As I was doing the final inspection before taking possession of my home, the blue carpet runners on the brown staircase stuck out like a sore thumb. I took out my pocket sized diary and noted refinishing of the staircase as among the things to do once I move into the new home. The initial quote I received for staircase refinishing ran into few thousand dollars and I did not have that kind of money lying in my bank account.
After paying for the downpayment on my mortgage and buying basic furniture and move in essentials, I barely had enough money left to cover the next month mortgage. The staircase project got de prioritized and moved into next years plan with the hope that my bank account would see better days after an year.
Following years, the quote for this project continued to be in the range of few thousand dollars including the cost of new runners and I did not see the value of spending thousands of dollars on aesthetic improvements. I was not be able to justify the return on investment as I was not planning to sell the home in the near future.
Returns from investment in US real estate has barely covered inflation for the past many decades and it did not seem financially prudent to sink more money without any returns. Consumer reports suggest that minor kitchen and bath upgrades , repainting and changing of dated light fixtures do appeal to buyers and can increase the value of a home. But I was not planning to sell.
Five more years went by with us coexisting happily with the blue staircase runner and the dated staircase before I decided to take the matter into my own hands. I did some basic research and made a list of things required – new carpet runner, good quality rug pads ( these are laid under the carpet and apart from giving a soft and cushioned feel to the carpets, also help in increasing the life of the carpet), staple gun, electric sander, painters tape, wood polish and paint ( I decided to paint the spindles and the staircase raise in white color).
I did have the sander and the staple guns, so would not need to buy any new tools. I am reasonably handy with tools so was fairly confident to attempt this project myself. Here is what I spent on the project.
Carpet runner – $ 95 (Home delivered from Amazon)
Carpet pads – $ 15 ( from lowes)
Sand paper – $ 6
Wood polish – $ 19 ( Home Depot)
White paint – $ 18 ( Behr- Home Depot)
Labour – FREE
Before and After pictures with the new runner and painted spindles and rises.
Joy of a project completed – PRICELESS
So for less than $155 I completed a project for which I was quoted close to fifteen hundred dollars. The $1250 which I saved by doing the project myself , if invested in a low cost index fund will grow to a respectable amount of $10,000 in thirty years assuming 7% annual returns .
Every $1000 saved and added to this initial saving will grow and become significant amounts over time, by the magic of compounding. Before long you will be staring at giant ball of savings, increasingly growing in size without any effort from your end.
Conventional financial advice recommends saving about 5% of your income. At those saving levels you are looking at being dependent on your work income right unto retirement age of 65. If you are looking at expediting your financial independence , then savings rate of 5% will not move the needle, you have to commit to saving 25% or higher.
There are many opportunities to eliminate wastefulness from your life. Increased consumption does not equate to increased happiness. If you are good with tools, look at home projects your can do yourself, Maybe you should use your own muscle power to mow your lawn rather than outsourcing to a company operating oversized gas guzzling and noise polluting machines. Look around the house – are there wasteful expenditures which you can eliminate? Are you spending a lot on eating outside? Do you have expensive hobbies?
Find out what brings you true happiness and you may find that many of the wasteful expenditures do not bring in happiness and can be eliminated. Do you need that new model of the latest SUV? Is it worth working another three years in order to keep up with your neighbors purchases? Can you move to a smaller house? Can you move closer to work so that you save on time and on transportation costs.
Possibilities are many. It is important to find out what is important for you? Cut out the frills and simplify your life. As a bonus you may find that you have achieved financial independence much before the retirement age. So then you have all this extra time to travel the world, volunteer your time for a cause or continue to work if that is what makes you happy! But the freedom to choose will be yours and that will be priceless!
For more stories on personal finance read why am i invested 100% in stocks.