A Penny Saved

Not only was yesterday St. Patrick's Day, it was SUNDAY! Since football season is over with right now, Sunday means Race Day, but more importantly COUPON DAY! Coupons are one of my favorite things. I never used to use them, because when I figured out the cost of name brand items versus store brand, even with the coupon discount, in most cases the store brand items were cheaper. The trick to couponing is to get the items when they are on sale, and stock up on those items when they are. Over the past 10 days, I have spent $154.05 and saved $229.10 on groceries and other household items. Oh, and two new pairs of sunglasses because the 5 pairs I already had weren't enough! I seem to always forget them when I leave the house, so a few extra pairs to leave in the car are always a good thing.

I am not an "extreme couponer" who gets $2900 worth of things for $2.98, but I am proud when I can save 40-50% on things. There are numerous websites out there to help with couponing skills if you are interested. Some of my favorites are www.livingrichwithcoupons.com, and for local Western New Yorkers there is triciasfrugalfinds.com. These sites give you all of the coupon matchups for the stores and tell you what the best items to stock up on are. They also have links to printable coupons. You don't always have to buy Sunday papers to get coupons, there are tons of coupons online that are available, including e-coupons that go right to your bonus cards. I also use a site called savingstar.com which adds coupon savings to all of your bonus cards rather than just one specific store card.

So what does couponing have to do with fixing up my house? Well, every bit of money I can save on the things I need to survive helps me have the money for the things I need to remodel, renovate and repair.  My "haul" included things like 6 boxes of Hamburger Helper, 10 cans of soup, 8 bottles of laundry detergent, and 8 plastic shoe boxes to organize my ever-growing collection of shoes.

I not only saved money at the grocery store though. Last Sunday, while I was clipping coupons from the paper, I saw the weekly ad for Value Home Centers, and immediately told my fiancee that we had to go so I could pick up some items for the first room I am remodeling; the bathroom.

I suffer from ADHD, which can be a good thing sometimes, because when that hyper-activity kicks in and things need to get done around the house it is nice to have that natural burst of energy. However, it is not such a good thing when you need to focus on one thing, because inevitably something else grabs your attention and the task that you had originally set out to do doesn't get done. This can be a bad thing when trying to fix up a place where everything needs to get done. So I made a plan to focus on one room at a time and one outdoor project at a time. The indoor project that is first on the list is my lovely bathroom.

I have to admit that I get a little jealous when I watch the DIY and other home decorating shows on HGTV and the DIY network and the homeowners have "only" $15,000 to spend on a bathroom remodel. What I could do with $15,000! My bathroom budget is about $1,200 - $1,300. That includes the cost of a new tank-less instant hot water heater.  My bathroom is probably the room that needs the most work and, other than tearing out the walls, will be a total gut and remodel job.

Since I only have one bathroom, and didn't want to add the costs of renting a port-a-potty to use while remodeling it, my plan is to buy all of the needed materials and do the bathroom in one fell swoop. So, I have my list and I am picking up bathroom items as I can and storing them until the time comes to get it done. After all, what is a front porch if it doesn't have a toilet in a box on it?

I had originally budgeted $100 for a new toilet and $150 for new flooring. When I saw the sales flyer last week I knew I had to buy those items because the toilet was on sale for $39.96 and my flooring was $27.81 a box. I saved $150 of my budgeted money for the bathroom project by getting these items when they were on sale. The original flooring I had picked out was $50 a box and I would have needed 3 boxes, but with this flooring, because it contained 8 sq. feet more in each box, I only needed 2 boxes. I could have saved even more on the flooring if I chose the white oak color which was on sale for $19.96 a box, but I wanted a little bit of a darker tone, so I went with the red oak, which was more expensive. While I want to save money, I also want things to look nice. I think it is important to take that into account and sometimes spending a little more can make a big difference in the end.

The toilet was a small one, but my bathroom is only 7' x 9', so the small one was fine. If I were doing a larger bathroom makeover, I would have gone with a bigger one, but the one I got will actually be perfect for my tiny bathroom.

My father always used to tell me that patience is a virtue, which was a difficult concept for me to understand when I was young because I had a Veruca Salt attitude. "I want it now Daddy!" Although I still have a bit of Veruca in me, as an adult I have learned that my father was right, at least when it comes to saving money. Plan ahead, and wait for those sales! :)