I am not the kind of person who likes to keep things properly maintained all of the time.
I have always had the philosophy of letting things go for a while, and then fixing it whenever it is really bad or replacing it.
For instance, rather than picking up after myself every day, I let my room slowly get messy over a month, and then deep clean it all at once in one day. This is how I used to treat my furnace or my air conditioner. I used to leave it alone without thinking about it for a long time, and when it broke, I would call the HVAC worker to either repair it or bring me a new one. I wasn’t picky. But that route is expensive looking back on it. Just like picking up after myself, in the end, takes less time that deep cleaning it, taking care of your HVAC equipment regularly costs a lot less. It also means that you don’t have malfunctioning HVAC equipment during the times that you really need it. I called my local HVAC company and asked what they could do for me since I don’t really know how to maintain my HVAC equipment. They told me that they offer either an annual, quarterly, or monthly HVAC inspection. They schedule a time that fits for you, come to your house, and check your HVAC equipment. They don’t just go over the main furnace and air conditioner, but they also check the ducts, vents, registers, air filters, etc. They always change out the air filters on time, and everything is so much cleaner after they leave. As they are finishing up, they provide you with a detailed list about what could be replaced, should be replaced, or has to be replaced on your HVAC equipment. I have found that it has saved me more money to do this than to let my stuff fall to pieces. Now to apply that to the rest of my life.