Rule 1: Schedule your maintenance. Most actual (as opposed to imaginary) maintenance is scheduled for a definite date, not “next month,” “when I get around to it,” or “as soon as I have a free Saturday.” Indefinite dates never actually arrive, and, as everyone knows, there is no such thing as a free Saturday. Some maintenance dates are determined by the season—for example, servicing the air conditioner before the warm season starts. But some dates are determined by your home and lifestyle. If the manufacturer tells everyone in the world to clean the freezer’s condenser coils every three months, test that advice for yourself. Go ahead and dust the coils and then check them in three months. If the coils are dirty again, clean them again. But if not, recheck monthly until they are really dirty. Now you have a maintenance interval that’s more meaningful than what the manufacturer said. Enter it into a maintenance journal (see Rule 13).

Rule 2: Treating your belongings with care will reduce maintenance. In many cases, patterns of daily use are more important than maintenance in determining how long something will last. Be gentle. You can break almost anything if you try—purposely or not. Little plastic pieces are sometimes the most important part of something and are easily broken off. I know you are always in a hurry, but habitually stuffing twenty-six pounds of laundry into an eighteen-pound-capacity washer instead of doing two smaller loads will take years off the life of the washer.

Rule 3: All things are not created equal as far as maintenance goes. By this I mean that things used heavily need more attention than things used lightly. If you maintain the entire carpet on the same schedule, traffic areas will be worn out before the balance of the carpet shows any wear at all. Also, over time, low-quality items often cost more to maintain, wear out more quickly, must be refinished, repaired, or cleaned more often, and must be replaced more quickly than quality items—which means they also end up costing more anyway. Don’t settle for high-maintenance, low-cost items if waiting will allow you to afford better quality.

Rule 4: Don’t buy any product without knowing exactly what care it needs, how often it needs it, what cleaning it needs, and what product(s) to use.

Rule 5: Cleaning is a major part of preventive maintenance and is often the cure for failures or problems. For example, the most common problem with CD players is skipping. The cause is almost invariably a dirty disc or laser lens. The cure is cleaning in either case.

Rule 6: Water is the enemy. Even seemingly small amounts of water are more dangerous than dirt to your house. A little drip behind the washer or a tiny leak in a shower will eventually ruin the drywall, then the studs, flooring, and joists. Ditto for water oozing in around windows, doors, and other openings to the outside. A leak is almost guaranteed to cost thousands of dollars of damage if ignored. Some of that water will eventually make its way to the frame underneath and start the inevitable process of deterioration. And water that soaks the soil underneath will attract termites and all sorts of other nefarious creatures.

Rule 7: Ditto for direct sunlight. Keep most things out of direct sunlight. Carpets, wood floors, and many fibers fade; leather dries out; fibers are weakened; plastic warps; paper yellows.

Rule 8: The more moving parts, the more imperative it is to keep the item clean. If a unit has moving parts, dirt is particularly dangerous. Moving parts also need lubrication unless factory sealed.

Rule 9: If you find yourself even thinking about it, it’s time to change filters. It is just about impossible to change filters too often. They usually aren’t expensive, so replace rather than clean.

Rule 10: Buy good floor mats. You’ve probably heard it before, but everything they say about “good” floor mats is true. They can prevent lots of dirt from making it to places where it can cause damage. Good floor mats are not the cute little ones made of hemp or rubber that say WELCOME. Good floor mats are the ones you see both outside and inside the doors of banks and other public buildings. They are big enough to take several steps on. They are made from nylon fiber or polypropylene fiber with heavy rubber backing, and they can be easily vacuumed to remove accumulated dirt. They belong both outside and inside all entrances to the home.

Rule 11: Take advantage of a move or repair. Anytime you disassemble something or move something heavy out of place, clean everything carefully before reassembling or moving it back into position. So when the refrigerator is pulled out to be repaired, clean the floor where the refrigerator was and vacuum the coils, the motor, and anything else that can’t ordinarily be reached.

Rule 12: When in doubt, seal it. If instructions say to apply a protective seal on a product, do so. Grout of all sorts will last longer, stay cleaner, and resist stains and water damage far better if you do. So will various types of tile and natural stone products. Like making a bed or painting a room, sealants must be renewed at regular intervals.

Rule 13: Keep notes or a journal of your maintenance activities. When you learn how often different maintenance chores need to be done in your home, write it down. Date each entry so you know for sure when it’s time to do it again. Include notes on anything that looks odd or suggests the possibility of a future problem. Identify major problems so that needed repairs can be scheduled in advance. You can use a simple three-ring binder or spiral-bound notebook and file it with your monthly bills so you have it in your hot little hands regularly to check for upcoming maintenance activities.