The Save Money Blog

Posts Tagged ‘home-improvement’

I have never had a decent home theatre in my house and I am a big sports fan and love watching my weekly tv shows and movies. I decided to put together a home theatre. Not that I was overly surprised but I  was taken back a bit by the price of the home audio equipment after visiting a few of my local electronics stores. I just don't have the money to be sinking into state of the art speakers, receiver and assorted hardware.

I realized that I already have most of the system right in my house. I have a couple of decent older floor speakers that I was going to throw away but decided to keep. I have a surround sound receiver that I thought was old and out dated but will do the trick. I just have to pick up a couple of extra speakers and a decent tv stand.

I was all over Ebay and Kijiji tonight and have already contacted a gentlemen that is selling off his home theatre that he is upgrading. We talked about a few prices and I basically going to save a ton if his equipment checks out.

I am glad I just didn't fly of the handle and drop a ton of money at a big box store. I think I am going to have a nice home theatre of matching pieces together for a great price. It's just going to take a little while to get it all together but for the price it's worth it.

I broke out the old lawnmower today and have to give the back lawn a cut. Pretty early for April but who can complain with the weather we have been having. The one thing I noticed is that I already have a good crop of weeds coming in. Especially in the gravel around the pool fence. We aren't allowed to use commercial pesticides any longer which means we have to rely on environmentally friendly alternatives.

Last year I purchased some eco friendly weed killer from the hardware store and was suprised when I looked at the ingredients. They are all household items that you can pull out from under the kitchen sink and make yourself. The three things that everyone has in their house that will kill weeds are vinegar, salt and liquid dish detergeant. I am not a fan of using salt because it will do damage to the surrounding soil. Whipping up a concuction of vinegar and liquid dish soap will do the trick. Just make sure you spray this on the weeds only as it will kill grass and other plants in your backyard. Also make sure you spray when it isn't windy and there is no sign of rain for at least two days.

The most common Homemade Weed Killer Recipe that I could find online is : 1 quart household vinegar and 2 teaspoons liquid dish detergent. Just make sure that you use a detergent that contains no bleach. Mix these two items together and spray on weeds. Volia, you have a cheap homemade and environmentally friends weed killer.

I was at a wedding not too long ago and the bride gave an interesting speach about her new husband. He fancied himself a real DIY type fix it guy but she told a different story. She explained how it usually ended up costing her more paying a real contractor to fix everything that he usually screwed up.

I am a big fan of trying to fix things on my own but sometimes you have to give in to the fact that you are in over your head and hire a professional to do things right. I know nothing about spring plungers so why would I play around with them? I wouldn't. On the same token if I know nothing about plumbing or fixing a dryer then I shouldn't be messing around with them either. There are lots of instructions on how to do things on the internet but you have to ask yoruself if you are in over your head. Don't mess with things you know nothing about, it will end up costing you more in the long run.

I am on a mission to get a few things fixed up around the house and I will blog later this week about what I am doing to save energy. I needed a thick piece of plywood 2.5 X 2.5 for a small project but they only sell sheets 4 x 4 for over $16. Kind of a waste because I have no other use for the extra wood. A shame to pay that much when I didn't really need it all.

When we were walking to the saw to get my piece cut I noticed one of those carts they have filled with all sorts of pieces of left over wood. I went and had a look and found the exact same size piece I was buying with a big red line spray painted on it. I asked the guy if I could but that. He said sure it was only $2 because it was damaged or something. It was perfect for what I need it for.

It felt good to save a bit of money on the weekend. Next time you have a small job on the go and find yourself at Home Depot look around and see if they have leftovers.

If you live in Canada time is ticking for your take advantage of your home renocation tax credit. If you did any renovations to your hosue between Feb. 27 of this year and before Feb. 1, 2010 of next year you can apply for a credit on your tax return. The stipulation is that your renovations must be over a thousand dollars in total and you can't go over ten thousand dollars. At the max you could be eligible for $1,350 back on your taxes just for doing home renovations.

We didn't know that this was coming and did our bathroom just before the deadline so it kind of sucks for us but we are expecting to do some flooring, some doors and trim on another room. While we aren't sure if we are going to do porcelain tile or something a little cheaper if it comes over one thousand dollars we are going to be eligible. The other bonus is that you can add multiple renovations together. We also have to frame and insulate the basement so we are thinking we will have enought to qualify.

If you are doing some renos and live in Canada it's something to think about.

So tomorrow the plumber shows up to start my bathroom renovation. He gave me quote awhile back but I decided to start the gutting process myself. I broke the tile wall and took the plaster out over two Saturdays and took them to the dump. When we spoke last week he said he would do the quote over because I had one a fair bit of the work myself.

You would be suprised how much money you can save by doing your own prep work before paying a tradesperson to do it for you. It cost us less than $30 to dispose of it at the dump and about 10 hours to get it down to the studs. I am pretty sure the plumber would have been charging me more than that. I will keep everyone updated how it goes and how the final bill compares with the original when they were doing it all.

Just how ugly is that window? I don't know if you can see it or not but there is an aluminum storm window on the other side of that ugly wooden frame.

I have read that up to 35% of your heat loss can be through your old draughty windows. This old window was draughty for sure. My wife used to have a cold nose when she was sitting on the couch watching tv. Can you imagine how much heat I was wasting and how much money I was spending? I think I would cry if I really knew the exact number over the past few years.

I should have done this years ago but I finally got around to replacing this window with a new vynil picture window. It was a bit of an expense but think about the savings. I already can see that it is warmer in the house. By a lot. The furnace is not running as much and it really is warmer, especially in the living room. By investing in a new window I am saving a ton in my heating bill. It will be interesting to see what it is compared to last year.

The added bonus, it also adds curb appeal to the house. It is like night and day when you pull up to the house now. By adding a window I have really increased the value of the home. That is if I ever decide to sell it.

My bathroom is hideous. I can't find another word to describe it. Hideous and it should have been renovated years ago. I am on my second quote in getting a new tub and facets, window, tiling and drywall.

Here's a couple of tips for any of you thinking of getting work done. One, look at the prices of the material  you are buying online and compare that to what you are being charged. We were thinking about Kohler faucets so I got a quote from him and next I go online and compare price. I compare price with anything I buy.

Next, a plumber is not a dry waller. The drywalling potion of my quote was insane. I called a friend that does drywall and he said I was being overcharged by an insane amount. That's because they don't want to do it and it's a pain to them so they overcharge. How many people do you think pay too much for things like this and don't shop around?

I am basically going to have a person do my window and drywall and a plumber do the plumbing. A bit of pain to me to shop out multiple contractors but I am going to save at least a few hundred for my work.