Home >  Business >  Personal Business

Monday, July 08, 2002

By Caryn Bilotta

There is a difference between providing the essentials of life -- food, clothing and shelter -- and embellishing these with the "nice things in life." It's up to your discretion what you might spend on decorating or redecorating.

Since your redecorating budget must compete with other discretionary spending in your household, you need to decide ahead of time how much you want to spend on a particular project. Or you can fund it in stages and complete various parts of the work over a period of time. Don't forget to consider delivery fees, installation costs and the care and maintenance for the items you'll be purchasing.

For projects that add value to your home or changes you expect to enjoy over a long period of time, you might decide to fund some of the costs on credit. You should shop for credit arrangements just as carefully as you do the items you're buying on credit.

Caryn Bilotta is education director for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Western Pennsylvania. For more information, call (888) 511-2227 or visit its Web site at www.cccspa.org.