How do you budget for major expenses?

[Globetrotter]

Dh and I always disagree on this, so I'm trying to get an idea of what others do.

When we have a major house project, I am the one who does the research, interviews contractors, etc... Dh will always ask me how much I plan to spend on X, but I tell him I won't know until I get a bid. Then he'll say I need to have something in mind beforehand and how I never budget for anything.

I get quotes, figure out the options, and THEN I can decide how much to spend based on what things actually cost (and then we can decide which options are worthwhile based on the cost and postpone it if the cost is prohibitive). Does this make sense?

For instance, I am going to get bids for our landscaping work. I was planning to get quotes for the different options I LIKE, then decide which one to go with based on the cost and cut out some options to make it work, but the funny thing is, I really don't have a specific $ limit upfront. To get an idea, I've gotten a quote from friends who recently got work done, but their yard is smaller than ours and they chose slate, so this doesn't really narrow it down for me.

dh is a pain in the butt when it comes to these things, and he always has something negative to say after his two seconds of research. aaarrrggghhhh.

[BeachBum]

I'm in charge at my house and do the exact same thing you do.

[zag95]

I do the same thing- but I have been trying to delegate more over to DH, so he can see how time consuming it takes to research, get bids, ask questions, etc....

Can you find a "special project" to delegate over to DH, so he can appreciate your efficient ways?!!;)

[niccig]

I do the same thing. EG. where looking at our driveway, and got more information as our neighbour and another friend did their driveway. I then do research so I have an idea of what is involved, get a few people in for quotes (Angie's list, friend recommendations) and then we go from there. We then discuss cost and if it's worth to do the project at all. I would like to put the driveway off for another year, DH wants to do it now, and we do have a very resonable quote, so we'll probably go ahead and do it.

We want to do a kitchen renovation one day, and that will cost a lot. I'm going to start to squirrel away some money for it. I've done some research on average kitchen costs - we won't know what ours will be as it depends if we knock down a wall or not. But I know it's going to be a LOT of money, so I can start putting some away now and hopefully in a few years, we'll be in a position to go ahead for it.

Another option is to break your project into parts. If it's landscaping, you can do everything at once, or you can break it into smaller parts and then do each one as you can.

[hillview]

I do something similar. We did landscaping last year. We had a REAL problem backyard (overgrown with trash! in it). We had an ideal of what we wanted, raised planters, real plants, landscape etc. I went and got prices for everything and had a rough (uneducated) idea of what we wanted to spend. We ended up doing it a little differently.

I decided we had to do fencing and if we didn't do it upfront that would be a PITA when we eventually did do it. Also I figured while the kids were little, fencing made the most sense (keeps them in/safer).

I did brick patio and walks, again planning for the long term

I did just a regrade/new topsoil landscape

I did NOT do the design/have a landscaper do the actual design. It was quite expensive and I figured with the good "bones" I did in the above, we could do that if needed at some point. We have taken plants from friend's gardens and it looks nice (not perfect) but is VERY usable. This year we got outdoor furniture (not the $$ plants).

DH questioned me every step of the way but usually in a good way -- what about cement/not brick and either I'd have a good answer or I'd ask the contractor/google it. Sometimes I'd throw back to him, if you have a better idea, you are free to go do some more leg work on it. But in general we were on the same page.

We don't usually have a budget per se but do our research (well I do it) and DH usually agrees after he asks some questions. I usually have the answers or am happy to find them out (ooh, good question) but sometimes I push back :)
/hillary

[wellyes]

In my home, the rule for house projects is the same as the rule for laundry: if you don't like how I do it, feel free to do it yourself. Otherwise, the appropriate response to having someone else do the work is "thank you"


(This is why DH does the laundry now :bouncy:)

[niccig]

When we have a major house project, I am the one who does the research, interviews contractors, etc... Dh will always ask me how much I plan to spend on X, but I tell him I won't know until I get a bid. Then he'll say I need to have something in mind beforehand and how I never budget for anything.


