I seriously uuhhmmed and ahhhed about whether or not I wanted to do another costing post this year. Partly because I didn’t keep a track of finances in the same way, I did before (aka – it’s all been a bit messy!) and partly because I feel like we’ve somehow overspent on the DIY considering we haven’t done all that much. But none-the-less, I’m keeping the traditions and going to share our total renovation costings. So here we go, calculators at the ready!
As I’ve said before, I like to share the full reality of our renovations – how much it’s costing us, as well as how much stress it causes or how much work it involves. A large part of renovating is spending money – so to me, it makes sense to share that too. And by doing so, I hope it also helps others to see how far (or not so far!) your money can go in the world of renovating, DIY-style.
You can see our 2016 total renovation costings here and our 2015 renovation costings here.
As for 2017… Well, here we go:
Total Spent on Materials: £1115
(this includes things like plaster, plasterboard, screws, paints, timber, sanding sheets etc)
Total Spent on Tradesmen: £0
Total Spent on Fixtures, Fittings & Appliances: £4099
(this includes kitchen units, worktops, handles and kitchen appliances)
Total Spent in the Garden: £228
(includes decking oil, screws and timber for all outdoor projects)
(includes decking oil, screws and timber for all outdoor projects)
Total Spent on new DIY Tools: £237
(includes saws, drill bits, our new laser measure etc)
(includes saws, drill bits, our new laser measure etc)
Total Renovation Cost for 2017: £5679
Other Furnishing Costs: £151
(includes a table, rug, chairs)
(includes a table, rug, chairs)
Yiiiiiikes. That’s still a pretty chunky price tag IMO. We managed to keep costs down by not having any tradespeople in at all (hurrah!) but the cost of installing a whole new kitchen, worktops and new appliances really took the bulk of the cost. Kitchens are never cheap, so I guess that was to be expected, but I still think we got a fairly good deal on the kitchen, considering the quality of it.
We spent quite a bit on new appliances this year and whilst this wasn’t “essential” as our old appliances did work, they were well and truly out of date, used and abused. Our old fridge/freezer was quite small and the washing machine made all kinds of odd noises. We decided not to go down the secondhand route for either of those and we also didn’t purchase the cheapest of the cheap either. So more savings could have been made here – but then, I’m super pleased with the items we did buy – and none are integrated, so they’re ours forever!
As for everything else – we didn’t spend have any other dramatic buys, simply spending a fiver here and there which soon adds up. Our biggest tool spend was on the Plunge Saw, which amounted to nearly half the total tool spend. It’s been such a useful buy though, and we’ve used it on end panels, the worktops and have since used it a few times on other DIYs as well!
This year we also used up all our renovation savings (the money we had put aside from the sale of our previous house), and the loan we took out almost 2 years ago is also now long gone. So from here on out, we’ll be surviving solely on our monthly disposable income for renovating – which really isn’t a lot, however, we have now tackled both the kitchen and the bathroom, so hopefully, costs should be massively cheaper from here on.
Most Expensive Purchase of 2017:
£2521 Kitchen Units – kinda expensive but I know lots of people who have spent considerably more, so I don’t think was too bad.
£780 On Appliances – expensive for sure, but it’s nice to have new toys isn’t it?!
Most Bargain/Discounted Purchase:
£24 Hallway Table from eBay was absolute steal. The sellers brought it with them all the way from New Zealand so it’s truly a one-of-a-kind table here in the UK. It’s made from solid wood, in immaculate condition and was a bargain!
So I think that’s about it. This year’s total renovation spend! I can already hear 2018 calling for my money, ha. Watch this space for more expensive (and not so expensive!) renovation updates 😉
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