How Do I Budget for Home Repairs?

Nothing can derail your finances like a home repair you didn’t expect. For example, replacing an appliance, shelling out for a new roof, or a plumbing emergency can all be costly. Generally, the smartest approach is to budget for these expenses in advance. That lets you save up funds to manage these costs, making them easier to handle. But how exactly do you budget for home repairs, particularly if you aren’t sure what will need fixing when? To help you answer that question, here are Read more [...]

My Contractor Charges What? How to Find Out the REAL Fair Market Price of Services

When you’re looking to hire a contractor, it’s usually for a big job. You’re probably expecting to pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for the work, but you also want to make sure you aren’t paying too much. Figuring out the real fair market value of a contractor’s services can be tricky. Each job they perform is unique, so they usually don’t just have a basic list of prices you can review. This means you’ll need to do some legwork to figure it out. If you’re ready Read more [...]