The following guest post is written by Kelly from View Along the Way.
When my husband and I bought our previously-foreclosed house, the entire guest bedroom floor was covered in what I can only assume was feces. Soaked through the carpet, through the carpet mat, and into the floorboards.
We had a lot of work cut out for us!
It’s now three years later, we’ve almost completely gutted the place, pouring our own sweat and tears into every project, and we’ve learned many lessons about saving money along the way:
1. Don’t be afraid to DIY.
My husband and I are DIY-ers to the core. We believe you can learn how to do just about anything with the help of Google and a healthy spirit of adventure.
Our kitchen backsplash: our first attempt at tiling a vertical wall.
We’ve learned the pros don’t have any magical powers. They have better tools, but you can rent those. They have more knowledge, but you can find that online. And they have more experience, but you’ll get that quickly. There’s probably a certain level of ignorance-is-bliss necessary to get you started, but you can do it.
We hired professionals for exactly two jobs: installing carpet and installing our quartz countertops. For both jobs, we paid gobs of money and were completely dissatisfied with both jobs.
I learned through hiring those professionals that the people who will care the most about the final result are my husband and me. No one else has to live with the final result.
2. Coupon!
If you read Money Saving Mom®, you’re probably not new to this idea, but did you know there are coupons for home improvement stores too?
Lowe’s and Home Depot accept competitor coupons, and you can buy 10% and 20% off coupons for either store on eBay. We always use coupons on our home projects.
3. Shop with Gift Cards
If you know you have a big purchase ahead – for example, a large appliance – find the best deal, then buy a gift card for that retailer before you make the purchase. Home Depot and Lowe’s gift cards on eBay regularly sell for about 80 – 90 percent of the value, so you can save lots of cash by putting a little time and forethought into your purchases.
4. Work With Your Budget
I almost died when I saw a beautiful upholstered bed at a designer home store for over $2000. I loved it, but there was just no way we were forking over a couple grand for a bed, even if it would completely make the room.
So my husband and I got to thinking, strategizing, wondering: could we make something like that ourselves?
After several weeks of research and trial-and-error, we ended up with this – our first real upholstery attempt:
It’s our own version of the pricey designer bed, which we built out of wood and upholstered with fabric we bought on sale and with coupons for only $278. Yes, 90 percent off!
You can see the whole upholstered bed shebang here.
5. Have some vision.
Shop for furniture at yard sales and thrift shops, then spruce it up to make it your own. There are some incredible furniture pieces with beautiful lines at yard sales for next to nothing, just waiting to for a little lovin’. A quick sand and paint job can turn them around completely and give them character and class.
6. Avoid expensive matchy furniture sets.
You don’t need matching furniture to have a beautiful home. Take a look at the most beautifully designed rooms online and in magazines: they almost always have a collected feel. You’ll rarely see identical end tables or matching sofas and loveseats. The more collected your house feels, the more personality it has.
Unmatched furniture creates a collected, cozy feel. Via BHG
7. Go slowly, and pay with cash.
I might be preaching to the choir once again! Yes, using cash takes a bit longer but allows you to enjoy the fruits of your labor without worrying about how you’ll ever pay the bill later. It saves strain on your marriage, and gives you plenty of time to make the right decisions as you go.
We still have lots of learning to do, but following these tips have saved us tens of thousands of dollars on our home remodel so far.
Do you have any money-saving home improvement tips to share?
Kelly’s blog, View Along the Way, chronicles her attempts to fix up a beaten-down home on a teensy little budget. Be sure to check out the before and after photos of their house on her blog.
Check to see if you have a Restore near you. It is run by Habit fir Humanity. They take donations from private businesses and individuals and when they have a house that they remodel or rebuild they recycle usable materials.
I have found some real bargains there. And the profits go to a great cause.
I have found a lot of my remodeling materials there, everything from light fixtures, window blinds, trim and lumber, doors, even appliances!
I have heard in the past (may also apply in the future, post-Covid) that you can often find loveseats, lamps, tables, small refrigerators and other appliances, etc.., on the curb on “move-out” days at local universities, especially elite ones. If the parents aren’t there to help cart the stuff away, the kids don’t have on-campus vehicles and/or they’re flying home…they’ve gotta dump what they’ve accumulated!
