2 also on the list!

  87. Filtrete feels good! Really need to step up some yard maintenance….cut back some bushes, blow out the leaves, and prep the grass.

  88. Filtrete feels good! I am working on the office, it has become the “junk room”. I am already starting to sort, discard, recycle, donate and organize. It feels good!

  90. Filtrete feels good! We need to clean out the workroom so we can do some work.

    And your list is very cute. Pressure washing siding?!? It is negative 20 degrees Fahrenheit where I live today. Real temperature. Think I’ll skip that and leave it for the spring cleaning list!

  93. Filtrete feels Good!

    We own our own busniess, so we are getting all of tax items togther. The fun never ends. 🙂

  94. Filtrete feels good! Interview places to replace my HVAC system and swap out some old sink faucets!

  95. Filtrete feels good! I actually need to replace my filters this month! I also plan to tackle the “guest room” that is full of all the things that didn’t find a permanent home when I moved 6 months ago. Now they get to find a permanent home with someone else!

  96. Filtrete feels Good!

    We are purging and reorganizing the entire house – starting with the kitchen.

  98. “Filtrete feels Good!” We are freshening the drains and changing batteries in smoke dectetors

  99. “Filtrate Feels Good”! We just moved into our new home this past June, so all of these tips are magnificent for keeping it in tip, top shape. This January, I will clean the disposal and our pantry!

  105. filtrate feels good. definitely need to get a handle on my office/yard sale items storage room. not pretty.

  106. Filtrete feels Good! We are just trying to clear out clutter and uncover our home from the craziness of the holidays! Also, clean out all the closets!

  107. “Filtrete feels Good!” We’re actually doing a bit of Spring Cleaning between renters. One just moved out & the other is waiting to move in.

  108. Filtrete feels good! This month we need to “pare down” more than just the kitchen! Wish me luck!

  110. Filtrete feels Good

    We are taking on pruning our outside bushes! Sooo much easier to trim when the leaves have fallen off!

  113. Filtrete feels good! We will be purging our basement of extra boxes and repairing the pavers leading up to the front steps.

  114. Filtrete feels good! I want to straighten up my pantry and finally go through the house and replace light bulbs. haha

  115. Filtrete feels good! We just organized our basement for the new year – so much more space down there now (though still hideous) 🙂

  119. Filtrete feels good! I never knew we needed to create an entire house inventory, so that will be done this month. Thanks for sharing.

  122. Filtrete feels Good! We’re going to go through our pantry and give our kitchen a good hard scrubbing down!

  124. Filtrete feels Good! My youngest son has moderate-severe asthma so we change the air filters monthly. 3M has a GREAT washable filter that saves us lots of money!! It seems costly at first glance but we can wash and reuse it 3-4 times before replacing it. Add to this the fact that I never seemed to have a new filter on hand when it was time to change the old one and I found myself in a win-win situation 🙂

  126. Filtrete feels Good! I need to make my sick kit- new baby+cold/flu season= i need to be prepared for the crud in advance!

  133. Filtrete feels good!!!! We’re working on finishing our basement! kicking up all that dust/saw dust/ coal dust will be alot better with an air filter!

  134. Filtrete feels good! We’re doing the final touches on the nursery since our little man is due on the 12th!

  137. Filtrete feels good! I need to clean out my basement. The cardboard boxes are starting to take over!

  139. filtrete feels good! We are purging and paring down. With a new baby and 2 dogs, our 1000sqft feels like it’s closing in on us!

  145. Filtrete feels good!! We are expecting in April and are currently going through every room for small maintenance tasks.

  148. Filtrete feels Good!

    I love that you put this list together! In addition to organizing and donating miscellaneous items, I’m planning to tackle most of these reminders on your list. Some of them I had never even thought of…I’m a rookie home-owner 🙂

  151. Filtrete feels Good!
    Actually, we need to change our air filters, as well as purge all the stuff collecting around the house.

