SPEAKER_01: 0:20

Hello, do you want to know how to manipulate your budget when you're renovating or building? Listen up. I've got Sam back, Sam MacArthur from Wild Bird Interior Design. Hello, Sam. Hello. How are you? Wonderful. I'm curious. I want to know what is manipulating the budget when you want to renovate or when you're building. Hit me with it. Sure.

SPEAKER_00: 0:41

You want the full story now? All right. Start up. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01: 0:46

See how it flows.

SPEAKER_00: 0:47

There's a couple of ways you can manipulate your budget. Obviously, it depends if you're building new or if you're renovating building new, you're starting from the ground up, right? Like there's a lot more, there's a usually a larger budget involved than a renovation, depending on what you're doing. Unless you're building a tiny home. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's very true. So it's about like if you're renovating, for example, and you're gonna renovate your kitchen, dining, lounge, and two bathrooms. Is there an opportunity in that in those areas to sell some of the things that you've got in your home? So this is where we're talking about manipulating the budget. You've got your budget for the Reno, which might be 500,000, for example. But let's try and manipulate that budget a bit by is your kitchen okay? Can we sell that on your behalf? That's what Wild Bird Interior Design do. We can sell the kitchen on your behalf. So then you actually got money back in your back pocket.

SPEAKER_01: 1:35

Right, like actual kitchen. Like if people already have a house and you've come in to renovate their house, you can take the old kitchen out and sell that on their behalf. We can. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:46

And that's a fantastic for recycling. Exactly. So we're that's the other thing. I'm all about sustainability. So that's one thing that we've sort of I don't think many interior designers do it, to be honest, as far as I'm aware, but that's one thing we sp specialise in, I guess. If I see an opportunity with even your bathroom, if there's ways we can sell I mean, toilet's not that nice to sell, is it?

SPEAKER_01: 2:07

You're gonna sell my big spa. Exactly. That would be big spa for for bigger.

SPEAKER_00: 2:13

For bigger, exactly. And that means you can manipulate your budget. So for example, we've sold a kitchen recently for three and a half thousand. Yeah, it was three and a half thousand. So it meant that that's money back in their pocket that they can put towards their appliances, for example, or their cut, you know, floor coverings. It's any any money in a renovation or a new build that you can get. Obviously, a new build is a bit different, but any money you can get back. Yeah, yeah. You can't sell a piece of land. But you can get creative depending if you're not building through a building company. When you're building new, you can buy some products for your home from like, you know, the showroom, showroom floor stock, that kind of thing that helps with the budget. We got a couple of things. This is a little tip of mine, a couple of things for our new build that were brand new, perfectly fine. And we've got them in our house right now. Our bath, our tapware, our toilets, to be honest. They're all brand new, all off marketplace. And that was just to help with the budget. We didn't go through a building company, so we project managed the whole build ourselves and it and it reduced the bathroom budgets by at least a third. Like it was really, really, really clever. So don't regret that at all. And I tell clients that time, like, let's get creative, let's find something. So, yeah, we've done that in plenty of homes. Sold kitchens and some bathroom, you know, accessories and that.

SPEAKER_01: 3:28

Okay, so tip number one is sell what you can yeah. What you can sell. What you can sell, basically. Not not your life or your your body, but you know, I used to have a joke when uh COVID times the property prices were increasing so much and so fast, and a lot of my clients were struggling with a deposit. I would often say, Well, you've got two kidneys. So you can always sell one.

SPEAKER_00: 3:50

Exactly. There's always ways you can manipulate the budget, right? All right, so tip number one, sell what you can sell. Yes. Tip number two. Tip number two. So this is more specific to bathrooms, I think, because a lot of people think they need a fully tiled bathroom is what I've found. And sometimes, depending on what the ceiling height is, like if you've got a three-meter ceiling height in your bathroom, fully tiled bathroom can look quite sterile depending how it's done. So, for example, if you're if your ceiling height's 2.4, tiling the whole room isn't so bad. But if you do want to have a little bit of a point of difference and save on the budget, I suggest doing like something like hardy groove on the walls, either halfway up or full height. If you don't know what hardy groove is, it's sort of that tongue and groove look paneling that you can get, and you buy it in sheets that are, I think, 1200 wide by 2.4 or 2.7 high, and you can cut them in half and put them halfway up the walls, which we've done in our bathroom, to be honest, to save on costs, but it just gives that whole different look and it elevates the space in a whole different, whole different dimension. The other cool thing about Hardy Groove is if you get sick of the colour, if you painted a baby blue and in five years' time you don't like it, you can paint it, you know, a sage green if you want. So yeah, so again, with tiles, some people do find after a few years they might not like them, especially if they build with a building company and you're you're governed by only a couple of tile selections, then doing hardy groove can help save on that budget a lot more. Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 5:14

