Sweat Equity – Doing it Yourself Saves Money!

What our kitchen project actually cost:

I thought I would share with everyone what it actually cost us to redo our kitchen. I am pretty proud of how much we actually spent (or didn’t spend) to finish this project. The BIG money saver was the labor. With the exception of 1 job, we did everything in this kitchen ourselves. That saved us BIG TIME. If we would have had to pay for labor we would not have been able to afford doing this project at this time. We also recycled some materials for additional savings. Using recycled or used supplies can be a big money saver, not to mention being better for the environment.

The breakdown:

Bricking in the Window (paid a bricklayer to do this work)	$175
Ceiling Wood	$145
Electric Supplies	$250
Drywall Supplies	$125
Floor – Rental of Machine, Sanding Paper, Stain, Polyurethane	$180
Window Trim Wood	$40
Paint & Stain for Wall, Woodwork, Shelves	$105
Shelves - Wood	$100
Shelves – Brackets (from Ikea)	$100
Window Blind	$24
Cabinets (Martha Stewart at Home Depot)	$3000
Countertop (Corian)	Free – Remnants from another project that were unused
Countertop (Supplies for Installation – includes: glue, Carbide blades for saw, a new rotary sander, sanding paper, new router bit)	$225
Sink	$279
Faucet	$129
Plumbing Supplies  (many of the pipes we used were recycled from another job)	$90
Stove	Free – Taken from a house that was torn down
Microwave	Free – Christmas present 3 years ago from family
Dishwasher	$450
Garbage Disposal	$80
Refrigerator	$253 – Floor Model - Discontinued
Cabinet Knobs	$81
Cabinet Pulls	$40
Counter Hinges (for eating area)	$22
Light Fixture Glass	$1 (used from Construction Junction)
Light Fixture Base	$20
Baseboard Wood	$30
Insulation (where window was bricked in)	$7
Tools purchased specifically for this job	$80
Misc. paint brushes, nails, screws, hardware, etc.	$100
Labor	FREE – WE DID IT OURSELVES!
TOTAL MONEY WE SPENT	$6131.00

Here are some other ways that we saved money. Whenever we knew we were going to be buying a lot of supplies from Home Depot or Lowes we would do two things before buying:

1. We went to the post office and asked for a moving kit. These contain coupons to save 10% from Lowes. Home Depot also honors these coupons. If you are buying a lot, 10% can be a nice savings.

2. We would buy gift cards from our local grocery store (Giant Eagle) for the store where we were going to purchase supplies. At certain times of the year Giant Eagle gives 20₵ towards gasoline for every $50 spent on gift cards. When we ordered our kitchen cabinets at Home Depot we paid for them in gift cards. The kitchen cabinet purchase gave us 2 free tanks of gas. We were going to spend that money anyway, so saving a little bit in other areas of our budget was an added perk.

If you have any questions about anything, please leave me a comment. We are happy to share any information that will help another family in their remodeling work.