Might be worth a look!
That’s an excellent tip! -Jordan, MSM Team
These tips are always great. I love your article and I’d love to do something in the future. My blog is about stuff like this too coming from a seamstress’s point of view. Great article and the bed came amazing.
Wow, the before and after pictures are astounding. I wish I had that kind of vision for my own home- also bought as a foreclosure. Our goal is to completely pay it off, then rennovate. So for now it’s paint, paint, paint… though we did refinish our hardwood throughout the home.
what color and brand paint is used in the bed room with the headboard?
I had no idea about the gift card thing!! Thanks for the tip!!
Great post!
Beautiful home and love that bed! We made an upholstered headboard – our first DIY project- and it came out beautifully & cost less than $75 bucks. It’s nice to save that $$ and have a good piece of furniture.
This is a wonderful article! However, coming from someone who bought a foreclosure house I would definetly advise that it is not for everyone. Our house was left in fairly good shape, but needed lots of cosmetic improvements and updates to all appliances including furnace, air conditioning, and water heater. I love my home and enjoy it now, however the amount of work and money that went into all the improvements caused a lot of stress on my husband and I and was a huge source of disagreements in our marriage. It was not fun to put every spare minute and dollar we had into our house. We had to take out a loan to pay for the things we couldn’t live without (like a water heater) and the stress of having that loan to pay off was terrible! We have paid that all off now, but looking back I don’t think I would have put myself and my relationship through all that. We did not have kids at the time we purchased our house, and it was still stressful! I can’t even imagine trying to go through all that work now that we have little ones.
Love, love, LOVE this post! So many truths and thanks for tip #3!
When my husband and I got married in 2010 we decided it was time to buy a house. We had to stretch our money, because we were also paying for our wedding -in cash. Even though we were approved for much more, we bought a foreclosure for just under 50K. Now when we resale, we stand to make at least 70K profit. Not only that, our mortgage, insurance included, is just under $300 a month. No offense to anyone, but I think you’d have to be stupid not to get a foreclosure. Our house is amazing for people our age. I can stay home with our son, because our bills are only $815 a month total. Buying a foreclosure was the best decision we ever made.
There are probably hundreds of reasons for NOT buying a foreclosed home. It’s great that it worked out for you, but I don’t think any money-savvy person that avoids a foreclosed home should be labeled stupid.
The time commitment and DIY skills needed to rehab a home make fixer-uppers/foreclosures bad choices for a lot of people, but you also have to consider what you need in a house. If you have large family and need to live in a specific area, foreclosures aren’t always available (no matter the cost or condition). Not to mention needing a safe place to live with your family while you’re fixing up the mess left behind by others.
As I said before, no offense to anyone. My comment is meant that you shouldn’t always go for the norm when buying a house. People told us not to buy a house that was a foreclosure, and we did anyway. We were lucky enough that there were no issues with our home what-so-ever. While understand that some people may not like the idea of a DIY home, they dont have to all be like that. Like I said, ours wasnt. It was completely move in ready. In those instances, you would have to be stupid to pass up on one.
I think the word “stupid” is a bit harsh and offensive. As the above person said there are many reasons some people may opt not to buy a foreclosed home. My ILs did this and in spite of their homework they were caught off guard by a $500 water bill from the previous owner. There were also numerous other tax and financing complications. They did get a good deal in the long run, as it sounds like you did, but the bottom line is buying a foreclosure can be a huge risk. One I was not willing to take when we bought our home. Now I might but that doesn’t make me less stupid.
We own a vehicle that was a salvage. We purchased it on eBay. Huge risk that paid off but I’m not going around calling people who don’t buy their cars that way “stupid “.
Once again, this was OUR situation. I think that anyone else in our situation would have done what we did. There was a home in our subdivision that was just like ours. The only difference was the price tag. In THAT situation, to ME, you would have to be stupid to buy the nonforeclosure house. I’m sorry you still find the word offensive, but that is my opion. Just like you have stated yours. By all means though, feel free to imagine the word as any other word you please. Have a great day 🙂
A foreclosure can be a huge risk as can a salvage car, having bought both and owned mostly salvage cars for years, it can also be the difference for some people of owning a home or not, or owning a newer running car or not. I have found with being very careful, paying the money for an excellent inspection was so worth it, in both cases.
