6 DIY Kitchen Projects to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck

Sure kitchen remodels can be pricey, but there are tons of tips and tricks to remodel your home without breaking the bank. It’s important to first figure out your budget and overall vision for your kitchen. 

Whatever your kitchen remodel budget may be, there’s a project for you. So whether you’re a new homeowner or a current owner just looking to spruce things up, these six DIY remodel projects will give you a high-end kitchen without the high-end price.

Staining Cabinets

A great way to give your kitchen a budget-friendly upgrade is to start with the cabinets. Instead of fully replacing your cabinets, staining or even painting your cabinets will do the trick. 

If you want to keep your wood cabinets looking brand new, perhaps staining (or re-staining) your cabinets yourself is the way to go. Or if you’re looking for a more modern twist, a fresh coat of white paint can give your kitchen a fresh, clean look. In addition to a face-lift, you may want to give your cabinets some love from the inside out too. 

Adding rolling drawers, shelves, stacking containers and jars are a cheap way to organize your cabinets and optimize your kitchen space.

A Fresh Paint Job

In addition to your cabinets, you may want to go ahead and give your whole kitchen a fresh coat of paint. Colors like grey, blue, yellow and green are popular since they are considered neutral colors — they are welcoming and match with a diverse range of themes and kitchen decor.

Backsplash

A stylish kitchen backsplash is a fun way to give your kitchen a new look without much effort. There are tons of backsplash options ranging from tile or stone to glass and ceramic that fit your style and remodeling budget. 

In fact, backsplash tiles can be found for less than $5 per square foot that can be mixed with stone or glass pieces for a classy look for cheap.

New Decor

Another great way to give your kitchen an easy facelift is to purchase some new kitchen decor. Sounds easy right? That’s because it is! 

Thrift stores and consignment shops can provide inexpensive and beautiful finds like cool art pieces or kitchenware at a fraction of the price of brand new items.

Add Lighting

Having the right lighting can make or break the ambiance of a room. Adding under cabinet lighting to your kitchen is a simple way to add an elegant touch and provide adequate lighting. 

You can find tap lights or LED lights at your local hardware store and don’t have to go through the hassle (and cost) of hiring someone to install or wire electrical for you.

Build an Island

Building a kitchen island is an easy way to add counter and seating space without doing a full kitchen remodel. You can can build your own island with old cabinets or wood and even add wheels for easy movement. Rolling kitchen islands are a great way to really optimize your kitchen space.

Whatever your style and budget may be, these six tips with help you design a classy-looking kitchen without burning a hole through your wallet. 

And remember renovating your home is not just another expense, it’s a investment. Investing in renovating your kitchen now can add style and value to your home in the future.

4 Financial Resources for Families Looking for a New Home

Higher home prices and the decreasing number of homes available for sale aren’t the only things keeping most families in city apartments. Most of these families, regardless of their income levels remain hooked up in rentals as they don’t know how to source for funds to buy a home. 

Here are four possible financial sources for families seeking to buy their family home.

State Down-Payment Grant

Where do you live and what is your average annual income? Those are the only questions most state, county or even state governments ask in determining whether you qualify for down payment assistance. 

To make homes affordable to all citizens, state and county governments set up the little-known down Payment Assistance Scheme. This helps low income earners raise the down payment required by most mortgage providers.

College Graduation Grant

A Bachelor’s degree in any related field can also earn you a significant grant amount that you can use as a down payment for a family home, in Indianan and Ohio at least. 

In these two localities, you qualify for up to 2.5% of your home purchase if you graduated with a bachelor’s degree here within the last two years and have a full-time job.

Mortgage Loan

Mortgages by far remain the most popular financial resources to purchasing a family home. With a stable source of income and the required down payment, you can approach any financial institution offering mortgage services for financing. 

Note that the higher your down payment you raise and shorter the repayment period, the more favorable the mortgage repayment terms.

Through Low down Payment Loans

Though they suffered a major setback in the recent housing crisis, low down payment loans are still available. For instance, the Federal Housing Authority only requires that put down as little as 3.5% of your home purchase price.

Good Neighbor Next Door

Is your career centered on community services like emergency medical technician, firefighter, an active law enforcement officer or even a veteran? That too can increase your chances of owning a family home. 

Through the Good Neighbor Next Door program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can finance up to 50% of the home’s listing price if you seek to buy a house in regions that the institution considers revitalization areas. 

There is a catch though. You must work full-time in the designated occupation and agree to live in the home for not less three years after purchase.

