If you’ve ever been into a car dealership or phone shop, you’ll know that when the sales person begins to add all of the extras to the final price, the number you pay is nothing like the number that was in the window. The thing is, we kind of expect this to happen. When it comes to our homes, however, the surprising final cost of revamping a living room or kitchen or bathroom, for example, tends to be more eye-watering than we had accounted for. From costs like extra paint, extra materials to cover damaged parts, and extra tools, the bill soon starts to mount.
If you’re serious about saving, you may wish to look into opening an ISA, where monthly payments are set up and paid directly from your account (see wealthify.com for more info). An ISA will ensure that payments into your savings are regular – we all know the feeling of wanting to save more, but most of us rarely make a manual transfer from our bank accounts into our savings. Let’s see how else to save money for a home revamp.
Decide your projects to set your budgets
You might not be able to afford to do everything at once. This is normal. The cost of decorating a bedroom or a playroom, for example, is probably going to be one of the cheaper projects compared to overhauling the main living spaces and the kitchen. Instead of approaching the revamp with the notion that everything can be paid for bit by bit and it will all somehow get done in the end, try to decide individual projects.
Once you outline the different things that you want to achieve from your home revamp, write down the estimated cost of each project. These costs may feel exact at the time of writing them down, but things do change during the course of working on your house, and you can likely expect the cost to rise slightly (unless you’re one of the lucky few who comes in under budget!).
Look at your incomings and outgoings
Now that you know the total cost of funding your various projects, it’s time to look at how much you can afford to save each month. This starts with looking at your income (which will typically consist of a singular monthly wage), and adding up all of your outgoings. What is left is how much you could save each month. At this stage, many people are shocked at how much money they waste each month. That’s where the final step comes in…
Be ruthless – cut your spending habits
The final step is to cut your spending habits wherever you see a chance to save money in a way that won’t impact you – look over your outgoings and cancel any payments to things like unused gym memberships, rarely used streaming services, or any other premium payments that you don’t need or want. Your home revamp will be worth the effort in the end!
