DIY

One of the surest ways to save some money is to do home repair and
improvement projects yourself. You don't have to be all that handy to paint a room or lay down a laminate floor. If you are uncertain where to start, ask someone in a home improvement store for advice or buy a how to guide. One way or another, if you can reduce the cost of this sort of work to the cost of materials only, you will be astounded at the savings.

Last year, we had fun re-doing my son's bedroom. He is an avid Mets fan so we decided to do our own version of Extreme Makeover Home Edition while he was away in camp for a week. For less than $1000, we laid down a new laminate floor, painted the room in Mets blue and orange colors and put in a new bunk style bed with a desk where the lower bunk was. We also installed crown mouldings and a new ceiling fixture. It came out beautifully and for a fraction of what a contractor would have charged us.