Cash for room remodel
2009 November 2
We just started and completed 3/4ths of a master bedroom remodel. Not so earth shattering, but we paid cash for the construction, the paint, and the Ikea wardrobe closets.
In the past we would have checked to see how many cards we could have used. What I found? It is very hard to overspend what you planned for if you are using cash.
Living within your means is easier without credit.
I have an artist friend who doesn’t own a credit card, a computer, or a cell phone. Her home in Greenwich Village is full of quirky, beautiful, valuable objects and fine old furniture – much of which she has scavenged. When she first started decorating, she found out that the Sanitation Department picks up large items on Saturdays. So every Friday night, she and her husband would scour the fancier neighborhoods in a truck, and bring home quality furniture that was being trashed.
One of her prizes was a nineteenth-century loveseat with an intricately carved frame. Recently, she decided to replace it with something more comfortable. There was a brand new $3000 sofa in her local thrift store, and the asking price was $895. She waited until it went down to $400 – then brought it home, and sold the old loveseat for three hundred bucks. Pretty neat!