  154. Filtrete feels Good! Replacing storm widows that were broken by falling branches during a recent storm. Guess that’s why they call em storm windows…

  155. Filtrete feels Good! I’ll be pressure washing our walkways and deck. This is the season (in Florida) when we use the deck the most.

  156. filtrete feels good! Rearranging the closet system that came with our house to actually work for us.

  157. Filtrete feels good! We will be purging some kitchen stuff to make room for baby paraphernalia. Too many mugs will become bottles and nipples

  158. Filtrete feels Good! Rotating mattresses, checking smoke alarms and replacing air filters.

  159. Filtrete feels good! We are firing up the humidifiers, doing a deep clean (err, swiffering) of our floors and cleaning radiators. We are going to be inside with our new baby and a toddler a lot this winter and it needs to be a healthy place to be.

  163. “Filtrete feels Good!” Between cleaning out the spare room to fixing the hot water heater, that is what I will be tackling this month as 2014 begins!

  165. Filtrete feels Good! My maintenance this month is cleaning the gutters and replacing the filters. So sounds like the giveaway would be an awesome match. Thanks for the giveaway Katie!

  166. “Filtrete feels Good!” And I second the idea of making lists as a strategy towards not feeling overwhelmed by the great unknown of keeping up on maintenance!

  168. Filtrete feels Good! Instead of rotating a mattress on a to do list, we’re getting a new one! I’m so thrilled and it will be easy to remember when to flip it!

  169. Filtrete feels good!

    January we are wokring on cleaning out all areas of the house. The kitchen is up next!

  170. Filtrete feels Good!

    I need to rake up the leaves and clear any growth near the house.

  173. Filtrete feels good! I’m caulking the newly installed trim in my boy’s room and purging old toys for a charity yard sale!

  175. Filtrete feels good. Being preggers as well, I have a lot on the list but mostly cleaning out the would-be nursery. Athough, I’m currently thinking I need to weatherize our old 1920s windows that my husband won’t let me replace. 🙁

  176. Filtrete feels good!

    We are doing a major Spring cleaning, but right after taking Christmas down. Cleaning behind and under furniture, cleaning doorjambs, doors, windows, etc. It may not be shiny lights, but I aim to get this place sparkling clean!

  177. Filtrete feels Good! Our house is just over one year old so we don’t have much in the repair department other than the general maintenance issues. We are, of course, swapping out filters every two months and we are getting ready to have the builder come back and do some recaulking and other maintenance issues that are covered under our new home warranty. It’s been pretty cool to have someone else responsible for the little things that pop up over our first year! Our last house was pretty old and staying on top of the things that needed to be done to it was a constant headache.

  178. Filtrete feels good! We found a cleaning service and started a schedule for them to come every other week…that counts right? I feel so spoiled coming home to a clean house and it’s great motivation to put the clutter away.

  179. “Filtrete feels Good!”

    Ugh, this month we are doing backyard maintenance. It has gotten so overgrown over the last couple years, so there’s a lot of cutting and digging in our future…

  181. “Filtrete feels Good!” I plan on organizing the house as much as possible before the new baby arrives next month.

  184. Filtrete feels good! Updating my “sick kit” with new medicines and chucking out the old years-old ones.

  186. Filtrete feels good! We are probably replacing new pillows in the house and doing some deep cleaning. Our kitty has allergies and asthma, so it is imperative that we keep everything as allergen free as possible.

  189. Filtrete feels good…We’re decluttering & prepping for a major living room renovation : )

  192. Filtrete feels good!

    I’m tackling the toys. Paring down to encourage creativity and contentment with what we have!

  193. Filtrete feels good! Cleaning out that spare bedroom that’s been ignored for years now.

  194. Filtrete feels good! We need to have our heater checked out, it’s been acting funny lately. And thanks for the reminder to rotate our mattress!

  195. Filtrete feels good! I always like to start the year with a deep clean on my house…including cleaning out closets!

  197. Filtrete feels Good….. First project to tackle is new air filters. Thanks for the great list and reminders…..

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