Remodeling Bargains

We still have not heard any official news about my Mike's job. The company is due to be sold to the highest bidder sometime next week. I suppose, at that time, he'll be terminated and then either re-hired or not. Of course, the new owners could elect to pay him less than he was making before and we may not have much choice but to accept, as otherwise his only alternative would be to start over in a different field (as he is in a highly specialized field at this point, and there are no other employers in that field in our area).

With this in mind, and the master bathroom now down to the studs in some areas (preparing for the replumbing that will happen in a few weeks (knock wood), we've been trying to get all of the things we need for the remodeled bathroom, at bargain prices. We already purchased the vanity (on sale for about 50% off after shipping costs), the bathtub (purchased at 45% off retail) and a toilet. All of these have been paid for in full, as we are trying not to incur further debt. In my spare time, I do a lot of online searching for items we still need, such as lighting, mirrors, and fixtures.

The other day, I was on Craigslist and happened to see a post about some mirrors with built-in lighting. I appreciated that a picture was posted, as I had seen these mirrors during my online search and had liked them -- but I had not liked the $135-$266 cost I found them selling for in various places. The Craigslist poster mentioned that the mirrors had broken in transit, and that was the reason she was selling the items -- for $50 each. I did some calculations, made some calls, and determined that I could replace the broken mirrors within the frames for about $40 each, which would still be a significant savings over what I would spend buying them online. So, my husband and I set up a time and went to see the mirrors, which were still in their boxes and in excellent condition (except for the actual mirror). The globes for the attached lighting fixtures were in great shape, as were the frames themselves. When I told the woman I liked the mirrors, she then told me that they would be $25 each -- half of what I had expected to spend. So, for $65 each, we have both the vanity mirrors and lighting in the bag! You can see a picture of our bargain at the top of the post.

I'm finding Craigslist to be a valuable resource. Yesterday, I found a post from someone selling over 2500 square feet of porcelain tile for just $1 a square foot! We're going to take a look at that this weekend and perhaps we can find what we need for our floor, tub deck, and shower.