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Planning Out Your Budget
By admin | December 6, 2009
Planning out a home improvement budget is no different than planning out a household budget. To plan a home improvement budget one has to have a good idea of what the expenses will be and how to manage them. Then, one has to compare the expenses to the amount of money available to do the job. The costs should be broken down into materials and labor to do the job. An overhead of about 20% should be added for unforeseeable expenses.
Cost Of Materials
Some people think the cost of materials is what breaks the budget. It’s actually the cost of labor and poor planning that are the biggest factors in budget overruns. Materials can be easily budgeted. Unless you’ve picked a material that has to be custom made in batches, odds are you will be able to go back to the home improvement store and order more if you are short without breaking the budget.
You should develop a spreadsheet with all the materials you will need to complete your home improvement project. You should have already collected accurate measurements for counters or floors, so you can estimate what the total cost is for materials. Include additional materials for any solvents, glues, fasteners, or tools that you need to buy or rent to complete your project.
Cost of Labor
The only way to deal with the cost of labor is to get three estimates from contractors with good references. This will give you an indication of the cost of the labor and also should pinpoint some material costs. If you plan on doing the project yourself, you can save on labor immensely. If you don’t have the experience, but would like to offset labor costs, you might be able to work out a deal where you provide part of the less skilled labor. Some contractors won’t do this at all, so don’t be surprised if you get turned down.
Labor costs for do-it-yourselfers is only cheap if you are confident that you can do the project and meet all safety and quality building codes. Also, you don’t want to start a project and then be required to call a contractor to finish it as an emergency project. Odds are, the contractor will charge for removal of your work and starting over. If you think that you cannot do a quality job or haven’t sufficient experience, check out your local home improvement stores to see if they have classes on the project you are trying to do yourself. This will give you an idea of whether it is worth it to hire a contractor or to attempt the job yourself.
Overhead
No matter how well you budget for the job, be aware that most people put aside about 15 to 20% in excess of the total budget for cost overruns. It may seem as if your project is on schedule and on budget, but a few minor changes can add money here and there. Prepare for that potential by keeping a little extra money in the budget and you won’t feel strapped should the emergency arrive.
Hunter Pyle
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/planning-out-your-budget-117930.html
Topics: building on a budget | 19 Comments »
December 6th, 2009 at 2:53 am
How do feel about having to stick to a budget when planning your wedding?
December 6th, 2009 at 7:55 am
good, I am pretty thrifty and creative so I am excited to see how great a wedding I can have and still keep the cost down
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December 6th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I agree with Fire’s Shadow, but it still sucks. I am on a budget and have been sticking to it, even tying to come in under and doing well. A LOT of my stuff is DIY, and I like that since no one else will have exactly what I have.
BUT, I see all these shows on TV, and although don’t need a million dollars, it would be nice to have no budget and be able to give in to every little whimsy and spoil my guests.
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December 6th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Great! I am naturally frugal from generations of frugal genes. I also don’t like having too many options, it overwhelms me. So with a budget at least I can eliminate ones I can’t afford and work from there. Plus I like getting better deals, again, the frugalness.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:01 am
It’s good to have a realistic budget and stick too it. If you try to lowball everything you do, it will show. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for a good deal here and there or that you should just max out your credit, but try to good a good value for your money, which usually means you don’t spend the most on things but you don’t take the bottom of the barrel either.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:03 am
It was kind of hard, because I kept seeing things that I thought would be neat to add, but couldn’t get. For the most part, it was ok, because I’m pretty thrifty.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:05 am
I think sticking to a budget is great if you keep looking around you will find things you need for your wedding within your budget. I’m working on a budget for my wedding and my concern was the reception hall and I found a banquet hall at a fire house for less than 500.00 and its beautiful inside. so sticking to a budget is great.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:07 am
For me I am a budget shopper all the way. It feels good to stick to a budget and still have a beautiful wedding. Then when the wedding is over you feel good that you did not break the bank for the one day that has already passed.
For my own wedding I had a budget and only went over by a couple of thousand so that is not bad.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I actually have a big budget (my parents are paying) and I’ve realized that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes I wish my fiance and I were paying ourselves so that it would be a much smaller affair (and less input from the parents). My budget has just created endless options for me, which I find kind of difficult to sort through. Not to mention the guest list has gotten pretty high! I feel like people’s expectations are super high as well. It’s a lot of pressure, and I’ve realized that the big budget wedding isn’t really me at all. It’s gotten out of control! If I had it to do all over again, I would stick to a small budget and try the DIY approach to a lot of the things. I think it’s much more fun that way!
I’m a pretty frugal person, so I have a hard time with my parents spending this much on my wedding!
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:11 am
It can be difficult, but people do it every day.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Sticking to a budget is a great idea.
There is so much wedding stuff out there. If your budget was endless, you could still never get enough stuff. Some celebrities spend a million.
And there’s no sense is spending money like that. Especially if it means starting your marriage in debt.
You can make a wedding great on any budget. It just takes work!
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Its normal for me, although I do wish I had a larger budget so I didn’t have to cut some things out (like limos) – - but those aren’t essential to the actual wedding or the comfort of the guests, which were bigger priorities, so they just got cut from the list.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:17 am
like forgetting everything and eloping
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I think it would be great to have an unlimited amount of money allowing you to invite every single person you want, plus have all the elaborate decorations and favors and limos and whatnot… however, I wouldn’t have the patience to plan all that anyway… I’d probably hire a planner with that unlimited budget! But I don’t mind sticking to a budget in reality because that way I know I won’t be going into debt and spending the next 20 years paying it off!
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Sticking to your budget when planning your wedding is very important. You do not want to get out of hand. But you need to prioritize what wedding decorations and wedding essentials are important to you. If I were you I would allocate money for QUALITY things, but just fewer of them. Don’t try to have every single thing in your wedding by making things look cheap. Check out the following website for good quality ideas on decorations if you’d like:
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http://www.weddingenrichments.com
December 6th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Budgets are a fact of life for the overwhelming majority these days. I considered it a challenge to plan a wedding that I was happy with and stick to a budget
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Feel really good for the LONG TERM in your marriage. The wedding sets precedent for spending, saving and budgeting in your marriage so this is very positive. I kept to a budget and we never would have made a downpayment on a home if we hadn’t. In the long term in keeping a marriage together stable finances and a home are both super positive.
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Its a one day event going into debt forever over it is a bad idea
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December 6th, 2009 at 8:29 am
One of my friends is getting married this fall, and she and I were just talking about budgeting. She actually got a free wedding planner book and an online planner when she did a registry at JC Penney. This girl isn’t a natural budgeter, but she said that it helps to have a single place to put everything like this.
No matter how much money you (or perhaps you family) is willing to spend, you’ve got to set limits and expectations. That way, you can enjoy your wedding without drowning in guilt (or worse, debt) afterwards.
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all the details on how to get the free wedding planning book/tools: http://jcp.com/registry