There’s nothing more annoying to deal with than an unexpected home repair. They’re costly and can take a huge hit on your budget – impacting your life and finances.
The key to successfully surviving the repair is to do your homework before you commit to a contractor.
Choosing your home repair contractor wisely. Favor contractors who have successfully performed similar work.
In the past, researching contractors meant asking friends and family for referrals of contractors who have successfully performed work for them. The issue with asking for friends and family is that it’s only one person’s opinion and what if you don’t know anyone who can provide a referral?
Websites like Angie’s List provide real reviews from consumers about local businesses that offer the best services ranging from home improvement to auto, health, and more.
View Angie’s Lists Services: http://www.angieslist.com/services.htm
To access the reviews on Angie’s List does require either a month or year subscription. A full year’s subscription costs $9.99, and month’s subscription will run you about $5.
There are other websites that offer reviews of local business for free. Ensure that the website you’re using validates the reviews on the site are being written by actual and recent customers of each business.
When in doubt – check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if there are any recent or active complaints about the business. The BBB collects and provides free business reviews on more than 4 million businesses.
More Home Repair Money Saving Tips:
- Insist on a written, fixed-price bid.
- Don’t make full payment until satisfactory completion of the work.
Recovering from Financial Setback
Once the immediate home repair matter is taken care of it’s time to take stock of your new financial situation and create a plan for yourself moving forward to budget for the unexpected.
This is the first step toward financial security and rebuilding your emergency fund, which you may have tapped into to manage an unexpected financial event.
To develop a budget, write down your current expenses, indicating whether each expense is a necessity or a luxury. Pulling out recent credit card bills and bank statements can help with this process. Next, estimate your monthly income, including only income that you are certain you will receive. Then compare your income to expenses. If your expenses are higher, you will need to trim your expenses until your income is higher than your expenditures.
SPECIAL OFFER
Our friends at Angie’s List is offering our InCharge blog readers a special promotional discount code for new memberships. Use the code “EASY” to receive 40% off a year membership. If you sign up before the end of July a year-long membership will cost you just $5.99.
Click here to view all of Angie’s List membership plans.
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