Are you planning a home remodeling or construction project? A project budget worksheet is the first thing you need for a successful project. And I’ve created the perfect one.
I’m a single mama with champagne taste on a juice box budget, yet I’ve still successfully flipped three homes, all on a very tight budget.
My tricks? A budget plan. Knowing when to save and when to splurge. Knowing where to find deals and how to get the look for less.
In this post, I’m sharing the essential parts of a successful budget, and you can even snag a copy of the project budget worksheet that I use for all my projects!
Let’s get to the good stuff.
Disclaimer: Please remember that I am a DIY enthusiast, not a professional. This article is for general information use and is not a substitute for professional advice. Before taking any actions, consult a professional! Additionally, this may contain affiliate links where I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using my link. All opinions and recommendations are my own. I truly appreciate you taking my suggestions and using my links. Thank you for being so supportive!
Free Project Budget Worksheet Template
A project without a budget is like going to Target without any money to spend; it’s a bad idea. You don’t need fancy google sheets or excel spreadsheets, and you also don’t need some super complicated and detailed project budget that takes you longer to complete than it does to do the project. I get it, your time is limited, and the last thing you want is to be crunching numbers, adding up how much money you’ve already spent when you’re not even able to enjoy the finished space.
Instead, you can use my simple project budget template that tracks only the essential numbers to keep you from overspending. Being your project manager means you’re in charge of the spending. And when you have an easy-to-use and follow system for tracking how much you’re spending, sticking to your project budget is no sweat.
The purpose of the project budget is to plan how much you can spend and how much things actually cost. That’s it! Easy-peasy.
Budgeting Process
The best way to become a project budgeting expert is to:
- be realistic when planning how much you think you’ll spend (spoiler alert – things cost way more than you could ever imagine)
- you have to track every single amount spent towards the project (those quick trips for a missing supply add up real quick, trust me)
To come up with cost estimates, I first research what I can expect to pay, including labor and materials. Since I do many home projects on my own, my cost estimates only include the materials.
Do a brain dump of all the parts that will go into completing the project. Then, once you have all the items listed, assign each item a rough estimate of the project costs. At this point in the budgeting process, I suggest overestimating these amounts and using rounded numbers for easy math.
I’ll then play with the numbers to see how I can tweak my plans and design to come in at a final cost that I am comfortable with. Then, as I’m shopping for my supplies, I’ll reference this budgeting worksheet to ensure I’m sticking to my allowance. If I’m finding it hard to stay on budget, I’ll go over the budget costs for that particular item, but I make a note of this and cut costs on another thing to ensure the entire project stays on budget.
Budget Management Using a Project Budget Worksheet
Managing the financial details of your project can be painless, especially when you have set costs to track. To keep it simple, these three items are:
- labor costs
- material costs
- miscellaneous costs
Knowing my actual budget when I go into a store is helpful to keep me on track. For example, if I’m shopping for tile flooring for my bathroom, and I have a budget of $500, I know the exact price per square foot I can go up to, and I won’t even entertain the idea of something higher than my budget.
It takes a bit of self-control, but if you put those blinders on, with a little time and patience, you will eventually find something you love that is also within your budget.
Shopping sales are another way I stay within budget. Lowes is notorious for having huge sales right after the new year. Let me tell you about the tile I snagged for my bathroom as an example of how good these sales are. I picked up a fun black and white patterned tile for $7. Yes, seven dollars for enough tile flooring to do my entire master bathroom!!
Project Management
Another important part of managing your home project is the actual tasks needed to complete the project. To keep things simple and organized, I track these details of the projects separately from the budget.
The things you need to be concerned about for project management are the project name, the start and anticipated end dates, individual tasks, how much time is necessary to complete tasks, and all the various resources related to the project tasks.
As you can see, a lot more detail goes into project management, which is why I track my budget separately. When I’m trying to stay on budget for a project, I need to be laser focused!
Project Budget Worksheet Challenge
You should test out the project budget worksheet with a little room refresh challenge. Here it is: Find a room in your home that needs a little love. Maybe your living room, mud room, or bathroom has been neglected, or you are waiting to save money to renovate. If this is the case, how about putting a small amount of money into it now?
Give yourself a few hundred dollars towards a room refresh. Using the project budget worksheet, divide out how much you will spend on each item that goes into the refresh. Shop sales, shop your home, shop the thrift stores. Do whatever it takes to stick to your tiny budget, and then sit back and be amazed at how good your room looks for very little money.
I’m suggesting you try the project budget worksheet on a smaller project like this for a few reasons, so you can see how easy it is to use, understand how it helps you, and be familiar with it once you have a much larger project to manage. Also, I love a challenge, so this is a fun way to play around with decor.
Next time you plan a project, imagine how much easier it will be to track and stick to your budget with this project budget worksheet. After reading this, I hope you are inspired to plan your next project. Make it fun, and challenge yourself to see if you can give a room in your home a makeover on a very tiny budget. I know you can do it using my tips and worksheet!
I would love to see you putting this project budget worksheet to work; tag me in a photo on Instagram @tantrumsandtools or email me your pics!
xo
Amanda
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