Renovate your house on the cheap: Tip #1

We are in the process of a major home renovation. If you've been reading here for awhile this is no suprise to you-but Daniel has put in 500+ hours plus other friends have put in hundreds of hours as well. And since our house is less than 600 square feet you can imagine that its very different from when we first bought it. Even though most of the labor was volunteer as well as my husband's, materials aren't cheap(we joke that we've single-handedly kept Lowes in business during the recession;).

One of the biggest ways we've cut costs in this department is to look for alternate places to buy things, such as Habitat for Humanity ReStores. We didn't realize this until halfway through our house project, but many towns have a "store" that sells used building materials/supplies that have been donated and its run by Habitat for Humanity. Sometimes they go by other names such as "builders bargains", but either way, it can be a lifesaver to your pocketbook!

Some of the things we've gotten there include:
~cabinets (for the bathroom and others)
~bathroom vanity
~dryer
~installable microwave
~tools
~fencing material


and lots more. The prices have been comparable to Craigslist without the hassle of driving all over the place and potentially getting a dud. If the dryer would not have worked for example then we could have taken it back for store credit.

Visit Life as a Mom for more Frugal Friday tips! (and come back for more ideas for renovate your house of the cheap in the future:)