Sure, everyone says money can't buy happiness. But why is it that some of the biggest ticket items in life - remodeling your house, having the wedding of your dreams, getting an extreme makeover - are often also the most satisfying and rewarding?

LendingTree Home Equity

Home remodeling is a classic example of the dichotomy. Even a "modest" remodeling project will cost you more than $10,000. Go for the designer kitchen and you can easily blow $50,000 installing custom cabinets, granite countertops and every new bell and whistle imaginable.

So how are homeowners paying for these high-priced home improvements? Many take a second mortgage against the equity in their home. Others use a home equity line of credit. Some probably even scrimp and save for years to pull together the money needed to create a bathroom fit for royalty.

But if the conventional route - that requires some actual output of cash on your part - isn't for you, here are some out-of-the-box alternatives:

* Get yourself on a home redesign show. From shows that reward the owners of the country's ugliest bathroom with a full bath makeover, to the ones that use two days when a homeowner is away to remake a room behind his or her back, a redesign show seems like a sure-fire way to save money. The downsides, however, may set you back - competition to participate is fierce, and you will be putting yourself and your home at the mercy of a designer whose design philosophy may be neo-modern while you're into country classic.

* Give the job to a student. Many design schools require students to complete a remodeling project as part of their course work. Contact your local design school or the interior design department of your local college or university. See if they have such a program in place. Often students will bring their own laborers (friends who owe them, family who want to help out, fraternity brothers who will work for beer and pizza), so you may only have to come up with the cost of materials.

* Win the dough. An oldie but goodie, winning money is still one of the most satisfying ways to get it. You could buy a lottery ticket, but your chances of winning the lottery statistically remain virtually the same whether you buy a ticket or not. Or, you could log on to www.thefinalpayoff.com for a chance to win $50,000 that you can use towards home remodeling. Quarterly payouts improve your chances of winning the big bucks.

No matter what alternative method you choose to fund your home remodeling project, you'll enjoy the finished product much more if you didn't have to pay the full price from your own pocket! Copyright © 2006, ARA Content

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