I don't see how you can have a set budget before you know how much things cost. I can say I don't want to spend more than x amount on the windows, but it could be very unrealistic as I don't know how much the work costs. I like to get various bids and then I can decide what does or does not need to be done. For eg. we had a problem with lead paint on our windows. We got quotes in on replacing compared to stripping back and repainting. Before I started looking at it, I had no idea how much windows cost. As I found out more, then I started to get an idea of what the project would cost and then we worked out what we could afford to do.

I can see your DH's point in that you might want to set a limit and say this year we are only spending x amount on the landscaping, and then see what you can do with that amount of money. You could also list the priorities and do those that are most important first, and then the remaining can be done as you have the money to do so.

[niccig]

In my home, the rule for house projects is the same as the rule for laundry: if you don't like how I do it, feel free to do it yourself. Otherwise, the appropriate response to having someone else do the work is "thank you"


(This is why DH does the laundry now :bouncy:)
I have the same rule. DH was complaining about the groceries and what I did buy and what I didn't buy. I told him he drives by about a dozen grocery stores in his 45 min commute, and he's welcome to stop in any time and buy what he wants.

[Globetrotter]

I don't see how you can have a set budget before you know how much things cost.

Thanks, guys! I was beginning to wonder if I was inept. I'm not the type to spend without thinking, so it drives me crazy! He likes to debate any and everything, and frankly it gets tiring. His family even says he's a pain in that respect - they do not envy me.

I feel like sending him this thread :D but you know he'll never let me live it down.. taking advice from people online and all. If only he knew!!

[DebbieJ]

We get estimates, save up the money, then pay cash for it. Right now I'm pricing laminate flooring, but we won't get it until we have the money saved up and can pay for it outright. Until then I will deal with my horrible family room floor.

[maestramommy]

We do the same as you do, get multiple bids, then go with one based on cost and whether we think we'll like working with a certain person. As for budget. Every month we try to set aside money in savings. We had a set amount we always wanted to have for an emergency. Whatever is over that is what we can spend. Our realtor gave us what I thought was pretty sage advice. Every year you do one home repair or improvement project. Whatever money you have available that's what you spend. So if one year you have $500, that's what you spend. If one year you have $50, that's what you spend. But do SOMETHING every year, so it doesn't pile up on you.

[niccig]

We do the same as you do, get multiple bids, then go with one based on cost and whether we think we'll like working with a certain person. As for budget. Every month we try to set aside money in savings. We had a set amount we always wanted to have for an emergency. Whatever is over that is what we can spend. Our realtor gave us what I thought was pretty sage advice. Every year you do one home repair or improvement project. Whatever money you have available that's what you spend. So if one year you have $500, that's what you spend. If one year you have $50, that's what you spend. But do SOMETHING every year, so it doesn't pile up on you.

I like that. I'm also thinking of putting a bit extra aside on top of the mortgage. If I do it every month, then they'll be a little stash for home improvements...not sure yet,still thinking about it.

Like Debbie J. we save up for it. We're getting quotes for our driveway and when we showed concern over the quote, he tried to tell us they have a payment plan and no interest for one year. NO WAY. We have the money to pay for it, it's a matter of what we think is the best value for money/quality quote.

[Globetrotter]

We have the money to pay for it, it's a matter of what we think is the best value for money/quality quote.

That's us. We have the money, but the question is, is it worth dipping into our savings for a given project.

[kijip]

Step one in ANY budgeting process is knowing what things cost, period. I might like custom window treatments to cost $2 or $2000 but unless I have experience with buying custom window treatments I have no frame of reference until I shop around, get quotes and bids etc. The only time your husband's approach would work for me is on totally frivolous things like "if I could get a new TV for $200, I would but if it cost more than that, I am not in the market".

[egoldber]

I think it is important to get bids, but I also have an upper ceiling. Even if something is a bargain or a good price, if it's not what we want to spend, then we don't get it. So I think both are important.