<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Home Improvement Expenses

Home Improvement Expenses

June 7th, 2012 at 09:51 pm

Ever since I've been out of school for summer break, I've been trying to get some projects taken care of. Last week I cleaned the garage. I decided it was time to replace the miniblinds that came with the house when we bought it 14 years ago. For the past 14 years, I've washed and scrubbed them when I cleaned the garage, but they are so soiled, they looked bad. So, I thought I'd splurge and replace them.

I haven't purchased blinds for awhile and I can say I had sticker shock, even for the cheaper ones. I didn't want fancy ones, just basic blinds.

After visiting two home improvement places, I bought two blinds (one store didn't have the size I needed), a quart of exterior white paint, a pint of interior white paint, a brush, a furnace filter, a can of Pledge, and 4 caps for wheels for a wagon. We spent nearly $60 on this and I can say I was shocked. These are just little projects and $60 in less than 30 minutes! Ouch!

I painted the trim on the garage door and the regular door to the garage, and hung up the blinds. So, two more projects are completed. Last summer when I painted the trim, I used the paint I had bought about 12 years ago, but alas, the paint came to an end last year. I figure doing a little trim paint here and there not only freshens up the trim, it also protects the wood from the elements.

The caps are for the wagon I painted. Years ago my mom gave my husband a wagon to haul stuff around the yard. It has sat in the weather for these years and it was pretty ratty looking. I took a steel brush and tried to get the peeling paint and rust off of it and then I painted it with some paint I had purchased previously. It looks better, but it will never look showroom new...it is starting to rust out in spots, but I figure anything is better than having it look so bad.

I think I know why folks put off projects...not only because of the work, but also because of the expense. I realize this isn't a huge amount of money, but it seemed like we got so little for what we spent. But, I'm trying to look at it as an investment in our house by maintaining things.

Posted in Shopping | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Home Improvement Expenses”

  1. crazyliblady Says:
    June 8th, 2012 at 01:51 am 1339120316
    1339120316

    I have bought very good, but inexpensive mini blinds at Big Lots in my town. For a relatively normal width like 24 inches or so, I think they are about $3.00. The prices go up from there depending on the width and such, but are not much. They only have white or off white, though, but I don't want weird colors anyway. I bought several of them when I moved into our new-to-us house almond 2 years ago because the existing ones were about to fall down.

  2. rob62521 Says:
    June 8th, 2012 at 12:36 pm 1339159006
    1339159006

    I never thought about Big Lots...wish I had. I only wanted white. Thanks for the info!

  3. Jerry Says:
    June 10th, 2012 at 10:02 pm 1339365769
    1339365769

    Yes, I agree. "Biggles" (as my wife calls it) can lead to great savings on stuff like this. It's a mixed bag, of course, and you don't usually have the insurance of great quality and brand names, but you can find some decent stuff there for cheap sometimes!
    Jerry

  4. Jerry Says:
    June 10th, 2012 at 10:04 pm 1339365841
    1339365841

    Yes, I agree. "Biggles" (as my wife calls it) can lead to great savings on stuff like this. It's a mixed bag, of course, and you don't usually have the insurance of great quality and brand names, but you can find some decent stuff there for cheap sometimes!%

  5. crazyliblady Says:
    June 11th, 2012 at 11:29 pm 1339457391
    1339457391

    I will grant that you can't always find top-notch stuff there, but I can find stuff that I can't buy anywhere else in my town. I would not buy expensive electronics there, though. In fact, when I went to buy the new blinds, Home Depot did not have the right sizes for all the windows I wanted to put new blinds on. Also, I am able to buy some food items there that are not available in local supermarkets. With "biggles", I would have to buy them online or go out of town.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]