The worse issue we had was that even though the house was well taken care of by the bank, the pipes had not been used for 2 years and mineral build up in the pipes caused leaky joints, which was an easy fix, but was hard to catch. We made friends with a plumber and kept up!
I can think of some big reasons not to buy a foreclosure…. and for me, they start with a husband who is not the least bit handy and has little desire to be. He works a lot of hours, and the last thing he wants to do when he’s home with me and our 3 small children is learn how to repair something. Any time that he’d spend on that is time I would not be getting help with our boys. There are a lot of people that are not cut out for a lot of DIY work because of their work situations and family situations. For them, a foreclosure would be a gigantic source of stress.
My husband, like yours, is not very hand either. When I made that statement, I meant and sound house, because I never bought a foreclosure that wasn’t in great condition. I wouldn’t buy one that was a fixer upper unless my husband was handy. However, in our situation, the house was in mint condition, and was completely move in ready. That is why I think it would have been stupid to have passed up on a foreclosure. In those instances, as I said before, it just doesn’t make sence to pay for a house all out. 🙂
I agree Martha, the reason we decided to buy our house, and not the 3 before, were because I did the research behind them. As in hiring a professional to make sure it was worth the money. Every person that inpected our home couldn’t believe we were getting such an amazing deal.
Ellen, my husband is not handy either. He tried to fix a $3 issue on my car, and ended up costing us $500. Then another $3 to fix the initial problem. Knowing that, I would have NEVER gotten a foreclosure that was a lot of work I didn’t think we could handle. In OUR case, our home was in mint condition, move in ready. As I said before, in that instance, it would have been stupid to have passed up on such an amazing deal that involved NO work.
I agree Martha. Not doing your research is where people get hurt. I was very extensive in looking at every aspect of the purchase before we were absolutely sure. That is why feel confident that foreclosures are amazing deals that should be seriously considered when thinking of purchasing a home.
So sorry about all of those reposts, they weren’t showing up so I thought I did something wrong. Ha, sorry!
In addition to online resources for DIYing help, I know that the Home Depots regularly offer free DIY workshops on a variety of home improvement topics (painting, tiling, design, energy savings), including some classes specifically targeted to women. I think Lowe’s might as well. Our community education program also often has DIY workshops too for a low cost. I do agree with some of the previous posters, though, that there are some things that an average-level DIYer is better off hiring out to the pros.
Yes, from now on my house is no longer a yard sale, hodge podge, it is officially a “collected feel”(giggle). It is a great article! What a beautiful bed.
These ideas are fantastic! My husband and I have yet to hire someone to come and do remodeling for us and have been doing things on our own since we enjoy the challenge, but I’d never thought about some of these ideas (like the discounted gift cards)! Thank you so much!!!
We had a professional install our carpet in the living room when we first moved it, and he did a horrendous job! We had just painted the walls and he gouged the wall itself as well as scratched up the new paint along 2 whole walls, the whole way…There’s a large lump in the carpet right in the main path where he didn’t stretch it right….All our floors we’ve done ourselves have turned out much better, and without screwing up the walls, too. I’m sure it depends on how much experience you have using all the tools(my husband has lots), and how much time you spend researching. Ours has turned out incredibly well, and I thank the Lord for that. I don’t think anyone means to put down professionals, Dawn. I’m sure your family did an amazing job because they put their heart into it, spent time learning, and worked hard.
Love this! I’ve been doing some work and decorating in my home and I have been tempted to just shell out the cash to get it over with quickly, but maybe I’ll take my time with this process. Thanks for the frugal inspiration!
Just checked out the befores/afters–you had a good house to start your remodeling adventures with! Not bad at all….Ours had to have new sewer, new well, was covered in black mold, and had to rip the entire house down to bare studs, and move rooms, and even move support points-it was SO old and in terrible shape!! But we learned as we went…You did a great job on what you did do!
