House Project: Whoops! Over Budget!

We are running about $40,000 over the initial budget. Using all tile instead of carpet added about $10,000. The appliance budget was about $4500 too low (because of the jetted tub). The concrete budget was $3000 too low (labor for the stampings). The garage door budget came in $1000 too low (we added a second garage door at the back). The original budget didn't include the backup generator ($1800). We hadn't originally planned a sprinkler system--which makes sense for fire suppression, so there's $2000. The extra $1400 I spent on more insulation I think was a good investment, but it is amazing how all these little things add up.

Time to make contributions through the PayPal button! And perhaps all the people who have given up on the Gulf Coast and moved to Boise (which is the second safest city for weather in the U.S.) will drive up housing prices enough here to increase the equity in our current house in Boise.

UPDATE: Here's the biggest cause of the overrun: just as they were starting to put up the framing, my wife and I suddenly realized that similar houses he had built felt cramped because they had eight foot ceilings, so we switched to nine foot ceilings, and 2x6 walls, instead of 2x4 walls (for improved insulation). This doesn't sound like much, but an extra foot of ceiling means taller studs, more sheet rock--and on a 2300 square foot house, it adds up quickly.