seriously how do you pay for it all??

all the work that needs to be done to your home??
like a new fence and a driveway and landscaping stoops railings etc
this is thousands and thousands worth of stuff
how do you afford it??

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

I know it is so hard, my mom just refinanced to do some work and my friend took out a line of credit

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We're prioritizing and doing what we need to/can at this point. Our landscaping is horrendous.

I know other people who had large home expenses that either refinanced or took out a line of credit on their home.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We do what we can each year, and less important stuff has to be put off for another year.

For example, we've wanted a new driveway and patio since we moved in 4 years ago. But we had other things that needed to be done first, like the roof, both bathrooms needed to be redone due to plumbing issues, etc. So it looks like we will finally get to the driveway and patio next year.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We definately prioritize what we want done. We were fortunate to buy a completely rennovated home, so the outside is all we needed to do. We waited a year & then did our driveway & walk. This year was the fence & backyard.

When it comes to landscaping, we did it all ourselves. Remember, you don't have to spend a fortune if you don't have it! Doing the work yourselves can save some $$

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

It is hard, but we determine what is priority and each season we do a different project, so we spread the costs around.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We do a lot of it ourselves. We needed the roof, windows and siding done, and we hired someone for that - but we had the $$ put aside already

Landscaping, lawn care, repairs (of all sort) my (very handy engineer DH) does himself.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

in the 4 1/2 years we have lived here we have
put all new windows and doors (interior and exteririor including a slider) and a big bow window in the front and new doorknobs and accessories
we have had all ne sheetrock throughout the entire house
all new siding
upgraded the electric
redone the bathroom
now we are having a driveway done FINALLY (there was NO driveway when we bought the house)
but there is so much more we need and we already refinanced

we need a fence
we need new stoops
I would like to finishe the basement at some point
but everything is so expensive even when you do it yourself the supplies are so much

It is so frustrating

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

One thing at a time!

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We bought an estate sale and we were very lucky to have family and friends help us do the work on the inside of the house.

My father in law basically did the full interior renovation himself. My brother in law, Lance put cement board up in the bathroom and did the tiling.

My brother in law Tom, was there to help out with the kitchen floor, odds and ends with the carpet, and the day we knocked down the outside wall to put the sliding glass doors in for the back of the house.

Even my new neighbor, Jerry helped out that day.

My friends were there to help rip up the carpeting, and 3 layers of tile, And also to paint. We saved a lot of money doing the work ourselves and having to pay for only supplies.

For the outside of the house, Danielle and I did all of the landscaping ourselves, except for ripping out a few bushes, removing Ivy and taking down the 9 trees in the back yard that were contaminated with catepillers. We hired outside help for that.

Everything else we did when we had the money saved. We tried not to use our credit cards, because we didnt want to get buried with bills.

Don't do what you cannot afford. When you have the money saved, then take on the projects that you want done.

Scott

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We prioritize what needs to be done and save, save, save until we can afford to do it!

We do some things ourselves but the major projects we hire someone to do it. For example, we're redoing our kitchen and finishing a room that is a breezeway so we had to knock down a wall, move plumbing, add heat, add an entrance etc so we hired someone. If we were just ripping out and replacing exactly as it is now my DH and dad would've done it.

As for landscaping, we feel that's something that is easy to do so we never hire someone for any outside work. Same thing with interior and exterior painting.

As for things that pop up unexpectedly, we have an "emergency fund" that we never touch unless it's obviously an emergency. So far, we've never needed to touch it (knock on wood) and we've been in the house for almost two and a half years.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We just do what we can and try our hardest to take it one project at a time.

Its tough becuase we have an old house that needs some major renovating, even though we have done some major stuff already. Its fun though. My DH does the work himself with the help of friends, uncles, etc. Thank Goodness.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We tackle the necessary projects first and we budget, budget, budget! DH (along with help from my dad) does most of the work. Hiring someone for labor is usually the most expensive part.

Our home will always be a work in progress.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

Posted by Chatham-Chick


Our home will always be a work in progress.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We don't... when we bought the house we had money saved that was for fixing up things inside that had to be done.. we did all that work ourselves and saved tens of thousands of dollars. I would love to build a deck, redo the driveway, walkway, landscaping, etc. but those big projects will have to wait until we have money for it. I will do some landscaping this fall - we have a jungle growing in the backyard and a sandpit from where the pool was, and aill trim back some overgrown trees and bushes, but nothing else until we have the funds.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

it is tough! we do a lot of it ourselves, but its still expensive!!
basically like everybody else said, you have to prioritize. what NEEDS to get done, and what do you want to do just becasue it looks bad? like for us, our one bathroom and kitchen are so ugly and i'm dying to get in there and redo them! BUT, since they're still usable, we're gonna do some other projects first.
its definitely always a work in progress here!

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We do one thing at a time!

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

Budget, budget, budget. We take on 1 project at a time (mostly b/c we do most of the work ourselves)...we also don't finance anything (we'll pay with a credit card to get points but we only buy if we have the cash in our account to pay for it at the end of the month).

Prioritize - things that MUST get done, get done...other things can be done as needed.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

DO IT YOURSELF!

you save so much $$ taht way.

we also do one thing at atime

Message edited 9/11/2007 11:49:07 AM.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

I need to win the lottery!!!!!

Too much to do and so little money to do it with. I know... I know....
Rome wasn't built in a day!

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We don't do it all at once.

We schedule home improvements every year and stick to what is scheduled and not more. I would love to do it all at once but that's not "smart" for us and we need to be patient.

This year we did the fence. Next year, we will do the siding and windows (and maybe the roof)

The following year, landscaping.

We just prioritize and only do things that have a resale value.

We use our tax refund to help with home improvement. We don't go out all the time. We have an approx. $$ budget amount for take out every week. We use coupons for the groceries. Buy the sales. I buy DS clothes when I hit the sales (unbelievable what you can get!!!), etc..

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

little by little

We have a huge list of projects and we put them in order of priority. Each year we are hoping to cross a few off.

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

We do a little bit at a time.....we bought our house brand-new, but there are several upgrades we want to make. I wish we could do them all now (because I am so impatient! ), but we take the next most important thing and save for that.

Our next thing is rain gutters. The house didn't come with any!

Re: seriously how do you pay for it all??

we try and do one big project a year....and save for it.

we also do as much ourselves as possible. I wanted to redo our bathroom...we did 90% of the work ourselves...we hired a plumber and an electrician to do those jobs but the rest we did ourselves!