Five ways to save money on DIY jobs | Home improvements

Five ways to save money on DIY jobs | Home improvements

Place your focus on the small jobs

The cost of materials for big home improvements such as loft conversions and extensions is soaring. Prices change all the time but Office for National Statistics figures show they are on average 26% higher than a year ago. In that period, the cost of steel bars, for example, has risen by about 58%.

However, you don’t need to extend your loft or replace your kitchen to transform your home. You can focus on smaller jobs such as replacing doors, handles and taps, and painting cabinets and wooden tables for a new look. There are lots of money-saving bloggers and upcycling influencers such as @crack_the_shutters, @ joannecondon and Shoestring Cottage that may offer inspiration.

Joanne Condon, the author of Furniture Crush, and an upcycling expert, says: “As the new trend of working from home collides with the rising cost of living, we need to look at how we can make better use of our homes without spending a fortune.

A brass door knob on a door
You can transform your home by focusing on small jobs such as replacing door handles or taps. Photograph: Peter Alvey/Alamy

“We also need to think of multifunctional uses when we think of items we already have in our homes. For example, old drawers can turn into mini herb gardens, planting pots, pet beds and wall shelves. You can upcycle a wardrobe into a pantry press or bookcase by shelving it.”

Buy ex-display or secondhand

If you want to take on the big jobs, you

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Should we overpay the mortgage and borrow money for house renovations? | Mortgages

Should we overpay the mortgage and borrow money for house renovations? | Mortgages

Q We now have a home loan of £122,000 and want to full some dwelling renovations costing £25,000. We can afford to pay for to help you save about £500 a month to set in the direction of the house renovations but it would get us decades to conserve. Would it be worth overpaying the home loan and then borrowing the quantity we will need? Our fastened amount finishes in January 2024.
AW

A You’ve dropped me. I never fully grasp why you would overpay your house loan only to borrow it back at some level in the long run. I’m also a small apprehensive that due to the fact you have a set-amount deal there will be a limit – generally 10% of the exceptional financial loan – on how substantially you can overpay. In your scenario that signifies you could be confined to overpaying £12,200 this calendar year but as that’s a bit additional than 2 times the £500 a month you have heading spare, you are unlikely to breach your lender’s limits. But as I claimed right before, why would you want to overpay unless of course it is for the reason that your present-day home finance loan represents the most your loan company is well prepared to lend you.

It is also unclear when you are scheduling to have the renovations finished. If it is as shortly as doable, it may be an notion to check with your lender if it is ready to maximize your

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These San Ramon Location Restaurants Received Revitalization Money

SAN RAMON, CA — The Cafe Revitalization Fund doled out more than $28.6 billion in grants to eateries that sustained economic losses through the pandemic, like various San Ramon area places to eat.

The fund was recognized as component of the American Rescue Program Act of March 2021. Extra than 101,000 eating places gained grants as of June 30, in accordance to the Small Enterprise Administration. The ordinary grant sizing was $283,000.

Restaurants ended up suitable for up to $10 million in grants, with no a lot more than $5 million for every site. Cash never have to be repaid if they are applied for eligible costs, these as payroll or rent, as a result of March 11, 2023.

The adhering to San Ramon region dining establishments were between individuals that acquired a Cafe Revitalization Fund grant. Check below for a total, searchable databases.

Business: High quality Food Services LLC

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Franchise: Denny’s
  • Grant total: $1,545,131

Company: BRASS Door INC

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Grant amount of money: $1,176,632

Company: CHAWLA LLC

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Franchise: Denny’s
  • Grant sum: $705,215

Business enterprise: BAMBOO FALLON INC

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Franchise: Inchin’s Bamboo Garden
  • Grant quantity: $401,040

Business enterprise: SOSU

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Grant total: $157,066

Business enterprise: C B 85 INC

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Grant volume: $145,041

Business: BAAGAN LLC

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Grant amount: $120,731

Business enterprise: Solar Ja Lee

  • San Ramon, CA, 94583
  • Grant amount of money: $91,596

Business: SHISH GRILL

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No money for substantial pace rail in Democrats’ CA price range monthly bill

The conspicuous absence of cash for significant-velocity rail in the $262.6 billion funds bill authorised Monday by point out legislators in Sacramento could have big implications for building work of the bullet-coach line in Fresno County and the San Joaquin Valley.

The price range bill sent by the condition Assembly and Senate to Gov. Gavin Newsom late Monday contains billions of dollars for transportation throughout the point out.

But it does not include additional than $4 billion sought by the California Significant-Velocity Rail Authority and Newsom to advance perform on the substantial-speed rail project that has been under design in Fresno, Madera, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties for for seven decades.

“If new Proposition 1A resources are not authorised, the Authority will be pressured to suspend most building activity and with that most of the 1,000 weekly construction careers will be eradicated,” the point out rail agency stated in its most up-to-date company prepare. “Additionally, money will be redirected to expenditures connected to closing construction web sites and, afterwards, to delay promises.”

Each properties of the Legislature are managed by Democrats, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, has referred to as for the condition to redirect high-pace rail dollars to urban transportation assignments.

In his price range proposal previously this calendar year, Newsom requested the Assembly and Senate to give a green gentle to releasing the previous $4.2 billion in money from Proposition 1A, a significant-velocity rail bond evaluate accredited by California voters in 2008. Almost all of that

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