You know how I saved money on the tiling? How? I only tiled, I think, one wall. Yeah, exactly. That's the other thing. All walls. Or I I did like a little L shape. Yeah. L shape? Yes. Yeah, so just one side and then the other side, and that's it. Yeah. And then left the rest because I found as you say, you know, it's it becomes too too sterile or it just encloses the space without the break.

SPEAKER_00: 5:37

It does, yeah. Oh, it can do definitely if you haven't got another tile to complement it, or you've got to make sure you've got all those different textures in the in the space. So yeah, that's another a handy trick to manipulate the budget. Okay, so that's still tip till tip number two.

SPEAKER_01: 5:52

Tip number two. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 5:53

Tip number three, do you have one more for me? Yeah, I've got one more. So I guess when it comes to building or renovating, normally, or sometimes in this case, you may have a partner you're building with, or if you're on your own, write down your wish list, right? Because your wish list is normally a lot bigger than what it potentially or what what your budget may allow, depending. A lot of people write down their wish list and they go, I want all of that. And then they get the quote for it, and they go, you know. Yep, been there, done that. Yeah, so their wish list has to quickly reduce. So write down your wish list. Beside that, put your non-negotiables. Like, if you've got your wish list and you're like, I have to have like your non-negotiable was you wanted a big bath because that's your sanctuary, that's your calming space. But you didn't quite nail it, or not you, but you didn't quite get it, unfortunately. So write down your non-negotiables. If your non-negotiables aren't on your wish list, then if you need to reduce the budget, then start culling that wish list as much as you can. Because the other thing is you can always add items that are on your wish list, you can always add them on later. Like let's get strategic about that. If you want custom joinery in your lounge, you can add that on in a couple of years. You don't have to do it while you're building. You can get the joiner back to measure it up and draw it up and install it. So a lot of people do on their wish list have like custom joinery, you know, they want the fancy appliances, things like that, which is great. But yeah, have that wish list, then have the non-negotiable list next to it, which is usually things off your wish list. If the non-negotiables aren't on the wish list, then take them off, you know, cross them out if you need to reduce that budget. But yeah, that's a great way, I think, to help manipulate that budget and make sure that you're not going to go over budget with and even overcapitalizing too. That's the other thing. You don't want to go too wild if it's not going to actually for me.

SPEAKER_01: 7:45

I would probably add here is future proofing. Yeah. Right? Like think ahead. And especially a lot of um younger families, they're building their home in preparation to have a baby, for instance, or to have another child added to the family. And sometimes they don't think beyond the early years. So, you know, they want to create something crazy, but then they're like, oh crap, now the kids came along and ruined it, or the kids came along and now we can't use this function anymore. Yes, yes. So try to be also thinking ahead. Do you need to spend money on this right now? Or as you say, is it something you can do down the track once the kids maybe a little bit older? Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00: 8:22

I I totally agree with that. And even little things like adding in powerpoints for a spar pull. If you want to have a spar pull in the future, you don't have to have that right now. If that's on your wish list, but it's not on your non-negotiable list, that gets called. But you can also add that in later if you've got a PowerPoint there and you can just put a concrete slab down and you're off you go. I have the PowerPoint, I just don't have the spa. It's like so do we, to be honest. It's on our wish list right now. We're saving.

