Thursday, January 15, 2009

Budget

Brad and I have money saved as well as from the sale of our last house to use towards this house.  At first, we were saving it for the down payment, but then realized that building is different than buying.  There really isn't a need to spend the loan money, just to replay it with the saved "down payment," so that money is now going to fund the projects we are heading up.  Like the flooring, cabinets, paint and such.  
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onight after work, we are meeting with the builder so have a status check on the budget.  WE have been pretty much in line.  We need to see if HE was too.  Via phone updates, he has claimed that we (he) have been under on pretty much everything.  But it has been minimal amounts.  Stone was $600 less than anticipated, which was great.  Foundation was less.  Still don't have a total on doors and windows.  Which is why we haven't ordered our front door yet. 
I know we had decided on a door a while back, pictured here, but, Brad thinks he would rather have a door called "Craftsman" that is a fiberglass door, finished to look like mahogany.  This would cut down on any maintenance, and would be cheaper.  I'm just not 100% on what it would look like in an eight-foot door. 
As much as we would love to come in under budget and save gobs of money, that's not going to happen.  We did what everyone always does, and we overspent.  But not terribly.  We changed from the stained concrete to a bamboo floor in the main room and tile in the bathrooms.  The tile is about $2 a square foot, and the bamboo is $2.50, which is relatively cheap, but still so much more than the pennies per square foot we were anticipating with the stain.  
SO, we need to have saved enough to be able to make up for this. 

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