Bottom Line

Real estate experts believe the only reason hindering could-be homeowners from owning a home is the fact that they aren’t familiar with the different finance resources available to them. 

If you dream of moving your family out of a rental into a decent home, research on the various financial sources available to you based on your profession, income levels, and residence.

4 Websites to Keep Your Finances and Budget Organized in 2018

Budgeting is essential in anyone’s life. From having money to pay rent or mortgage payments each month, to allocating funds to pay credit cards, and of course daily expenditures, you have to budget accordingly. 

If you need help setting and maintaining your budget, there are several sites/apps you can use to assist you. These are a few which can help you get your spending under control, and possibly even start to save a bit each month.

OnTrees

It is not only one of the top apps on the Apple-store, it is convenient and easy to use as well. 

It offers features like SMS text if you are close to monthly expenditures, or are considering making a purchase which isn’t within your budget. This is ideal for over-spenders or compulsive shoppers.

Your Wealth

Online calculators, budgeting tools, and professional expert-advice, you have all the financial planning tools and guidance you need, to keep you on track. There is also a money-borrowing hub to help you find lower interest rates and the best repayment terms. 



A simple to use tool which will keep you on track, and help you allocate monthly funds to avoid over spending.

Money Vista 

This site uses a “life chart” to help you at different phases of your life. Depending on age, spending habits, earnings, and what you want to do in life (plan for a trip, pricey purchase, save, etc.), the life-chart will help you get there. 

It is easy to use and will help you maintain your budget accordingly if you need to keep your financial spending under control.

Chargify

More and more small business owners have started to use chargify because it is a great way to keep on track with all of your payments. It allows you to automatically send out invoices if they are recurring. There are loads of other brilliant things you can use. If you would like to know more about chargify visit topbusinessalternatives.com.

Most individuals need help with financing and budgeting but not all can afford a professional financial planner to help them. These online budgeting tools are easy to use, convenient, and highly-affordable. No matter where you are in life, these are simple tools you can utilise to help you track spending/saving.

Time to Take Charge of Your Money

The new year is a great time. It's the time when it's OK to move on from the mistakes of the past. The slate is wiped clean and you have another chance to get it right. Why not try some of these websites and apps to see if you can get your finacial lives organized. There's no better time than now to get started.

3 Unavoidable Expenses That You Can Turn into Long-Term Savings

There are many costs associated with property ownership that are simply unavoidable. For some expenses, you may be able to delay them for a few days or weeks in some cases, but they will eventually need to be addressed. 

The good news is that some of these expenses could actually help you to save money over the long-term. These are some of the unavoidable expenses that you could be faced with over the years and that could help you to save money when all things are considered.

HVAC System Expenses

HVAC repair issues can arise out of the blue, and they may require your immediate attention if you want to maintain a comfortable climate inside your building. Hiring a professional service like Dalton Heating & Air Conditioning, however, could save you money on energy costs over the next few months or longer. 

A poorly maintained system, after all, could run more frequently or longer than usual. This could unnecessarily inflate costs. Some repair issues are so significant that the entire system needs to be replaced. 



If this is the case for your property, you could choose a more energy efficient model that has a lengthy warranty to potentially save a tremendous amount of money over time.

Plumbing Service Costs

Many plumbing issues can result in unnecessary water waste. Some could even cause water damage and mold growth, and these are very expensive types of damage to repair. 

A simple plumbing service at the first sign of an issue could eliminate unnecessary water costs and could help you to keep your property well-maintained. You could even schedule a plumbing check-up or inspection to determine if you have any hidden leaks or other issues that need to be addressed.

The Guttering System

Another repair issue that could lead to cost savings over time is the guttering system on the building. Gutters collect rain from the roof and channel it down and away from the property in a planned manner. 

When gutters are not properly maintained, the water can fall straight down off the roof. When water is not properly channeled away from the foundation, it could cause erosion and foundation damage. 

In some cases, the rain could puddle up and flow upward under the shingles. This could cause a roof leak. Your attention to your property’s gutters can eliminate these potentially expensive costs.

While no property owners wants to deal with unexpected repair issues, your attention to these issues could benefit the property over the long run. When faced with a repair issue, focus on the long-term benefits associated with making repairs as needed.

Is Your Fixed Deposit Making You Wealthier?

Yogesh Shugani, the Jabalpur resident, has invested in a bank’s fixed deposit and was earning 6.95% FD interest rates. He had saved some money, and that’s why to make his money grow, he chose an FD over a bank’s recurring deposit while opting for investment.

