Through my experiences building our tiny house and Bart's log cabin, I've learned some tricks to save money on construction supply purchases. The great thing about these money-saving opportunities is that you don't need to be a licensed contractor to take advantage of them, and you do not need to have a business account.
Purchasing Tip # 1: Let's start with Lowe's and the discounts offered there. Specifically, Lowe's QSP program has saved me lots of money. A QSP requires a minimum purchase of $1,500.00, so it does require advanced planning and a detailed list of needed supplies.
What I've done on multiple occasions is create a shopping cart on the Lowe's website and fill it with every imaginable product that I might need for the job. I then print out my cart, take it to the pro desk at Lowe's, and ask for a QSP.
As long as no one is in front of you in line, the whole process is fairly quick. The pro employee enters your cart into their computer and prints out a QSP with a discount listed next to each item.
Each item has a different discount applied to it, but the overall discount is usually somewhere around 11-12%. For example, if you make a purchase totaling $2,000.00, the QSP usually results in a savings of at least two hundred dollars on the order.
The QSP is good for 30 days, so that leaves plenty of time to decide which products you truly wish to buy, if you want to buy any at all, and research prices elsewhere. It's definitely worth my time and effort to save money.
Also, customers do not have to take all purchased products at one time. I've taken several months picking up only the products needed for each stage of the build.
If you have a Lowe's Credit Card, you can get 5% back on every purchase, but you can't get the additional 5% back by using it on a QSP purchase. I've tried. So instead, I use my Discover Card and get an additional 1% back by taking that route.
Purchasing Tip # 2: Amazon! Believe it or not, it can be much cheaper to order nuts, bolts, screws, nails, tools, brackets, etc., on Amazon rather than at large construction stores! Just last week, I saved $5.00 on a five pound box of deck screws and had them delivered to my house in two days for free through Amazon Prime!
This process saves me not only money but time, travel, and waiting in a check-out line!
Hopefully, these tips will save you some moola with your next DIY adventure.
Remember, kindness has the power to change the world!
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