3 Practical Ways to Save Money on Your Remodel

I've been a Realtor and a remodeler in my career -- and I've also been the owner of more than a few homes that needed some upgrades. I've seen people cost themselves a great deal of money that was strictly unnecessary. But, if you read this article, maybe you'll be spared the same fate.

So, without further ado, here are some practical ways to save on that fixer home you've just gotten yourself into (trust me, it'll all be worth it when you're done).

1. Reuse expensive parts

Whether you're paying for your remodel out of pocket or using a personal loan to finance it, you can save a bucket of money by smartly reusing as many materials as possible.

Some won't be suitable for reuse and will have to be tossed, but there's one type of material in your home that's almost certainly never going to go out of date: cabinetry.

"But wait," you say, "these cabinets are ridiculously dated."

To that, I would say that no, the cabinets aren't dated -- the doors are. Maybe your kitchen countertops are, too.

But one of the biggest expenses in a kitchen remodel is going to be cabinetry, and if you've got good cabinets with horrible doors, just take off the doors and buy new ones. You totally can do that. Measure the old doors and call your favorite cabinet maker or home improvement store for replacements.

Here's an example of how much savings this can amount to: A 36-inch wide upper cabinet made from plywood is for sale at Lowe's for $249 and contains two doors that are each approximately 28.5 inches high by 17.72 inches wide. The replacement doors listed for this cabinet, with the same dimensions, go for $34.99 each. That's a total just shy of $70 to refinish this cabinet rather than replace it. Imagine doing that throughout your whole kitchen.

For some cabinets, you'll need to special order new doors, but even then, for like materials and sizes, the odds are that you'll see a substantial discount vs. buying entire cabinets. If you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore nearby, you may find doors even cheaper, but be sure to measure carefully for the right fit.

2. Plan for your waste

A money-saving trick I like to use when I'm doing work in a house is to plan for the waste. There's always leftover materials, and it's such a, well...waste. If you know you're painting your kid's bedroom green and you don't particularly care what color your master bathroom is right now, maybe you split that bucket of paint between them, rather than having two separate paint buckets that are half full at the end of your project.

This also works great for materials like sheet goods, tile, and anything that doesn't key together (for example, vinyl plank flooring would be hard to do this with). If you know you're going to tile your shower with a blue tile that's sort of non-committal, maybe you can also use that in your kitchen backsplash as part of a mosaic or as an accent strip to use up the extras in the box.

Of course, ending up with zero waste is almost impossible on a remodeling project, but you can often get pretty impressively close if you consider the whole house when buying and cutting materials rather than just the project immediately in front of you.

3. Invest in your tools

If you're remodeling a whole house, or even one room at a time, it can be tempting to cut corners by buying the cheapest tools you can find. This isn't the time for that, even if you're trying to save money. Reusable paint brushes and high-quality tarps can be used over and over and over again for years -- or in some cases, decades, with the right care.

Not only does spending a little bit more upfront end up saving you a ton on the whole project, but you'll often get a better result with less effort, too. That's not to say that you need to buy the most expensive option that's available, but take a moment to choose your tools with care and with a consideration to the end game of your project or home.

Just like you'd rather work with the best mortgage lenders possible when you buy a home, you need the best tools that are appropriate for the job.

Saving money on your remodel is easier than you think

No matter how extensive of a project you're undertaking, in this era of higher home costs, it just makes sense to save as much money as possible when you're doing it yourself. That doesn't mean you should always do it yourself or that DIY will always save you money (sometimes it's cheaper to hire a pro). But when the math is in your favor, reusing perfectly good materials, buying quality tools, and using your waste as much as possible will make your renovation loan or project budget go much further.