How to Budget for A Home Renovation
If you can work out the proper order to do things that makes sense, your budget will be much more accurate because it will take into account the fact that you can’t put new kitchen counters in before you put the cupboards in, for example.
Make a Plan
Once you have your priorities listed out, it’s time to make a plan. However, this is not just the same list made neater – this plan should include all the costs associated with each aspect of the renovation. This way, you can add things up as you go along and see how much the entWe are always excited to talk about home renovations and the great results that can come from them, but it is important to note that no matter what you do or what your plans might be, you are going to need to spend some money in getting to your end result.
For most of us, we can’t honestly say that money is no object, so it is crucial that a budget is made for any kind of home renovation. That way, you’ll know that you can afford to get it done (and if not, you can either wait and save up some more or look into getting a loan to top up your funds) and what level you can afford to pay for. Making a budget is the first thing you need to do before any other work is done, and here is how.
Prioritize
The best way to get started on your home renovation budget is to determine what needs to be done now and what can wait. Organizing your jobs into priority order will help you plan out the work in stages and make it easier to budget for. If you need a new concrete basement floor before you can start doing any other kind of work in the basement, then this will need to be at the top of your list of priorities, for example.
You can also break the project up into smaller tasks and have running totals for them as well.
Of course, there is no point in having a list of jobs and how much they are going to cost unless you know what money you have to spend, so you should also have a total amount you know you can afford to spend. If the costs of the renovation come in under that, that’s great news. If they are more than you can afford then you will need to review the tasks you have set out and determine what you can do without, or how to get it done cheaper.
Get Accurate Costs
When you are writing out the cost of each task as mentioned above, in some cases – perhaps most cases – the figures will be estimates. When you have your list in place and you know how much you have to spend, you will need to get more accurate pricing in place.
Now is the time to contact contractors and get some quotes from them. Again, it may be that the figures they offer change as the job goes on, but at least you will have a better idea at that start. Speak to more than one expert to get a good average price (and find the best).
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