A renovation or self-build isn’t just expensive. It’s hundreds of decisions, dozens of trades and months of uncertainty — all happening at the same time. Navigate Your Money Pit gives you the visibility and structure to understand the impact of each decision before saying yes to what comes next.
Download the free Starter GuideNavigate Your Money Pit helps homeowners stay organised, make informed decisions and remain in control throughout their renovation or self-build.
“I built the Home Project Control System because nothing on the market reflected how a real renovation actually works. Not the aspiration. The reality.”Built from our own renovation experience
Most homeowners start a renovation or self-build without a system for tracking costs, managing trades, forecasting cashflow or making decisions under pressure. They rely on memory, good intentions and a number on the back of an envelope.
Then reality arrives. Costs move. Timelines slip. Trades depend on other trades nobody mentioned. The budget that looked solid in January is unrecognisable by April — not because of one bad decision, but because of forty small ones nobody quite made on purpose.
That’s the problem this system was built to solve.
Track every committed cost, payment and change before it becomes a surprise.
Understand upcoming cashflow, key milestones and trade dependencies before they affect your project.
See the impact of every change on your budget, timeline and funding before saying yes.
One system. Four integrated components. Everything you need before you start, while you’re managing your project, and when things don’t go to plan.
The written companion. Covers everything from insurance and planning to contractor management, financing when the money gets tight, and the mistakes we made so you don’t have to.
Every task to consider, stage by stage, from professional fees through to snagging and handover. 18 stages. Use it alongside the Control Centre to make sure nothing is missing from your budget.
Tracks every trade, payment, scope change and cashflow position, with a live dashboard that shows your exact budget position, cash position and project progress at a glance.
Use it every time a trade, an unexpected issue, or your own decision puts you over what you planned to spend. Walks you through where the money can come from and forces a conscious decision rather than a drift.
Every component in this system came from a real 21-month, two-phase home project. Not designed in a studio. Built on a building site.
Built by someone with 25 years in financial services and formal project management experience who still discovered that renovating a home is an entirely different challenge.
That section exists because it happened to us. The Credit Union, the mortgage switch, the top-up. Real decisions explained honestly.
The guide explains the decisions. The Control Centre manages the project. The checklist makes sure nothing is missing. The framework helps when reality changes. They work together.
Planning permission, commencement notices, BER vs EPC, SEAI grants vs UK schemes, employers liability — both jurisdictions, specifically.
Your existing home insurance may no longer provide appropriate cover once structural work begins. Many homeowners only discover this after work has started. The guide covers what to do — for both Ireland and the UK.
The septic tank that cost €2,000 to investigate and was fixed by tightening a collar. The window moved without permission. All in. All with lessons.
Navigate Your Money Pit is continually evolving. Every article we write, every improvement we make to the Home Project Control System and every lesson we learn from homeowners is driven by one objective: helping people feel more prepared and more in control of their renovation or self-build.
Before you hire your first contractor, sign your first contract or start work on site — take 20 minutes to read this guide. Free. No catch.
Download the free Starter Guide
Navigate Your Money Pit