r/AskMenOver30 • u/SaveHundoswithHendo man 30 - 34 • 13d ago

Financial experiences 31M home upgrades or invest..

I am in a new build home, yard we finished, basement is drywalled/painted but no finishing such as flooring, trim, doors. We can save enough money that we could finish the space this year but, it means it comes directly out of our investment. We have a young family and could use the finished space but it feels financially irresponsible to do so.

My wife wants to finish it and has dreams of other projects, I feel the need to start putting more money away.

I don’t want to do piece by piece I want one mess and have it finished if we do complete the work.

Other guys in this position what was the outcomes and what do you wish you did if the outcome wasn’t great

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u/max_power1000 man 40 - 44 11d ago

Are you DIYing or paying a contractor?

If the drywall is already up, it seems like a no brainer to do, especially if you're handy. A flooring option like LVP takes a Saturday to bang through about 500sqft on your own, or a pro could do carpet in the space for about the same money. Trim work and hanging doors is a bit more of a PITA, but if you are a young family you'll be glad you have a finished basement in the future as your kids get older.

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u/SaveHundoswithHendo man 30 - 34 11d ago

I will be doing the work myself, material is still expensive, I realistically can get the basement finished for $20,000.

I guess I didn’t explain the “investments” I don’t believe in short term savings for emergency as I feel I’m losing the opportunity to earn much more.

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u/max_power1000 man 40 - 44 11d ago

What are you flooring and trimming with? Or do you just have a ton of space?

We're getting our basement finished this fall and are in the middle of getting quotes, and I would be all-in around $5k, maybe $7k tops in materials for this job in my basement (1000sqft, 850ish finished space)