How to budget for home improvements
As you know, I love family adventures and any spare cash that we have always goes on spending time together as a family, which is why my never ending list of home improvements always seems to take a back seat. The shower needs a new door, a kitchen cupboard has a note stuck on it saying “do not open,” for fear of the front falling off, and the floor tiles are growing things in the cracks. It annoys me, but home improvements are just so expensive!
That doesn’t mean that our home is an unpleasant environment – it’s anything but! There are just lots of things I would like to do that, unfortunately, seem to cost a lot of money. So this year, I’ve promised myself that we will complete all of the home improvements that we have been meaning to do for what seems like a lifetime.
With a conservatory at the top of our list (I have always wanted to create a cool playroom for the kids), I’ve decided that, as a family, we need to cut back on our spending. Although it’s going to be incredibly difficult to cut back on luxuries, in the end my kids are going to have a shiny new playroom and hopefully we would have also added significant value to our home – always a bonus!
However, saving is easier said than done when you have a young family, so in a bid to ensure that we are in the best financial situation before taking on any home improvement project, I decided to research what we can do – here’s what I discovered…
Have a clear understanding of how much you need
Before beginning any home improvement project, it’s important that you have a clear idea of how much you will need to accommodate the work. Oh, and don’t forget to account for additional costs to cover anything that may go wrong!
Budget
Once you know exactly how much you will need to complete the project, you can then work out exactly how much you can afford to save towards it each month. A good way to do this is to sit down and work out your monthly income, outgoings – this way you will be able to see how much you can afford to save each month (click here for more details).
You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to make cut-backs too when it comes to your outgoings. Could you use your car less? Could you swap your regular supermarket for a cheaper alternative? Even swapping your weekly takeaway for cooking together as a family can have a huge impact on your finances. The key is to prioritise and compromise and you’ll soon make significant savings.
Do you need to borrow?
If saving is not an option, and you need the work done imminently, it might be worth considering funding your project through finance such as credit cards and loans. And, providing that you have a clear idea of how you plan to pay your finances back, you shouldn’t incur any large interest rates.
If this is an option you wish to explore further, it’s certainly worthwhile checking your credit score to determine whether or not you are eligible for finance.
Disclosure: This post contains a sponsored link.
*Home improvements image courtesy of Shutterstock.