SPEAKER_01: 8:46

Well, I I told you um before we were recording, you know, I said to the kids, there guys want spa. And they're like, Yeah. And I'm like, well, we're gonna start saving for it together. Yes, you know, so I'm gonna try to encourage them to learn about money and to learn. Sorry about all the noise, guys. I'm hitting things under the table. Yeah, so I'm trying to encourage the kids to learn about money and to learn about saving. And if they want an expensive ticket item like spa, you know, that's easily what, ten thousand dollars or a proper one. Yes, I don't want a crappy one that will just crap out in a few years' time. You know, I want a big one, I've got a big family, I want to make sure all of us can fit in it and I love that and actually have fun in it. And to be honest, I was eyeing out one of the swim ones. Yes, yes, we were too.

SPEAKER_00: 9:29

But that's my husband won't leave me.$20,$25,000.

SPEAKER_01: 9:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 9:32

But the kids will have so much fun in the spa, and like you said, educating them around how much it's gonna cost and then the running cost too. Yeah. So they know they've got to turn the light off. You know, if they're not using a bathroom, the bathroom light, I tell my kids if you want to go on holiday, you need to turn that light off. It's a simple thing, so it is about texting them like, I want to go on holiday again, or turn that off. So educating them.

SPEAKER_01: 9:52

Yeah, so definitely it's a good idea to put something for the future. But I've got a funny story for you about the I think was the point number two that you were making, when you've got the all your wants and needs and non-negotiables and stuff. So when we were building this house and I wanted all these different ways of turning on lights, and you know, you walk in here, there's a switch there, you walk in there, there's a switch there, and then all those different dimmable lights, and da-da-da. And I did this massive walkthrough with this electrician, yeah, and he wrote down everything I wanted, and then he sent us the quote for like$25,000. Wow. And my husband at the time went, Yeah, no, we're not doing that.

SPEAKER_00: 10:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 10:29

But now the pain is because I didn't put all the switches in the places that I wanted, and we just went with absolute minimum. Yes, we only have like one switch in one location and trying to figure out which switch does what? Yes. Oh my god, it's a pain every night. We're like, which I I mean two years later, I still don't know.

SPEAKER_00: 10:47

Don't know how to turn your bedroom light on.

SPEAKER_01: 10:49

So it's kind of funny, but but yeah, absolutely agree. You know, the non-negotials, and we often say this to our first home buyers as well, and second-home buyers, is that look, make a list, you know, what do you want? Is having updated kitchen important to you and a bathroom, or is it something you can DIY yourself? Is it having a backyard that's important to you because you've got kids and a dog? Or you don't need to have a backyard because you're gonna be mainly working, you know, from town and you just need to come home and sleep. So having a different list of things will help you to eliminate the houses that you shouldn't be seeing. Yes, I totally agree. Or not putting offers on them and stuff like that. But as you say, sometimes it's also meeting eye to eye with your partner because this is the moment where it will either break you or make you.

SPEAKER_00: 11:36

Yeah, definitely. And compromising, learning how to compromise with each other. Yes, compromise is the biggest thing. I say to clients, Did you know that I'm a marriage counselor? And they laugh and they're like, Are you actually? And I said, I'm not qualified, but I feel like I am as part of my job. Because you do have to, you have to have that, I suppose, neutral respect for each client. But if I don't agree with something, I'll definitely speak up. Don't get me wrong. But there's also that you've got to also have that compromise between the three of us, I guess, in a way. Yeah. You know, you've got to see their point. You know, if he wants something and she doesn't, then what does she want that he doesn't? Kind of thing. So yeah, it is all about compromise and yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 12:16

Agree. Agree. I often feel like a marriage counsellor is. Yeah, yeah. It's part of our job, right? It does. I I guess because we are dealing with people's biggest assets. Yes, yes, definitely. Um you know, you just can't avoid that. That's just where they spend 90% of their time. It's massive decisions they have to make, don't they?

SPEAKER_00: 12:34

With their money.

SPEAKER_01: 12:35

Yeah. Yeah. Biggest asset and money. Yep. So yeah. Sam, thank you so much for coming along today. Any more tips before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_00: 12:43

Oh no, I can't think of any on the spot, but we'll have to save it for another episode, I think. We will save it for another episode.

SPEAKER_01: 12:50

Thank you, and talk to you soon. Thanks for having me. Bye.