I grew up in a family carpet cleaning and flooring company. I do like to do some things myself, however, beware when taking on home projects that you don’t make typical mistakes that a lot of DIY-ers make that cost more money and headaches in the end. I can’t tell you how many carpets we had to re-stretch because the homeowner or landlord had installed it themselves. Also, know that when you purchase flooring and install it yourself, most warranties are then void because a store cannot warranty a product they do not install as it could likely be an install issue. There is a plethora of flooring knowledge that you cannot gain in even several hours on the internet. That’s why real flooring professionals go to training schools not only in how to install, what pitfalls may arise, but also in what flooring is best for certain subfloors, types of traffic, etc. Maybe it was not intended, but I feel this post is insulting to people who make an honest living as experts in their field. My dad was dubbed “The Carpet Doctor” by our local news when I was a child. There was a reason for that. His genius in flooring couldn’t be learned in a few hours of research. His talent for restoration, installation, stain removal, and repair were gained over 40 years of experience on the job. And if our customers were ever displeased we made every effort to make sure their experience was positive and made it right for them.
So true! I agree there are some jobs which shouldn’t be attempted on your own. We weren’t happy with our carpet installer, but given the choice again, we would still hire it out – just to someone else. I’d never want to offend anyone in the construction business or downplay its importance – my dad is in the business too! I wish our installers had been as great as your family’s company.
I completely agree. There is a lot more to a professional than nice tools. My husband is an expert in his field and the knowledge and experience he has cannot be matched by several hours of Internet research. Any good professional should gaurantee his workmanship. I also would like to point out that as a professional, he has access to commercial grade products that are far superior in quality to what you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. I strongly believe in the saying, “you get what you pay for” and think that this applies to professionals as well. Just my two cents! 🙂
That’s an excellent point about the quality of materials at the box stores!
Try ebay (especially ebay stores) for hardware in bulk. We did this when we replaced door hinges and door knobs throughout the house (we got rid of the brass ones and switched to the oil-rubbed bronze ones). We also bought our oil-rubbed bronze kitchen drawer pulls and cabinet handles this way.
Very nice! I know exactly where you are. My husband and I have been married for 6 years, and all of it we’ve spent remodeling as we can collect the time and cash. No debt over our projects! Daniel can do everything–wiring, plumbing, tiling, trim, you name it, so that’s a HUGE help! And we only hired for carpet, too, and our quartz countertops which will be installed soon!
Love the tile backsplash.
Aside from the guest bedroom (horrors!), most of the before pics don’t look that bad to me. Hope nobody with a similar-looking house feels badly.
I’m curious as to the age of the house – it doesn’t look that old – I’m surprised that the windows had to be replaced. We recently replaced our windows, and that was no small expense, even with my father-in-law doing all the labor for free!
Well, if the guest bedroom was in that state, there could also have been broken windows.
I know a lot of homes sit empty here, and they get broken into after they are foreclosed.
And some homes that are on the market still have people living in them–with the above mentioned feces problems. I wish it weren’t true, but my husband (who is a Realtor) sees it all the time.
Thanks! The before pics probably don’t look so bad because the only before pics we had are from when my parents toured the house for us before we moved to the area. They REALLY wanted us to buy so they didn’t take a lot of detailed shots of the horrors. 🙂 I wish I’d gotten better photos of the damage!
No one with a similar-styled house should feel badly at ALL! I believe in finding contentment in your home and being thankful to have shelter, no matter how your house looks. That said, if something in your home just doesn’t feel like “you” and you can fix it within a budget, more power to ya!
Replacing the windows was a HUGE expense, even doing the labor ourselves, but we calculated that we’ll break even with the energy savings over just a few years, and we could see a difference in our energy bills immediately.
My husband just redid our bathroom over Christmas break – A can of paint, a new shower curtain & rod (bought with wedding gift cards and 20% off coupons at Bed, Bath & Beyond!) and my favorite bargains? A brand new, in the box $80 light fixture for $5 and a $2 toilet paper holder from two different garage sales! We are still looking for a towel bar to match, but keeping our eyes peeled at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and other thrift stores!
We ordered some matching parts on ebay for items like that, from ebay stores. Not as amazing of a deal, but really good. We ordered new door hinges, door knobs, etc.
