Whether you are renovating, remodelling, or rewiring your home – it all costs money.
But, it’s something everyone should be thinking about, as often, it can add a serious amount of value to your home. See it as an investment, and it makes complete sense.
But, it will cost you significant sums to hire the skills you need for your project.
Thankfully, there are several ways of cutting a considerable amount of those costs. So, if you don’t want to end up going over budget by thousands, like so many others, read on.
Who knows, if you can get all these tips to work for you, you could end up saving thousands! Let’s get started right away.
DIY Where Possible
If there are any jobs, you can do yourself, and then do them. However, DIY isn’t always the best way to go about things. If it takes you away from earning money, for example, then although you are saving on the house, you be losing much more in wages.
So, keep your DIY to a minimum as much as possible, and stick to the easy tasks. If you can do it in five minutes, then it will save you half an hour of the labour costs for a professional.
Offset Your Spend With Future Savings
We have already mentioned that you should see home improvement as an investment. But, it’s not just a chance to make more money when you sell the house.
You can also use your renovations as a way to save yourself money in the nearer, future, too. For example, if you are having necessary roof work done, why not install some solar panels up there, too?
Or, if you are fed up with your lighting, why not get some LED spotlights put instead? Both of these upgrades will see you make significant savings on your energy bill, and they will pay for themselves over the course of five years.
Don’t Spend If You Don’t Have To
A lot of people spend big where they don’t have to when it comes to improving their homes. All your renovations and improvements should be for a reason.
The best improvements make your home more efficient, not bigger or more glamorous just for the sake of it. For example, let’s say you want bigger kitchen cabinets, so, you go out and buy the first set that attracts your eye.
But, once you get them home, you find out they don’t make the best use of your space – and you have wasted your money. Think carefully about using your space in as efficient way as possible.
You might find you end up spending a lot less than you thought.
Become A Labourer
You can expect to pay anything from £200 per day upwards for a worker today. So, if a job is going to take a couple of weeks or so, you can see that it’s going to add to your final bill in some style.
The thing is, labouring is pretty much unskilled, so if you’re fit and healthy, why not do it yourself? You can do any demolition work at the beginning, and clear up all the mess yourself at the end.
It all goes towards plenty of savings, so if you have the time, it’s worth doing.
Make Donations
There are plenty of charitable donations out there who will gladly take your original homeware. And, some of them will even come to your home and remove it for you.
So, if you are getting a new kitchen, you have to bear in mind that you will be charged for its removal. Firstly, by your contractors, who themselves will be charged at your local refuse depot. You will have to meet those costs.
Anything you can do, then, to have your waste and spare parts taken away by someone will save you a considerable amount.
Always Spend On Treatments
It’s tempting to see cost cutting exercises as something you need to do now. But, as we mentioned before, it’s about the future, too.
Let’s say that you have a new fence put in, and decide to miss out on the weather treatment that the erectors offer. It might save you a few quid right now, but what about in the long-term?
Your new fence might not even last five years without it, and you’ll only end up spending even more on repairs and replacements.
Scrounge
OK, so when you remodel your home, you would like everything to be brand new. However, one of the best ways to save money on your renovations is to ask around and scrounge off other people.
You could ask family, friends, or neighbours if they are getting rid of anything – you never know where you could get your hands on a new kitchen.
Another great idea is to ask your contractor. They always have materials left unused from previous jobs, and will be happy to give you a better deal.
Avoid Delivery Charges
Whenever you are undergoing a renovation, there will be a lot of materials used. It’s standard practice for you or your contractors to place an order, and they will arrive via delivery van straight to your house.
But – if you want to save anything from £50-100 per delivery, then just pick everything up yourself. Even if you have to hire a trailer, it will still work out cheaper than having all those materials delivered for a large scale project.
Hire The Right Crews
Finally, one of the most important things you can do to protect your finances when renovating is to hire the right people. Good professionals don’t come cheap, but cheap professionals always end up expensive.
Poor quality work means more repairs, longer completion times, and lots of trouble down the line. Make sure you research your contractors well.
Go and see their work, and contact their previous customers. It’s normally quite easy to root out the cowboys in this way – but you have to make an effort.
OK, so that’s all from us for now. Hopefully, you will have some great ideas in place to save money on your next home renovation. Enjoy!