Entries Tagged 'money' ↓

Congratulations on achieving the American dream of home ownership.

Now that you own a home, how do you want to improve it? When thinking about whether you want to enhance your home through remodeling, construction or repairs, be sure to include a budget for all those glamorous home improvement projects.

Thinking of using a credit card?

Before jeopardizing your financial freedom with high credit card payments and overspending, consider saving for your home makeover by putting money on aprepaid card or locking it away in a savings account until you really need it.

Follow these money saving tips to ensure you have the funds to build your dream home:

Consider the Cost

Financial experts warn that homeowners should anticipate the added costs of annual maintenance, repairs and upgrades when buying a home. It is estimated that homeowners annually spend $100 to $3,000 on routine maintenance, and $2,000 to $10,000 on enhancement projects. To afford these costs, you can use prepaid cards and put money on the REACH card to get the security of a bank account without the bank fees.

Prioritize

Another money saving tip for remodeling projects is to make a list of all the changes you’d like to make to the home and then prioritize that list based on what is needed vs. what is wanted. According to Remodeling magazine’s cost-to-value ratio, homeowners nationwide can expect an average of 60 percent return on their remodeling investments.
That’s why it’s important to prioritize home renovations that will not only look nice, but also improve the quality of your home – for example, adding new granite kitchen countertops.

Make a Plan

After prioritizing your list, the next step in beautifying your home is to create a budget. Develop a plan that will allow you to save what you can and spend where you need it most. Setting aside money and putting it on a card like the REACH card will allow you to use funds you’ve already budgeted, reducing the chance that you’ll overspend. Smart money management is key to affording all of your glamorous home improvement projects.

Save, Save, Save

It’s recommended that homeowners save about one percent of their home’s purchase price per year. It’s best to start saving from day one so that you’ll have money when an emergency arises. Use prepaid cards to save money for all your home improvements with the freedom to spend without accumulating credit card debt or maintaining a bank account- they make it easy to save by allowing you to make direct deposits from paychecks, government checks and even tax refunds right to the card.

If you’re using the REACH card, you can transfer money from one card to another- making it easy to build a home improvement savings fund.
Now that you own a home, make sure you have the funds to make it a dream home.

Realize your goals, set priorities and start saving to improve your house- now and in the future.

If you are planning on renovating your home, there are plenty of things you will want to consider. Lots of people end up with home renovation disasters because they jump in too fast and do not take the time to plan what they are doing.

Either that, or they watch one too many home improvement DIY shows on HGTV and think they’re Bob Vila. It happens.

By spending time planning before you spend time tearing down and building up, you will be ahead when it comes to both time and money. Don’t assume you can do it all yourself, either. If you are undertaking a big project you might want to get some help with things like plumbing or electrical.

They can really cause a problem if they are not done right.
Also, when I say don’t do it all yourself, that means begrudgingly enlisting the help of your wife (or husband) and kids in this fun little process.

What Do You Really Need Done?

When you start thinking about what kinds of home renovations you want to do, don’t get carried away. Sure, a bar and mini-fridge would be fun in a man-cave, but wouldn’t a nice, clean space that everyone can use be better? You may not think so, but your significant other probably will. It would also be easier.

If you aren’t realistic in what you plan to do, or you manage to cause damage to something that you were working on, you may find that you have to borrow money just to bail you out. You’ll end up behind on your project and you’ll lose a portion of living space – neither of which is a good thing.

If you need repairs made to your home and you want to add something to spruce it up and make it better, think about the cost of what you want to do versus the functionality and/or benefit you’ll see. In short, do a small and realistic cost-benefit analysis so you have a better idea of what’s feasible and what isn’t. Even if something sounds like a great idea, you might find that, financially, it’s a poor choice for the long term.

Don’t make changes you aren’t sure about, and that your family isn’t in agreement with.

A Little Extravagance Might Be All Right

If you plan on doing something extravagant, limit it to one thing. In other words, don’t plan to turn your house into a castle. Do one thing in one room that gives that ‘wow’ factor. If you limit your extravagance you won’t spend so much money or time, and if you need someone to help you with your project you should be able to afford it. That’s good news for anyone who wants to do something grand in his home but doesn’t want to take out a second mortgage to do it.

Small Aesthetic Projects to Kick the Renovation Bug

Here’s some things you can do that can help you hold off on doing any major renovations if you simply aren’t sure that you have the money.

• painting your rooms with an opposite color scheme. Go from dark to light, or light to dark
• pain accent walls
• install new colorful shelving
• get furniture covers to switch up the feel of your family room
• change out your rugs

All these small colorful changes will help your home feel different and cozy, without spending too much. Don’t be worried about borrowing money to do the bigger renovations- emergency loans are one thing, but a long-term, large loan is often not worth it when it comes to home renovations.

It’s better to do them a little bit at a time, so that you aren’t overextending your credit and your ability to pay things back quite so much. If you get carried away with your renovations you’ll not only end up in too much debt, but you won’t have the time to enjoy the changes you’ve made to the house.

Start out small, and appreciate what you’ve done. You can always move on to bigger projects later.