Money Savers

In remodeling the half bath in the house, we went looking at new vanities. The ones that looked decent were a couple of hundred dollars, and still were made of particle board. We found a "commode" at an antique store that was the right height and had 2 doors. We got it for $85. Then we went to Menard's and got a bowl sink. This cost less than a pre-made vanity and looks a lot better. It is in keeping with the age/style of the house. For those of you who have older houses, you can find a lot of "treasures" at the antique stores! :

Did something similar at my sister's. Took and old dresser and cut a bowl sink into the top. The top drawer h ad to removed to make room for the drains etc. But I just removed the front off the top drawer and fastened it in place.

Joe, I took the top drawer out and put in 2 pieces of 3/4 plywood, front to back, and cut out the middle to clear the plumbing. That leaves room for toothpaste, brushes, ibuprofen, etc; and the other 2 drawers for bigger stuff.

Money saver #2 - if you shop at Home Depot, ASK a department manager for a discount on whatever you buy. I have a Lowe's members rewards card that gives me an automatic 5% off of EVERYTHING I buy there. So I tell that to HD and they always give me a discount. Hey - for a $200 - $300 tool, that can save quite a bit!

Wow these are awesome tips. I was actually looking at vanities and they're SO expensive! I thought about constructing one myself from just a plain desk, but even those were more expensive than I thought. I'm definitely stealing your idea! I was also at HD this weekend and I saw the sign in front that said they match prices.. I didn't realize that included discounts for being a member somewhere else. LOL! That's awesome I'm definitely going to do that!

It does work, but you usually have to find at least a department manager ... the cashiers normally don't have the authority to discount. You won't ALWAYS score a discount (sometimes they're bull-headed), but I usually get at least a 5% if not 10% discount. One guy told me he'd give me a 10% discount on a $200 paint sprayer. (Haven't got it yet, but at least I know what price they're willing to go to). I went to get some wall tiles and they had some that were 4 corner pieces with an empty middle (for adding a different color 4"X4" tile) that were on clearance for about $2 apiece. 3 of them had 1 cracked corner (3 good pieces that I could still put together). I asked for a discount and the manager priced them at 10 cents apiece!

When I tried to match some kitchen cabinets to a 1940’s kitchen I saw it was impossible the old stuff was handmade and painted white. I looked at white cabinets and they would do but the new white stuff is not wood anymore. I asked the old time working at Lowes if anyone ever bought maple cabinets and painted them as the door frames of the maple ones closely matched the older design. He said people do all kinds of things, and said I would have to do some sanding first etc. then he said come with me and he had a few base cabinets that had slight scratches in the faces, not into the wood more like scuff marks and he told me I could have them for 50% off. I bought them and the next week I went in and he said I have a couple more so I got those 50% off. The next week he said this one has a funny knot in the middle of the door and no one wants it so I got another base 50% off. The following week I went in needing just one more to finish off the island and he looked at me like is this ever going to end. He said let me see and dug to the back and pulled one out that had like dust all over it as its been sitting back there a few years. He laughed and said dirty cabinets are 40% off this week.

A second story my friend went into home depot a few years ago late spring early summer time frame thru the garden center. And told the manager you better water those plants they are pretty dry and it’s going to be a hot one. The guy said ya ya I’ll get someone to do it. The next day he was going back and he saw no one watered them and told the guy and got ya ya I know. Third day same thing and they were wilting by now. Again got the ya ya answer. Next day same thing only he told the guy forget it now it’s almost too late the leaves are coming off. The guy tells him it’s at the end of the selling season anyway and he has to get rid of them. My friend said I’ll give you 50 bucks for everything maybe I can save a few. The guy said sure it will save me getting rid of them. He hauled home over 500 rhododendron, azalea, hydrangea, etc and a few flowering trees. Took them home put in the shade and watered them and 99% came back to life. His property now looks like he spent a million on landscaping.

It’s totally crazy how these places stay in business but I guess they make enough selling the first half of the stuff to be able to afford throwing away the second half.

If you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore place, there are frequently deals there ranging from new to recently removed due to remodeling. I got a very large box of new blue plastic receptacle boxes for $5.00 ... yes way.

As to sources for cabinets-into-vanities ... garage & antique flea markets are great. You should also look for estate sales.

Another money saver ... Our house has a HE gas furnace that is only 10 years old. The A/C didn't work though - I think the unit is about 25 years old. It was looking like almost 2 grand to replace the A/C unit. Not having the money for that, I thought I'd at least take a look at it myself and see if I could do anything. When I turned on the breaker, I could hear the compressor running. The fan didn't turn though - it was completely frozen up. I asked my plumber/HVAC man if he could replace the fan. He ordered a replacement fan motor, and including installation it only cost me $100. The A/C unit may be old, but it works great - and it doesn't cost much to operate. The monthly electric bill only went up a bit less than $100 a month!