Good morning! And happy Saturday! It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the states. And while it’s prime time for BBQs and pool parties with family and friends, it’s also a long weekend and the perfect time to tackle some home improvement projects too!
On Wednesday, I shared my newly updated house project list (HERE). I’m all ready to go! But with the list in hand, and smack dab in the middle of a self-imposed spending freeze, I find myself struggling to figure out the logistics of not spending money while still getting my projects done… Granted, not all of the projects require an outlay of cash. But some do, and of course those are the ones I want to tackle first!
If you too find yourself with a big list of projects you want to do but are hesitant to spend too much money all at once and don’t have a super hot deadline, you can approach your project list in one of two ways.
First, you can save up little by little and then tackle the project(s) only once you have all your budgeted funds set aside. Then either withdrawal the cash (or use your debit card) and buy everything outright, or charge it all and use your project savings to pay off your credit card once it comes due. That seems obvious, right? An old school approach, but totally legit if you can wait that long or your project isn’t time sensitive or season specific. I’m currently putting a little bit of money away each month for some sort of a bathroom renovation I hope I can do in the not too distant future. Scope still TBD…
Alternately, you can approach your project in stages. This can be by doing the actual project a little bit at a time, or by purchasing everything you’ll need over an extended period, therefore spreading out the cost and making it easier on your pocketbook. So you can plot out when you’ll do each step, plan ahead for purchases by determining what supplies you need, when you’ll need to buy them based on your schedule, research how much they’ll cost so you can budget them in, etc. Again, this is best suited for projects that can be done down the road, that don’t have seasonal, holiday or life-event dictated deadlines. Unless said season, holiday or live-event IS down the road, then GO YOU! You’re way ahead of the game!
It does require some organization to think ahead and plan and plot, and takes commitment to do the research and budgeting so you’re financially ready to leap into your project list when it comes time to tackle it.
One of the benefits of having a blog is getting double duty out of my editorial calendar. An editorial calendar is used for scheduling blog content. But I also use it to plan my house projects because my house projects ultimately BECOME my blog content. So if I’m on top of my game, I can set my budget and spending plan for each project in advance. Then I have a better shot of keeping my self-imposed freeze and spending period budgets in tact.
I realize mine is probably a unique situation to find yourself in. However, I believe the idea behind planning ahead, spacing out purchases, and saving some cash for something down the road is universal. And it can take some of the stress and strain and scaries out of home improvement. I also realize that what I’m describing is an ideal situation. And believe me, I wish I was organized enough to always practice what I preach, but I’m not, lol.. Now that I have my new project list outlined and my blog schedule planned for the rest of the year, I’m hoping to make more thought out (and spread out) purchases to ease the pain and check off some of the projects on my list!
How do you tackle project purchases?
Many thanks and much love,
laf
Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash