This post has been written in collaboration with People’s Choice Credit Union.
Preparing for a renovation can be a really exciting time! You’ve been dreaming for ages about how different your life will be once the renovation is complete. You’ve made your selections, planned for the new furniture, window coverings and light fittings. You’ve chosen your builder and have just received your quote, but it has come in a little more expensive than you had budgeted for. Feeling disappointed, you resign yourself to spending the next 12 months saving, but by then the cost of materials and labour will have gone up. Suddenly you’re feeling as though you are stuck on a merry-go-round, but wait, you do have other options. Let’s explore.
Top Up Your Savings
One of the quickest and easiest solutions is to top up your savings with a personal loan from a bank or credit union like People’s Choice Credit Union . This option can help you to get to where you’d like to be without the added stress of having to save for a longer period of time.
Negotiate With Your Builder
Builders are a friendly mob and most are happy to negotiate the price a little. If you need the price to drop substantially, why not consider what you could do yourself to help save money. Jobs like painting and tiling are not too hard to learn and will save you quite a bit in the end. Offering to do some of the work yourself is a great way to save money.
Reconsider Your Workload
This works in the case of a larger renovation. Leaving a section out for the time being will reduce your cost considerably. Maybe the new back deck can wait for a year or two, perhaps the bathroom doesn’t need to be renovated just yet. Have a chat with your builder and see what options there are for you.
Receiving a quote that is more expensive than anticipated need not spell the end of your renovation, with a little clever thinking, you can have your cake and eat it too!
Are you a good saver? Are you planning a renovation? Would you like a new back deck?
We haven’t renovated, but when we built our house many years ago, if it’d been too expensive we would have eliminated the extra bedroom and our walk in robe (both at the end of the house design). Great tips!
They are great suggestions Janet, often the builder can work with you to find ways to make the job less expensive.