Are you planning to start a home remodeling project but don’t know how much money to set aside? Are you wondering how much to budget for your home remodeling project?

Creating a budget can be a challenge; however, with detailed financial planning and plenty of research, you can have peace of mind knowing that you are within your budget and not spending unnecessary funds.

Thanks to our partner company Hearth Home Improvement Financing, your home remodeling project can be easily funded. And by making sure you follow the following four steps, you can make every federal reserve note count.

The biggest fear many homeowners have is overspending and going over budget due to costly materials or unforeseen circumstances. But that can be avoided with a solid financial plan, talking with your contractor, and prioritizing problems.

Let’s find out how much to budget for your home remodeling project.

Step 1: Estimate the Costs First

Whether you plan on doing the remodeling work yourself or hire a professional remodeling contractor, it’s important to identify how much your project will cost altogether.

Building a spreadsheet that includes each portion of the project and the estimated cost for labor and materials is the first step to find out how much to budget for your home remodeling project. You may also want to include the cost of a dumpster rental in your remodeling budget, if your contractor doesn’t provide it.

You can determine costs by discussing with your remodeling contractor for exact details on pricing, or if you plan on performing the work on your own, researching the cost for materials is highly recommended so you can set a personalized spending budget that fits your exact needs.

Step 2: Calculate How Much to Spend

Many factors make up the cost of a home renovation such as the type and size of the room you want to remodel, where you live, the cost of materials, and how complex the project is.

As a reference point, don’t spend half the price of your home renovating a single room or area that won’t significantly increase its overall value. Determine the amount of funds you are willing to allocate for your project by looking at your monthly income and proceed from there to figure out how much to budget for your home remodeling project. If you are paying in cash, you are all set, but if you are planning to borrow money, you need to determine how much a bank is willing to lend you based on your credit history.

Once again, we recommend Hearth – simply because you can get a free quote within 60 seconds without even affecting your credit score. If nothing else, at least you’ll have an idea of what type of rates your loan will most likely have.

Step 3: Get a Quote from a Contractor

This should be easy and free. If a contractor wants to charge you money for a quote, stop and look elsewhere.

Present your remodeling plan to your contractor; this can be a list of the areas you want to be worked on in or around the house and what specific items need remodeling. This will give your contractor a clear idea of what you want to get done, in addition to providing you with an estimated time of completion and will clarify how much to budget for your home remodeling project.

Your contractor will also present you with a quote, the total cost of the project that includes the cost of materials and labor. Once there is a mutual agreement on the total cost, work can commence according to the contractor’s set schedule. However, if you have any concerns or questions about your quote, don’t hesitate to ask your contractor. 

RELATED: How To Prepare For Home Renovations

Step 4: Prioritize What Really Matters

Perhaps you want to remodel your whole house and increase its value to sell it; you want to tidy up some areas that are a bit out-of-date or fix up a couple of rooms that are showing signs of wear and tear. In order to find out how much to budget for your home remodeling project, you must set priorities.

Try to decide the priority for your remodeling project; this can mean what you want to get done immediately versus what can be taken care of later.