However, once six months passed, he analyzed his investment and found that his bank was offering him lower fixed deposit interest rate profits when compared to his friend’s FD account with a private company which was fetching him around 8%.

Thus, he quickly realized his mistake and closed his bank’s FD account and initiated an FD with a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and is a happy man.

If you are the one like Yogesh who is not happy with his/her current fixed deposit scheme, you can open an FD account with a leading non-banking finance company (NBFC) and make the most of it.

Let’s provide you some amazing features of a company fixed deposit scheme that will not only let your investment earn more but even avail other benefits.

Avail a higher fixed deposit interest rate profits

When compared to banks, non-banking finance companies offer a healthy return on FD interest rate of up to 8%. Thus, the immediate benefit is that you get to make your investment grow faster facilitate your goals better. 



You also get the facility to apply for a cumulative as well as non-cumulative FD. Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly interest profits are given in a non-cumulative FD type while a non-cumulative type lets you earn more as the interest profits are calculated on a compounding basis.

You get an easy access

An online fixed deposit scheme with a leading non-banking finance company lets you have an online assessment of your account. It makes applying for an FD as well as managing and tracking of the fixed deposit accounts dead easy. 

Yes, once you have filled the online form, the lender calls you and schedule a meeting to pick the required documents and the cheque.

Tenor flexibility

Did not liked an FD account that you just opened? You can close it and open a new one instantly. Service providers offer investors with a flexible tenor facility. 

It means that you are free to select a tenor which suits you best. As a result, you get the freedom to apply for an FD account with a tenor ranging between 1 and 5 years. 

The higher the tenor, the higher the interest payout and that’s why you should choose a tenor accordingly if you want a fat FD income to follow.

Senior citizen fixed deposit

Financial institutions offer the highest fixed deposit interest rate to senior citizens. Yes, if you are a senior citizen, you can expect to gain the highest 8.10% FD interest rate gains. 

If you want to renew it or reinvest it after the maturity, you can expect a further 0.10% raise in your income.

FDs are insured

While other high-risk investments such as mutual funds do not offer assurance to the invested money, an FD account with an NBFC does. 

Yes, fixed deposits have insurance worth Rs.1 lakh on your sum of investment. Thus, it means that your invested money is in safe hands.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking to let your fixed deposits return you with a fabulous return, you can open an FD account with one of the leading non-banking finance company and get started. All the best!

How to Secure a Surety Bond as a Small Business

A surety bond can benefit small businesses such as construction companies or other contractors by widening their opportunities. 

The surety bond is basically an insurance policy issued to guarantee a client certain compensation if you fail to meet the terms of an agreement. It’s usually expected in state or government contracts, but many other organizations or individuals may request one. 

If you are asked to provide a surety bond, here are some tips on securing one through an agency like Zuma Insurance.

Decide What Kind of Bond You Need

What kind of bond you need depends on what industry you’re in and what kind of obligations the client expects you to honor. 

For government agencies, sometimes a certain type of bond is needed to gain a license. Usually the client will tell you what’s expected as part of the agreement or proposal. 

A general Small Business Service Surety Bond may be sufficient, or a Performance and Payout Surety Bond for stipulated conditions. A bidder’s bond may be required just to bid on certain contracts, or additional policies such as CA concrete contractors insurance.

Bond Costs

You also need to know how much coverage the requesting party, or obligee, is expecting to cover their risk. The actual cost of the bond to you is usually between two and 10 percent of the total coverage, so you’ll need to make sure your profit margin more than covers the bond’s cost. 

This cost will be calculated by the bond issuer based on risk factors such as your credit score, history, and current financial obligations. 

Some insurers will expect you to have 10 percent of the bond’s value in capital funds, or may limit the amount to 10 or 15 times your business equity.

Where to Look

One great source for obtaining bonds is the Small Business Administration. They will charge a fee for their assistance, but it’s only 0.729 percent of the total contract value.

If you can find more than one insurer that provides the type of bond you need, you’ll be able to compare to get the best rates and “bonding capacity”, or cap limit. 

For a sole proprietorship, a bond may be dependent on your personal credit score more than your business credit, with scores as low 550 occasionally accepted. 

The exact terms usually vary from one insurer to another and include other business factors, as well, such as years of experience and financial history. 

You can also apply for and obtain surety bonds from companies operating online. Make sure the issuer is licensed to provide bonds.

When looking for a surety bond, be sure you have all the information and references requested. Approving your bond may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.