Ways To Save Money When Upgrading Your Home
Whether you prepare dinner on a worn countertop, read by the light of an outdated light fixture, or play with the kids on a matted carpet, you probably wish you knew some ways to save money when upgrading your home. Try these cost-effective tips to enhance the style and beauty of your home.
Create a List and Set a Budget
Start with an upgrade wish list. Knowing the projects you want to tackle makes the budget-setting process easier. Try listing each project by the room, the time estimated to complete it, and your budget for each upgrade.
Next, research each project to gain an approximate cost of the upgrade. Find at least three professionals to contact and keep track of their estimates. To know which professionals to consider or steer clear of, consider asking family and friends for recommendations.
Try Some DIY
You might want to try it yourself with one of the many step-by-step how-to videos online to guide you. Painting, hanging blinds, or laying laminate flooring offers opportunities to save money after researching, seeking expert advice, and then giving it a try.
Doing the work yourself results in confidence and satisfaction from saving the cost of hiring someone else. Please note that a professional must complete upgrades that involve a permit or are dangerous.
Give Yourself a Tax Break
If you choose to sell your home, improvements made to a home office used as your primary workplace might create tax savings. Several energy-efficient upgrades save money after completion when you claim them as a credit on federal taxes or by reducing your monthly utility bills. Check with a professional tax preparer to see what you might claim. Be sure to keep track of your spending and the receipts for your purchases.
Do a Little Over Time
When you know the items needed for your upgrades, any shopping trip turns into potential savings. You never know when you might discover a sale on a gallon of paint, a light fixture, or outside pavers to use for your project. Whether you hire a contractor for the upgrade or choose to DIY, periodically purchasing your project items on sale keeps more money in your pocket.
Shop Secondhand
Yard sales, flea markets, and secondhand stores like Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore often offer fantastic upgrade items for less than the cost of retail. You might find brand-new items that someone purchased for a project but had leftover extras. You can feel good about saving money and helping the environment by giving a new home to someone else’s remnants.
When you use any of these five ways to save money when upgrading your home, you might end up planning a family vacation with your extra savings. After your travels, feel good coming home to your new countertops, gorgeous light fixtures, or new flooring.
