Budget Pack

Tips for Flat Pack Home Success

Flat pack homes have recently seen a huge surge in popularity, becoming arguably the most prevalent new building process around the world. The outstanding value for money and impressive green credentials of house flat packs make them a perfect choice for an era that is more frugal when it comes to both money and energy. Here, leading manufacturer and retailer of the very heart of flat packs - structural insulated panels - SIPs Direct (http://www.structuralinsulatedpanels.co.uk/) offers some tips to ensure your flat pack home project is a success.

Cost: a flat pack house can be as much as 25% less than a standard house, but as with any building project, cost is the cornerstone of successful construction. Loosen the reins on your budget and even the costs involved with building a bargain flat pack home can rise. Sit down at the very outset of the project and think of all the factors to be included in your budget: will there by an architect; multiple building companies (see tip three before you decide!); will you need to rent a property while it is being constructed? And remember that every budget should include an additional contingency allowance.

Back to basics: nothing will ensure success unless the very fabric of your flat pack house is of the highest quality. Not all flat packs are alike in terms of quality because not all structural insulated panels (the very core of flat pack houses) are alike. SIP Direct's composite panels are as strong as they are light; completely airtight and highly versatile. That level of quality makes for the most reliable and durable construction of flat pack homes possible.

One-stop-shops save time and money: there can be a huge number of people involved in some house flat pack projects: manufacturer, designer, architect, foreman, multiple builders. The list can go on, but it doesn't have to. Using individual service providers on this scale takes time to resource and rarely saves you money. Which explains the popularity of ‘one-stop-shops' for flat pack homes such as SIP Direct. It extends its services from manufacturer to builder and ongoing technical support; in short, everything one needs in a home flat pack project.

 

Flat pack homes are the future of construction, but like any large-scale construction project, what is a straightforward, speedy and economical process can become problematic if you don't use follow tips such as these: quality, cost and expertise. For further information on SIP Direct and its structural insulated panels, visit http://www.structuralinsulatedpanels.co.uk/.

 

Editor's Note: Structural Insulated Panels Direct (http://www.structuralinsulatedpanels.co.uk/) is represented by the digital marketing specialists and SEO provider Jumping Spider Media. Please direct all press queries to Louise Byrne. Email: louise@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

 

 

About the Author

Editor's Note: Structural Insulated Panels Direct (http://www.structuralinsulatedpanels.co.uk/) is represented by the digital marketing specialists and SEO provider Jumping Spider Media. Please direct all press queries to Louise Byrne. Email: louise@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

 

How much money do you need to back pack in Europe for 2 weeks?

I want to go through as many countries as I can in 2 weeks and I would like to know how much that would cost on a budget. For example, hostels, cheep food and transportation.

The dollar sucks now, so you can count on everything counting ABOUT twice of what you pay now. For example, last November I came back from London/Scotland (the exchange rate for the pound is comparable to the Euro). For one ride on the Tube, I paid 4 pounds. One way. That's about 8 USD. Before I left for my trip, I exchange 600 USD and got about 290 pounds.

You need to do careful research before you go and try to find cheap places to stay (do try lonelyplanet.com, and try tripadvisor.com). Once you do that, figure out how much you think you need for food (go to supermarkets and buy sandwiches or fixin's; WAY cheaper). Say you buy meals from a supermarket. Count on spending about 10 Euros/pounds per meal, 20 Euros/pounds per day. That's $40 a day.

Find which museums are free, and don't go for the audio tours, which are sometimes costly. And, to be honest, you can save money by walking everywhere.

If you're a student or under the age of 25, go to STA (it's Student Traveling Agency or something like that). For no fee (when I did it many years ago), you get a STA card and a book of coupons. The card gives you certain discounts to museums, restaurants, AND hostels, so it's something to look into. I was so sad when I turned 26 because I couldn't take advantage of the deal.

So adding in $40 for meals, plus the cost of the cheapest hostel you can find for a day, plus $40 (just in case), you'll get your daily budget.

OH, and Iearned this the hard way: Before you leave on vacation, you need to call your bank and credit card companies, informing them of when you are going on vacation. I called my credit companies but forgot my bank, so the very FIRST time I used my ATM card, it locked my card. I couldn't get money out, I was running low on cash, and I had to charge everything on my card (which was avoiding because you pay for the day the charge gets processed, so whatever the exchange rate is for that day, that's how much you pay. The rate could be higher than what it was when you first made the purchase!). It cost me almost $35 in calls and FOUR DAYS to get them to re-activate the phone.

Sorry; I'm wordy and I get like that when I'm tired (and I make typos when I'm tired . . .).

Hope this helps, and have fun!

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Tags: budget, budget pack for arduino, budget package, budget packaging, budget packet, budget packing, emergency, packing, tips, travel

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 1:33 am and is filed under scrapbooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.