Saving money at Home Depot

Today I wanted to share how I save at least 20% at Home Depot. I go to Home Depot so much that I feel that employees there know me as the small asian lady with two kids. I go there that much and every time ask so many questions. It helps that they have the orange Nascar double carts to keep my kids occupied.

The first step to saving 10% off at Home Depot is to apply for a movers coupon from UPS. If you apply for a change of address and pay $1 online they will send you a 10% off Lowes coupon. Its via email so you don't even have to get out of the house. I've had great luck with using it by showing the coupon to a Home Depot cashier. I've been using the same Lowe's coupon for about two months. UPS will also send you a movers packet that includes a physical paper coupon for Lowes. I've only came across one new Home Depot cashier that wanted an actual paper coupon.

The next step to getting another 10% off is by using Raise.com. For those new to raise, its a website that sells discounted gift cards. Home Depot gift cards are usually at the 6-11% discount. I have it set on notifications if theres a gift card thats within the discounted range I will get notified. The only con is the Home Depot gift card can only be used for in store purchase. Online only purchases will not work. Here's my referral link for raise. My referral code is knguyen139

On top of getting the 20% off, I use Topcashback.com. Its like ebates.com. You shop online and get a small percentage back. I believe Topcashback gives raise.com purchases 1-2% cash back. Here's my topcashback referral link. If you have any type of credit card, use it to get another 1-2% cash back. I get 1% cash back on all Discover purchases. So long story short, I get at least 22% off at Home Depot. The only con about saving money is you have to plan out your savings. It takes time to get the raise gift card in the mail.

Saving 20% doesn't seem like much at first but if you are doing renovations, it adds up fast. For instance, Binh wanted the touchless Kohler toilet. They cost $218 each and we purchased three for a total of $650+. Overall, I know I've saved at least $300 just at Home Depot.

Aside from talking about ways to save money I wanted to share Binh's new toilet. Binh's favorite pastime is hiding in the toilet with his phone, laptop and chargers so a comfortable toilet is very high on his priority list. I let him pick out whatever toilet he wanted. He picked Kohlers highline touchless toilet. It's elongated, comfort height, white, and has touchless flushing. At $220 a pop they weren't cheap but thanks to gift cards and coupons I've been able to have some deep savings. In addition, there are rebates up to $100 on toilets. I submitted a rebate but have yet to confirm the amount.

We completely remodeled the first floor half bath. There was an unpermitted shower but we removed it and reverted it back to the original layout. The unpermitted shower was behind the door. We demo everything and took down all the dark tiles.

We had to redo the drywall, plumbing, and flooring. 

And here it is today. Its not quite complete because I still have to install the backsplash, caulk, dress up the window, add a mirror, and add decorations to the wall. 

I invested in a nicer faucet. I love the shiny chrome and details of this Ultra faucet. I'll provide more details on where I got it from on the final reveal. It goes really well with the white vanity and carrera marble top. The color scheme is exactly the same as the upstairs kids bathroom but this bathroom looks so much better in photos because it has a window. 

Once again heres the before and after. 

 

Longest bathroom reno

I'm back today with some updates on our bathroom renovation. Last time I left off, everything was pulled out and I had just tiled the floors. We came across some mold and plumbing issues that painfully costed us $1500. We had to redo the plumbing to accommodate a tub since it was originally a shower and completely redo the subfloor because it had mold. Then I had oral surgery. So everything had to be delayed.

Here are some quick pictures I snapped. The kids bathroom has no window and is tiny so I decided to stick with light and bright colors to try to open up the space.  The floors are a nice light gray wood look tile. I got them at a discounted tile store locally for $1.50 sf.

For the vanity, I choose a white with marble top to brighten up the space. Since the vanity is the first thing you see when you walk into the room, I wanted to get something a little more fancy. I didn't want to go custom since that would cost a lot so I searched CL and found this brand new vanity for only $450. It's sold online for over $1000. Heres the specs from HomeDepot. vanity. It has fancy crystal knobs and soft close drawers. 

Up next on my shopping list was a new white and shiny tub. I wanted a nice and deep tub and found a new one on CL for $140. Its sold at Home Depot for $350. Heres the info for anyone interested. bathtub

After tub was put in, it took forever to start tiling. I enlisted the help of my cousin to put in the niche and make the difficult round cuts for the faucets. I choose a white carrara marble tile to brighten up the space. I bought them from Home depot at a discounted price. Here's the info for those interested. 

 For the niche, I debated for a long time on what I wanted. Binh wanted a bold backsplash that stands out. I wanted a simple and classic look. I felt that the room is already so small and adding more color and contrasting details will further crowd the room. In the end, Binh let me do whatever I wanted. I'm glad I choose something simple because it goes well with the marble. 

For the toilet, Binh had a special request. He once saw a touchless toilet at a model home and he had to have that toilet. Since Binh's favorite pastime is hiding in the toilet with his laptop, phone and chargers, I gave in to his request.

Here's the actual room layout. Its very strange. The toilet is on the left, vanity right in the middle and tub to the right. I'm hoping that bringing in a big white mirror would further brighten things up. 

I'll be back very soon to update on the final touches of this bathroom. Our handyman is coming tomorrow to install the faucets, shower trim, and caulk.