If you have hired a general contractor, you can still save money by purchasing your building materials. Some general contractors will not allow you to buy your own building materials, but if they do you can save as much as 10 percent on your home building budget. Many general contractors are able to buy the building materials at a discount and then mark up the prices and sell them to you for a profit. By eliminating the mark-up by the general contractor, you can cut out this unnecessary spending. When you contact your local supplier, you should ask for the builder's discount. While you may not be able to get the same prices as your general contractor, you will still save money because you aren't going through your contractor.

The ordering and delivery process is crucial to saving money when building a home. Keep constant communication with your contractor and supplier to make sure the correct materials are being delivered on time to the sub-contractors. If delivery is one day late, your sub-contractor will need to re-schedule and they will charge you for this. Make sure the general contractor is ordering materials that are strictly for your project and they return any unused materials. The unused materials need to be credited towards your account by the supplier.

Another step you can take to save money when building a home include proper site preparation, site clean-up, framing, dry walling, installing millwork, installing doors and windows, and painting. If you are able to do any of the above yourself, cost can be reduced by eliminating the use of sub-contractors. Doing the job yourself can save you roughly 30 percent of your home building budget.

The best thing you can do to save money when building a home is to make sure you have clear, open communication with your general contractor. You should ask your general contractor for his schedule with the sub-contractors to make sure everything is delivered on time and that you aren't paying extra for re-schedules. When building a home, your project will be on a strict timetable and you should make sure everything stays this way.

Take a good look at your home builder's contract. Far too often home builders sign the contract blindly without reading it and wind up paying more money for mistakes and insurance. Be sure you understand your home builder's contract and that it favors you and not the general contractor. Your general contractor should be responsible for any defect that happen after the construction process is completed and they need to pay for any insurance issues that happen at the site such as worker's compensation or fire damage.

All of the above steps can help you save money when building a home.