Know where your interest goes. If you plan carefully you can pay as little in interest as possible. What do I mean? Well, you start paying interest as soon as a draw is made. So if you can plan ahead you can avoid paying additional interest. To do this, simply ask your suppliers when you get bids on materials if credit is available to you. If it is, get an application and submit it. Once you have a credit with a supplier, you then need to determine the billing cycle, if the closing date for the billing cycle is the 25th, and you need supplies on the 24th, wait one day and save a ton of money by not paying interest on that money for a whole month. This can mean you have materials for 30 plus days before you have to pay for them, which means you can make your draws and pay for as much as possible at one time, and have a free ride until you have to make that draw.

The longer you can use suppliers' and subs' money interest free before pulling a draw that has interest ticking on it, the cheaper the cost of your home. However, if you need the money for another purpose, or have built in an overage for your management, and you need the money, it is there for the taking. This is the beauty of having a credit with suppliers

Using credit with suppliers is not the only way to save money. Another way to save yourself some money is find out from each supplier when you get a bid if there is an early payment discount. There usually is one, and it can be a significant if you are spending a lot. For example, most early payment discounts are anywhere from 1-5% which, on a big purchase, such as your framing lumber, can be substantial savings. So, find out about them, and take advantage of them. Just think, if you spend $200k building your house, and you can save 5% with every supplier by paying early, you could save $10k. That is a lot!!

Another great option, that can really help you save money, is to require a smaller mortgage. Huh? What does this mean? Basically do not spend as much upfront on your house. This can be done by a number of ways. For example, you could leave the driveway and walkways unpaved, saving money there. You could rough in systems like central vacuum, but not do trim. You could have unfinished bonus rooms, or garages, porches, etc, and finish them later. You could buy your appliances out of pocket rather than include them in your loan, and you could decorate later. These will all help your mortgage be lower, which means less money you are paying interest on, then you can finish these items up as you have extra money, or with the savings of having a lower mortgage payment. Most people do not use this option, but it certainly saves significant amounts of money in the long run.