Renovation budget planner

Questions people actually ask

How is this different from renovation budget templates and cost sites?

Templates are downloads you maintain yourself; most renovation "calculators" online are lead forms — they estimate your project in exchange for your contact details, and contractors buy the lead. This is neither: a live budget in your browser, no download, no account, and nothing captured. Nobody calls you because you planned a bathroom here.

What do planned, quoted and paid mean?

Planned is your estimate before anyone visits. Quoted is the bid you actually accepted — the number that exists once a contractor is booked. Paid is deposits and stage payments so far. The forecast uses the quote where one exists and the plan where it does not, and the per-room variance shows precisely where reality beat the plan — which in renovation is the story of the whole project.

How much contingency should I carry?

Carrying 10–20% on top of the planned works is standard practice, because renovations uncover surprises — what is behind the wall is not known until the wall is open. This planner defaults to 15% and applies it to the live forecast, so the number you hold against your budget already includes the buffer. The rate is yours to change, and going below 10% on an older property is a bet, not a plan.

Can I track payments to contractors?

Yes — each line carries what you have paid and the final due date, and the "still owed on accepted quotes" list totals your outstanding commitments, sorted by when they bite, overdue in red. Renovation cash flow is deposits and stage payments; the tool keeps that visible instead of buried in a spreadsheet column.

Is my project private?

Completely, by default. What you can spend and which quotes you accepted is negotiating information — the last thing to hand a lead-generation site. Nothing you enter is uploaded; sign in with Google only if you want the budget synced between you and whoever you share the project with, and delete it any time from My profile.