Tip 53: Wait to buy materials for projects
It is easy to buy materials for a project, but often much harder to actually complete the project. You can end up with lots of materials tying up your money and cluttering your house and garage. I have definitely had this happen to me at various times.
You can usually take unopened items back to the store and get a refund with no questions asked. I recently did this with a couple of bathroom exhaust fans that I was just not getting around to installing. I decided to take them back within the 60 day return policy window. I’ll buy fans again when I am ready to install them.
The house I recently bought came with all sorts of building material for projects that never got started: stacks of landscape timbers, rolls of fencing, bags of potting soil, a shelf kit, a water fountain kit, and much more. I am happy to get these things for free, although I may end up selling a lot of the stuff that I will never get around to using either.
There is a balance between having materials for projects on hand and having too much clutter. I have a nice collection of nails, screws, and miscellaneous hardware in my garage as well as some lumber and plywood. This collection certainly takes up some space, but is very handy and saves me trips driving to a building supply store at times.
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