Just thought you should be aware – I worked at H. Depot up until a few months ago, and the 20% off coupons on ebay, etc are fraudulent – they won’t accept them at stores (or at least, they aren’t supposed to). We only offered 10% coupons. We will, however, match Lowe’s and Menard’s discounts 🙂
Love the bed, btw!
That’s so great! I had no idea that Home Depot and Lowe’s coupons were available on ebay, I will have to pick up a few. “We” (my husband, mostly) have DIY all our home remodeling, with a lot of help from our wonderful families, from the roof all the way down to the foundation. We’ve saved so much money by doing it ourselves!
Great work! I can’t wait to go check out your before and after pictures! There is an amazing sense of accomplishment knowing you took care of and beautified your own home. Nothing compares. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Excellent advice and beautiful photos. My hubby and I have completely remodeled two different homes over the last decade and built an eat-in kitchen/pantry, powder room addition on one of them, as well. We did everything we were legally permitted to do on our own. You’re right…a lot of sweat and tears, but worth it:)
You may also be able to hire a professional for part of a job–sort of the “semi-DIY” approach. We did this when we rebuilt and enlarged our paver patio. We did the digging and prep work, and hired the pro to come in for one day with his laser level, vibrating compacter, and years of experience. He was worth every penny, and I don’t think our patio would have turned out as nice if we’d done it completely ourselves, despite all that I learned online during my research.
Our local grocery store offers Fuel Perks on gift cards. We recently started a bathroom remodel, so I went to the grocery store and purchased gift cards for Lowe’s. At the time the grocery store was doing a promotion for double perks from Lowes gift cards. After the major purchase, we had $3.20 off per gallon of gas up to 30 gallons! At the time I filled our 30 gallon tank in the suburban for $5.94! Awesome! Saved $96!
Wonderful post!! And I love your bed. I upholstered two benches last year for the first time. It gives you such a feeling of accomplishment when you do things yourself!! After all, it’s not just a house, it’s your home. And you did a great job with yours!
I agree that many projects can be done well DIY (we’re big DIYers too), but somethings are best left to the pros…. major electrical or plumbing, especially. Spending a little bit of money on Angie’s List (or obsessively checking references) will return you big rewards in finding a contractor who will care about the job as much as you do.
Beautiful job on the bed! Wow!
Unless you have a spouse (or yourself) who knows how to do those things! My husband knows electrical and plumbing, and he saved us a tom by getting up into the attic (we have raised ceilings, so it wasn’t easy!) and installing 16 ceiling fans in our house, as well as putting in several recessed lights into the ceiling (in places and rooms where there was no overhead lighting). He installed dimmer switches on our lights and wired in the fans to the light switches (no remotes needed).
He also helped put up the moulding in our house (I designed it from 7 different pieces, and then we had someone help him install it), helped install the cabinets, ripped out the tile flooring, changed the walls and installed 4 ionic columns, and much, much more. He was awesome. We pretty much gutted our house house, and he made sure it happened!
It’s great that you have someone who can do that! That’s terrific! In some states, it is legal for a homeowner to do that kind of electric work, but it usually has to be permitted, and in other places, like Rockville Maryland, the homeowner must pass a test to prove that he or she is capable before the permit will be issued. It is always worth making sure that the electric and plumbing work you’re having done in your house doesn’t need a permit or to be done by a licensed professional. Where we are, you need a permit for plumbing work, and it has to be done by a licensed professional, but they don’t license electricians or contractors. Always good to check that stuff out first!
I agree Elizabeth! It’s always wise to check about permits. We are big DIYers and have done some very large projects that require permits, which we have taken out and been diligent about proper inspections. One of the biggest reasons is because as a DIYer, I know that whenever we buy another home WE will be checking to make sure all the work was properly permitted and completed and I am expecting that someone will do the same for our work!!
My dad did all the electrical and plumbing in their house but when he was done had everything checked by a licensed plumber and electrician to make sure he was all set. He was asked by both guys if he ever thought about doing either as a trade since he had done such a good job.
Congrats on a successful DIY home remodel! I do have to say this though—while some please are blessed to be handy and able to tackle big projects like this, some people are not. You need to be realistic about what you can and can’t do. My husband works for a home remodeling company and I’ve heard and seen pics of way to many homes that have ended up with not so great results from DIY attempts, which ended up costing them much more in the long run.
