Free Tools
These free tools help you plan for the big home costs before they turn into surprise bills. Each one shows its math and its sources, works on your phone, and keeps anything you enter on your own device. Nothing is sent to Frugal Beans or anyone else.
Repair or Replace Calculator
Got a quote for your furnace, air conditioner, water heater or an appliance? Enter the age, the repair price and the cost of a new unit. The calculator runs three common rules of thumb, shows its math, and gives a plain-English verdict with questions to ask the technician.
Home System Lifespan Tracker
Enter the year each system was installed. The tracker lines them up on a timeline, flags anything in or past its typical replacement window, warns when two big replacements may land close together, and suggests a monthly amount to set aside.
Home Repair Fund Calculator
Turn the replacements you can see coming into one monthly savings number. Use your own quotes and what you have already saved, check whether your budget covers everything on time, and compare your plan with the 1% to 4% upkeep rule.
Furnace Replacement Cost Estimator
Pick your fuel type, home size, efficiency and the extras your job may need. See a national ballpark with a line-by-line breakdown, what drives your number, and the questions to ask every contractor before you sign.
Water Heater Replacement Cost Estimator
Pick what you have and what you want: gas, electric or propane tank, tankless or heat pump. See a national ballpark with the extras that change a quote, plus the questions to ask every plumber.
AC Repair Cost by Symptom
Pick what your central air is doing, from warm air to ice or water leaks. See the free checks to try first, the parts that usually cause it, what each costs, and whether a big repair makes sense for a system your age.
Contractor Quote Comparison
Enter up to three written quotes and tick what each one includes. See them side by side with missing items and warning signs flagged, plus the questions to send each contractor before you sign.
Home Warranty Value Checker
Add up what a home warranty really costs in a year, with add-ons and service fees. See how much of a replacement the coverage cap would pay, and compare it with saving the same money yourself.
Home Warranty Contract Decoder
Open the sample contract and walk through it clause by clause: what is covered, the caps, exclusions, waiting period and cancellation terms. Get a one-page summary with the gaps flagged and the questions to ask before you sign.
Home Maintenance Calendar
Pick what is in your home and your climate. Get a 12-month maintenance checklist with monthly habits, seasonal jobs and the every-few-years tasks, then tick it off, print it or add it to your phone’s calendar.
Water Heater Age Finder
Find out how old your water heater is from the label. Decode a Bradford White serial number on the spot or use the official Rheem and A. O. Smith lookups, then see how its age compares with a typical lifespan.
Home Sale Calculator
Selling? See the check you will actually walk away with after agent pay, closing costs, credits, repairs and your loan payoff, plus a quick capital gains check.
How the Free Tools Work Together
Start with the lifespan tracker to see which systems are likely to need replacing first. The home maintenance calendar keeps them running as long as they can. Take those years into the repair fund calculator to work out how much to save each month; it can import your tracker entries in one click. When a technician hands you a repair quote, run it through the repair or replace calculator before you pay. Pricing a new furnace? The furnace replacement cost estimator shows what a fair quote should include, and the water heater replacement cost estimator does the same for tank and tankless water heaters. Not sure how old yours is? The water heater age finder reads it from the label. If the air conditioner is acting up, start with AC repair cost by symptom. When the written quotes arrive, line them up with the contractor quote comparison tool. Thinking about a home warranty instead of, or alongside, a repair fund? The home warranty value checker shows what a contract would really cost and pay, and the contract decoder helps you read what it actually covers. And when it is time to move, the home sale calculator shows what you will walk away with.
For typical costs, warning signs and a printable replacement ledger in one place, get the free Homeowner Repair Cost Playbook. More tools are on the way.
These tools provide general information based on published national ranges, not professional, financial or contracting advice. Always get local written quotes before a large decision.
Get the free Homeowner Repair Cost Playbook
Which systems fail first, what they cost, the warning signs, and the repair-or-replace rule. 15 printable pages.
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Free tools
Got a quote? Check it in under a minute.
Ballpark a new furnace before the contractor visits.
Price a tank, tankless or heat pump model.
Warm air, ice or noise? See the likely part and price.