Budget home improvement projects
Thanks for all the comments and tips on my last post about our upcoming trip to Washington DC and NYC! I’ve compiled all the suggestions and plan to use many when we go! I realized I never mentioned the time frame – it won’t go until spring. Hopefully then the government shutdown will be resolved! Thanks again to everyone who found and left a comment!
Today, I wanted to talk about budgeting for home improvement projects.
Since I moved into our house over 5 years ago, we have made it a goal to do one or two small projects each year (usually $2000 or less). Past projects include adding Astroturf to our back yard, installing solar screens to help with electricity (and protect us from the Arizona heat!), and replacing our very small heater. This is done gradually over a long period of time, and is usually paid in the “third payday” month, so the cost does not interfere with our regular budget.
That plan worked well, but lately I’ve been wondering if we should budget for this project each year. We already have a house “Emergency Fund” for major issues like HVAC restoration or roof repairs, but I see that as a breakdown of the smaller planned updates.
One part of me thinks – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Why does it include something that works?
Another part of me thinks – “What if we want to take on something big that isn’t an emergency?” Something that comes to mind has taken our place on the ground. The tile and carpet are currently being combined and both are in pretty bad shape. We have several cracked tiles (from settling in the home) and the carpet is beat up from the dogs and kids. I’m not going to do a downgrade right away (frankly, the price tag scares me!), but it’s something I’m thinking about – especially if we plan to stay here for another 5 years (which is our current plan).
When I did some digging, I discovered that there is no “one size fits all” answer to how much people spend on home improvement in a year. This one article suggests an average of $9,000 per year. It was seaning what Dave Ramsey said. I’m not a 100% Ramsey fan, but his revenge thought process makes me happy. According to Ramsey, no more than 25% of your budget should go toward home expenses, including mortgages, property taxes, insurance, and any home improvements or improvements. Using that as a guide, we have some room to start saving for future projects, if we want.
So now I want to know – what do you do?
Are you planning and budgeting for home improvements that happen all the time? Do you live with things like that and deal with everything before selling? With my first home, we did almost nothing until the end, when we spent thousands getting it ready to sell. It would have been nice to enjoy some of those upgrades while we were there!
With House (and man) #2, we took a low-key, purposeful approach. We’re making a little progress that we can all enjoy now. Replacing a water heater, for example, does a – very big The difference in our daily lives! No more racing to do the first shower so the heat isn’t over? Priceless! You mean we can wash and run the dishwasher and a load of laundry at the same time? It’s amazing! It was worth every penny and I’m glad we did it when we did so we can really enjoy the benefits!
So Please Chme In – How is your family handling home improvement? Do you budget and plan all the time, wait until you sell, or fix things as problems arise? I would love to hear how others go about this!
Post budget for home improvement projects that appear first in debt settlement.
