Budgeting

 When you ball on a budget like us, you have to make everything count.

My handyman works for free...but I do have to provide him with an endless stream of cokes to keep him motivated. :)

We're trying to save money where we can, which is so hard when you're trying to work on a home because everything is so EXPENSIVE.  Take high-quality paint for example...there is no way I'm spending $30 per gallon on paint. No freaking way.  So, we tapped into the power of the take-back paint shelf. If you don't know what this is...be prepared to have you mind blown.

There is a shelf at Lowes and Home Depot where they put the paint that people never pick up.  Most of the time it's the custom-colored paints, which usually means it was mixed with a high quality base color.  We strolled over there to look for paint for the garage...and hit the jackpot.  Two tan-ish light colored primer & paint that were almost the same color....for $5 per can.  Yes, that is a savings of $25 dollars per can!!!   We mixed the two together, and bam - custom garage color.

Now...stay with me here...if you happen upon the take-back paint shelf and find the holy grail of take-back paints - a whiteish color - you can have the worker (if you smile pretty) add a custom color to tint it to your desired color - or pick up a couple of custom sample paints and add them yourself. Mixing your own paint can be very rewarding for a DIYer - - Just be careful to make sure you have enough paint to complete your project. If you run out, you'll likely never be able to re-create the color again.

Slowly but surely, we're getting the garage back in fighting shape: