With a Lowe’ s credit card, you can save 5% on all your home improvement materials.  This is an ongoing discount and applies to homeowners with a Lowe’s credit card or for contractors that have a business Lowe’s credit card.

Learn more at www.Lowes.com

Home Depot has starting a service where you can shop online for the home improvement items you need.  Purchase those items and then pick them up at your local store.  Thereby saving you time and money without having to pay shipping fees.

Free Shipping on over 100,000 Items OR Buy Online, Pick Up in Store Today.

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Lowe’s Home Improvement stores are now offering contractors and homeowners a 5% discount when you use a Lowe’s credit card for your purchase.   The discount is applied at time of check-out.

For Contractors click here for details.

For Homeowners click here for details.

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There is a new direct mailing option now available from the USPS.  It is called Every Door Direct Mail and can be found online at  www.uspseverydoor.com.  This is a new product which makes it easier to for do-it-yourself mailings as well as lowers the cost.

It does this by eliminating the need to purchase mailing lists  and the need for labeling individual mail pieces.  You provide the mailing piece and pay postage as low as 14.2 cents per item.  Through a USPS online application, you select the area you want to mail, the total size of the mailing (min. of 200 and max of 5,000 unless special permit is acquired).  You select the area you want to mail online, it calculates the size and cost of the mailing, prints out a few forms and bring the forms and mailings to your local post office to purchase and deliver you mailings.  The PO takes care of the rest.

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Shop for home furnishings and Eat for FREE this weekend! April 8 – 10, 2011

Friday, April 8 – Sunday, April 10, 2011, dine in the restaurant at your local IKEA store and deduct your restaurant receipt total from any home furnishings purchase over $100!

Offer valid Friday, April 8 – Sunday, April 11, 2011. Home furnishing purchase amount must be $100 before tax. Restaurant food purchase must be consumed on the premises. Limit one restaurant receipt per store discount. Home furnishing purchase must be made the same day as the restaurant purchase. Offer not valid for Bistro or Swedish food Market purchase. Not valid on IKEA Gift Card purchase. Offer not valid at IKEA Home Shopping.

For further details, please visit Ikea.com.

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If you are lucky enough to reside near one of their locations, the Surplus Warehouse is having a a sale on many home improvement items.  See their circular for details.

Surplus Warehouse typically stock a number of items from windows, doors, tools, molding, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, trim and casework, laminate flooring, hardwood flooring, cabinets, tile, flooring, carpeting, vinyl etc… at great discount prices.  They have locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

I have gone through a number of ways to try and tame my paperwork. You know all the receipts, invoices, purchase orders, packing lists and other paper items that you need to hold onto in an organized fashion so your accountant doesn’t hurt you!

I first started off with manually recording my paper receipts onto an Excel spread sheet. Then I paid someone to do that for me. Then I scanned receipts using a neat tool called a NeatReceipts scanner. Now I am trying out a new resource called Shoeboxed.com. Shoeboxed Scans & Organizes Your Receipts and Business Cards!

I’ll post a full review after I have tried it out. You can get a free trial yourself by clicking the ad above. Please comment below with your thoughts on ShoeBoxed!

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You are about to hire a great remodeling contractor for your home improvement project. They interviewed well, had great ideas, provided a proposal that fits your budget, and have great references that had great things to say about them. One thing your contractor may have neglected to mention to you was their felony conviction!

Why take chances with your family. Ask them what sort of background checking they do on their staff, subcontractors and anyone that you and your family will come in contact with. You can always request as a condition of getting the job that everyone involved in the project be background checked. It is a small cost, usually just $25 to $50 each depending upon how extensive you make it. This is a small expense to pay for piece of mind.

Several years ago, a customer who had rental properties and hired me for several projects asked if she could conduct a background check on me. I had no problem with it and was happy to comply. Her reasoning was that she wanted to be sure I checked out as I was going to be dealing with not only her property buy also her tenants that she wanted to protect everyone concerned. I am actually surprised that customers do not request this more often.

For the month of October, spend $25 at any Sherwin-Williams paint stores and get a free Purdy paint brush.  Please see Sherwin-Williams coupon for further details.