It can be really nice to renovate our homes. Whether we freshen them up with a lick of paint, have a change of furniture or change everything, it can make a big difference. It can change the mood of the home, make it more interesting, trendier or a nicer place to live. The problem is though, that it all costs money. Whether you do a huge extension, loft conversion, replacement kitchen or just pain it through, you will always have to pay for it and this could be a problem. There are ways that you can renovate though and not pay out so much money. It is worth noting these and thinking about whether any of the ideas would be suitable for you so that you could save some money.
Save up do not borrow
Often when we have a large job done, we will look to borrow the money for it. Although this will allow us to be able to get the job done more quickly or perhaps have a more expensive job done it will make the job cost more. You will have to pay the interest and any other costs associated with the loan on top of the cost of the job and it will therefore make it more expensive. It is often easy to forget about the additional cost of this and it can be worth working out how much it will be so that you can see how much you will save if you do not borrow. It will take a while to save up the money and you will need to decide whether you are prepared to wait and save up and save that money or whether you want to just get on with the work.
Use second hand items
One way that you might be able to save some money is to buy second hand items. Whether you are replacing a kitchen or a sofa, there will be second hand items available and they could save you a significant amount of money. Do make sure that you check out what you are buying very carefully and make sure that it is good quality and that you really like it. If you do not know that much about the items then you might be wise to ask your builder to take a look and see what they think of the things first as they will know whether they think that they will be fit for purpose. If you do not like the idea of second hand or cannot find second hand items, then your builder might be able to direct you as to where to find cheap items.
Get lots of quotes and compare prices
It is well worth doing a lot of work with regards to prices. You may not want to buy the very cheapest things as they may not provide good value for money. It can be suspicious if you find a builder that charges significantly less than others, you may wonder whether they will add on extra charges at a later date or do shoddy work. However, it may not be necessary to pay for the most expensive either as you may find that you can get the same quality from a cheaper company. Therefore, it is wise to look at lots of places and get lots of quality so that you have a good idea of what is available. You may even want to ask around to find out whether your friends and family can make any recommendations with regards to value for money.
Do the work yourself
One way to save money is to do the work yourself. If you are decorating then this can be fairly easy for most people. If you are having a new bathroom then this will be much more of a challenge. There will be jobs that you will want a qualified person to do and some that have to be done by someone qualified, such as electrics. However, there might still be some things that you could do. If you ask the builders to quote you for decorating, for example, you will find that you can then decide whether you think it will be more worthwhile you doing the work for yourself. You might even be able to save money by doing things like trips to the tip, to save money on a skip or to save paying the builders to do it when they will be charged and will pass that charge on to you.
It is good to have a thorough think about all of your options as you could cut costs in all sorts of ways which will not necessarily mean that you have a job that is lower quality. In fact, you may find that they job is better even though you paid less.