Deals we Scored

A lot of people have questioned our budget and if we can pull off only spending $10-15,000. It is definitely a low number, but ,we are confident that we will hit it. First, we are doing everything ourselves. Labor costs are outrageous and  Tim has experience in most areas of construction. Secondly, we feel if you really know the value of something and shop it out, you can find a great deal on something if you know what a great deal is! You have to do your homework. Unfortunately, many people out there will try and sell something used that is priced the same as a new item in the store. People just think if it’s on craigslist or ebay then it must be a good deal. Not always the case.  Home Depot or Lowes will often clearance out stuff and it makes it cheaper than any used item you could buy. On the other hand, there are some amazing deals on these sites, you just have to be looking a few times a day and jump on it when you see it. That is what happened with our appliances.

Since the kitchen is small, I wanted to go with an all white cabinet/ appliance cottage look. Fresh, white, open, and easy to clean with some spray bleach cleaner.

The Appliances

When I saw this ad on craigslist, I knew it could be a steal. Typically, when people sell off a whole appliance package, they are re-doing their kitchen and have set all of the appliances out in their garage and want them GONE! These people were going from an all white kitchen to a stainless steel kitchen. The appliances are all matching and only 3 years old.

Tim called after it was posted and he was asking $1200 OBO. Tim asked how much he would come off and the guy said, “Well, I would take $900 for all of it.” Tim just paused before he answered. Then the guy said, “Well… I’d take $800 for them all.” So, all Tim did was call and this guy talked himself down from $1200 to $800! Here is a pic of the appliances, it was an unbelievable deal! Granted it took him a morning to go and get them and sometimes craigslist people can be flakey, but we have them!

The Toilet

You know you are renovating a home, when you get excited about a toilet!! I went to Home Depot and shopped their clearance isle. Low and behold, I found a beaten box under a shelf that had no price… YES!!! After opening it, the potty was in perfect shape, the box just looked awful! So, I’m an annoying shopper and had an employee paged to come help me. (BTW, I did have my 2 small children with me who were climbing on and off the potty while I was also trying to explain to my 3  year old why he couldn’t go in it). Anyway, someone finally showed up and said, “How does $60 sound??” I tried not to act too excited, so I just smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll take it.” I had looked up the price and this toilet was 1 aisle over for $300! It is expensive b/c it is a low flow toilet with very energy efficient.

The Sink Vanity for the Bathroom

Again, I don’t hold guns to people’s heads to get a deal….. I went to Home Depot, straight back to the clearance aisle, and found this vanity. It retails for $350. It was the floor model so there were a few scratches on the side. No big whoop b/c we are putting it next to a wall. We simply asked if we could buy the actual floor model and they said…..” Sure! And we’ll give you an additional 10% off since its not in a box.” We also had a $10 off coupon so it brought this beautiful, all wood, granite and sink top vanity down to $115 outta pocket. Thank you very much!

Bathroom faucet and light fixture

Stopped in Lowes today since Home Depot was kicking their butt with deals recently…. they made up for it! I found a $40 faucet clearanced out for $14 and an awesome light fixture that was $60 clearanced out to $25! We have gone under-budget for the bathroom so far, so that is music to my ears!

Holy Bathtub, Batman!

This has been the best deal so far. I went to Lowes and at the back of the aisle, I saw tons of boxes and a price tag that was $198 and marked down to $25. I paged a helper and when he got there I asked him what that price tag went to. He said, “well, what are you looking for?” I said, “Whatever was $200 and is now $25, I don’t care what it is, I want it!” So, he matched up the numbers on a box and the price tag and low and behold it was a BATHTUB!! Whoa Nellie, we’ll take it!! It was just a tub that the brand was getting clearanced out, go figure. Since i had to have it RIGHT then, I took it home in my Honda. That’s right baby.

Cabinets for the kitchen

So we got a killer deal on kitchen cabinets. I’m still in complete shock about the whole thing! Craigslist, that’s where we found them. $25 a cabinet! They are probably worth a couple thousand dollars. We scored bigtime with all white, custom, wood built cabinets. They are raised panel, trim added, white cabinets. I really want a clean, open, fresh looking kitchen. I found this picture and it is similar to the look I am going for. You get the basic idea…

I found this ceiling fan at Lowes… last one! I got it for $50! It was retailing for $100 there and i saw it for $160 online, but it was marked down! And… if you buy the display, they give you another 10% off! So, this is our nice family room ceiling fan!  Lowes seems to beat everyone when it comes to light fixtures and faucets so far.

Well-worth the wait!!!

I have become a toilet hunter. Since our house is on a septic tank, I really want to help conserve water! Im not some crazy environmental person, but normal toilets can take 3-4 gallons of water per flush! Well, Kohler has come out with some toilets that are pretty awesome. Only 1 to 1.5 gallons per flush. They are low flow and high efficiency. Anywho, they come with a price tag. These toilets can range from $200 to $300. I found one of them on home depot clearance on a earlier post, the Kohler Archer toilet. Today, I found the Kohler Wellworth Elongated toilet new in box on craigslist today for $75.

Kitchen Sink, faucet, and soap dispenser

Found this baby on craigslist. Someone’s office went out of business after 2 years and this was from the kitchen there. It is a $150 sink with a $150 Delta faucet w/ detatchable sprayer and soap pump. I negotiated it for $60. I’m very proud of my sink deal. You gotta have a good kitchen sink!

Dining Room Chandelier- typical Lowes clearance found on the lighting isle. Was $90 marked down to $40. A pretty good deal, but the right color I was looking for.

Potrack- Since our kitchen is small and I have some awesome huge windows in there, I am hanging a potrack above the sink. This craigslist seller just no idea the value of these things. They are wrought iron beautiful pot racks that START at $200. I found this one for $20 on craigslist. I happily paid him his $20 and didn’t negotiate at all =)

Tiffany Night Light – You may think this is ugly like my husband does, but I had to have it. I saw it and wanted it in my half bath for a night light. I just looked 100% Nellie Mae. It’s a turtle and I love him. He was $30 and I got him for $8.

 Countertops

So Tim went to Home Depot and these were outside along with others, CLEARANCED OUT!! They are laminate, but the “fake granite look”. These look like black granite. They were originally $127 each and he got them for $27 each. So awesome!