Looking Good While Saving Cash

Early on in my journey toward financial independence, I lived a little differently than I do now.  I’ve previously shared some of the habits that got me here in How to Save Over $100,000 Without Giving Anything Up and My Top 80 Ways to Spend Less Money.  However, I am not the same frugal monster that I was early on.  It’s not like I suddenly joined the Gucci Gang driving ridiculous cars and walking around in gold chains next to a tiger throwing around garbage bags full of… well you get the idea (gucci gang, gucci gang, gucci gang…).  I may not be doing some of the more insanely extreme money saving things of my youth, but I still drive my used Accord creeping up over 180K miles and I save a few dollars where I can.  The habits that get you the real wealth of piece of mind don’t just go away when a bank account investment account hits a certain threshold.

One Month of Saving Cash and Looking Good

Over the past month we have been spending lots of time at home like many others.  I thought it would be fun to look at some of the ways we’ve saved thousands just this month on some home improvements and share a glimpse at the thought process along the way to make things look good without breaking the bank.

Since we bought our house back around 2010, the real estate market has gone off the rails and like the last bubble has rocketed up to crazy heights.  However, back in 2010 we actually bought a little more house than we needed at the time.  We did this because fewer people wanted these houses back then. The market was flooded with 4 bedroom places while everyone was downsizing to 3 bedrooms in the area.  Now real estate has blown up like fidget spinners in 2017. We find ourselves living in a house that we really like and that I would never purchase at today’s prices. So how do I maintain this place without breaking the bank?

A Grand Entrance For Less

My lady wanted to update the golden yellow stained wood bannisters in our house. This is the color (on top in the pic below) that every builder seemed to put in every house in the late 90’s and early 00’s. 

However, we didn’t feel right about ripping out perfectly good railings and spending thousands just to make something look updated.  At the same time estimates we saw for re-finishing were over $1-2K.  Should we just bite the bullet and pay for new ones? It’s almost the same price?  We chose to think as builders rather than consumers.  It took 20-30 hours of labor to clean, sand, prime, and multi-coat paint these things:

I was able to just queue up a podcast and paint a few hours per day.  It was nice to have a side project and after a month the whole entry way looks pretty swank. I wonder who lives there, probably someone with style and grace. I was skeptical about buying higher end paint but the higher concentration of solids means less coats of paint saving big labor time. The paint is also supposed to be much harder which will make it last longer. Hence, I recommend going at least more mid range on paint for railings and things that will be hit and kicked. 

Blinded By The Light

After 20 years, the custom blinds in our bedroom were pretty broken.  Whenever we opened them, plastic pieces that had disintegrated in the sun rained down. It took one person cranking the cord while the other carefully lifted the blind to make them rise and fall.  Moreover, there was a tiny gap on the side that always hit my eye perfectly with a laser of sunlight each morning at 6am like Poe’s lantern in a Telltale Heart.  After several repairs, it was time for something new.  

My lady looked at new custom drapes for our double window and our jaws dropped at the $2500 price tag. It is a 10′ X 12′ covering but still what are they made of gold?  My lady wanted something fancy that would withstand the sun and she started googling.  She chatted with a Lithuanian woman over Etsy and a few weeks later we put together these hand made Belgian linen blackout drapes with a second sheer sun layer at a total cost of just over $800. 

Not only do they look great, but we got to save some cash and buy directly from an entrepreneur. 

Re-Slinging Patio Furniture

With all of the at home time over the last few months, our deck has been getting a workout. After about 10 years of use, the polymer slings on our patio furniture were flaking apart and some had holes. 

We looked at new deck furniture but these sets now cost thousands.  Thinking like builders rather than consumers we wondered if we could re-use the steel frames and get new slings.  After some more online searching by Mrs Maze, we were able to find a guy who made us a replacement set for just over $300.  It took some labor and a nice power drill but my lady and I were able to take apart the chairs and re-sling them while watching some house hunters international together in the evenings. 

We should get another 10 years out of these rather than spending $1200-1500 on a new set.

Fancy House and Fat Bank Account

These are just a few examples over the last month of how we save cash while still living pretty swank at our place.  While these things take some time and creativity, they fit pretty easily into our lives.  Doing something while watching TV, or just putting in an hour or two on a project each day can have big results over a month.  

Interior Design For Free

Generally, Mrs Maze likes a nicer looking house than yours truly.  In fact, one of her secrets is that she sometimes looks through Pinterest and Crate and Barrel or Restoration Hardware catalogs and gets ideas.  Then she makes or buys something very similar online at a huge savings.  

This set of jars inspired by an old timey doctors office is one example.  She saw something like it for $60 on Crate and Barrel and bought something similar online for $20.  

Nice House….and Nice Marriage

All of these awesome projects were inspired by Mrs Maze. In truth, I probably would not have noticed most of them for several months until something became unusable. I am not exactly an interior design champ. However, part of a marriage is working to give each the life and environment that they want. I certainly don’t mind having a nicer place and putting in some work here and there. We were able to do it in a way that works for both of our sentiments while balancing cost and benefit. I call that a win.

Have you been doing any projects at home lately? Share your cash saving and home improving ideas and tips in the comments below. Or read others.

I’m passionate about financial independence, happiness, successful habits, and adventure. Consider subscribing below to get a weekly email directly from me with a few thoughts and latest articles. It’s totally free and totally worth it, I promise.