I agree. Also, there are many projects and things that I’m sure I could learn to do myself, but it would take me so much more time than a professional…….time that this full-time working mom of young kids does not want to part with and wishes to spend doing things she is actually good at. Time is money too, and some things just aren’t worth that extra time I would need to put into them, so I’ll gladly pay someone else to do them.
I agree! My first thought reading this article was Yikes! Telling people they can DIY anything is not a good idea! There are some things better left to the pros (you really are better off calling an electrician than trying to re-wire your own home!). I think you need to know what you are capable of, and know what it’s going to cost if something doesn’t turn out as planned. I think this article is talking more about smaller, more cosmetic DIY projects, and those are usually pretty safe.
Also, shop thru ebates.com or ShopAtHome.com for things like appliances. My husband and I got our new kitchen appliances from Home Depot, but I went thru ShopAtHome and got $106 back.
Awww, thanks so much for this reminder!
Great, Great Post!!! We are currently working to pay off our debt and plan to start building our home (mostly DIY) next year once our debt is paid off. I’ll be visiting your blog often Kelly!
Great guest post, we are trying to buy our first home so these tips will come in handy!
I never thought to go to ebay for gift cards. Thanks for that great idea. And you have a beautiful home.
eBay truly is great for this. We bought a $500 Lowes giftcard for $475 and I signed up for their “Buy Now Pay Later” (or soemthing like that) and received about $25 in eBay bucks that I can use now. We had the cash to pay for the card, so I immediately paid off the payment plan to avoid any type of finance charge. Then, I got a 10% off coupon to Lowes so we saved about $100 on a new microwave and garbage disposal for our house. It was an easy way to save a fairly large chunk of money. You do need to be careful on eBay and look at the seller’s feedback from other buyers. If they don’t have a 99% positive feedback rating with at least 50 or more transactions I typically won’t buy from them. I want to feel confident that I am going to receive what I’ve paid for.
AH! This makes me want to redo my whole house!! We just finished our baby’s $500 diy nursery (i just wrote about it yesterday & people went nuts about how cute it was & it was only $500 – actually a little less!) I will be following her blog as we update our bedroom! thanks for sharing!
Lowe’s (at least I assume it’s all Lowe’s) also gives 10% off for military personnel, they just have to show their ID at checkout.
This is great advice! A home that is put together slowly, intentionally, and without everything being matchy-matchy is exponentially more stylish than buying all at once. Congrats to Kelly for creating a home she loves in her own way. Nicely done!
My husband has reburbed old ugly bathroom vanities by a simple paint job and changing doors or even just the hardware. He has also refinished a claw foot tub and old bathroom sinks (spray acrylic I believe). Its true what you don’t know you can google…or youtube 🙂 He has also found professionals who will let him work with them for a dicounted price…..he worked with our plumber doing all the “grunt” work – saved us money and learned a ton in the process. Same with the electrician and even with the man who installed our oil tank! Another huge help – some utility companies offer free energy audits – they will come through and tell you (for free!) where you are losing the most energy (especially heat loss in Northern states). Sometimes the utility company will even pitch in $$ to make home more energy efficient – but even if not you are armed with free precise info and reccomendations on what you can do yourself.
We did that here in MA and the energy audit was great and we were able to do a bunch of improvements for not a great deal of money afterwards. Our energy bills are lower and our house is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer because of the improved insulation in the attic.
Wow, I love the bed. My girlfriend made one also, but she used a cubicle wall as the frame and it turned out beautiful also. Thanks for this timely article. I just made a monthly goal spreadsheet of projects I’d like to get done this year. DIY scares me, but for february my goal is to learn to tile. It looks easy enough, but getting everything straight scares me.
Don’t they sell spacers that you can use? Seem to remember that someone in my travels.
Tiling really is easy! You just need to get over the hump of getting started (it’s in your mind!) and you’ll be good to go! It’s pretty fun too. My first big tiling project was my floor – all 800+ square feet of it. It turned out nice! Now I’m working on my kitchen walls. Just google some ideas and go to Lowes to check out what they have. Mostly, enjoy the project! 🙂