If you have ever had work done on a house, you have probably been asked what your budget is. It sounds like a helpful question. It also tells the person pricing the job the most you are willing to pay, before they have priced anything.

When we built projects in Zulma, we wanted you to keep that number for yourself, without giving up the planning it helps with. So a project has a place for your budget, and no business ever sees it.

A number for your own planning

Say the bathroom needs redoing and you have set aside $8,000. On the project, under What you mean to spend, you type $8,000. Beside it, you can list what you will need to buy, with your own guess at each cost, and the project shows the list's total against your budget: what is left, or how much you are over.

The budget is optional. A blank one is a real answer, and so is a list with no amounts on it. Zulma never puts a figure in for you. We do not estimate work we do not sell, and we never fill in your list.

What a business sees

When you ask for quotes, a business reads what it needs to price the job: the name you gave it, the kind of work, your town, what needs doing, your photos, your voice note and how soon you want it done.

It never sees your street, your name, your number or your budget. The project page shows you the card exactly as a business will read it, with those four blacked out, before anything goes.

Why we keep it from them

If a business can see that you have $8,000 for the bathroom, a quote of $7,900 is very easy to write, whatever the work itself should cost. Without your number, all a business has to price is the job.

We kept two other things back for the same reason. A business never sees what you have spent on your home before, and it never sees what other businesses quoted you, so each quote stands on its own.

You can still tell a business your budget if you want to. Once you reply to its quote you are talking to them directly, and what you say is up to you. Zulma just never hands the number over because you asked for a price.

When the quotes come in

Quotes arrive on the project, and you can line them up side by side. Your budget is still there on your side of the page, so you can hold each price against the number you started with.

Accepting a quote does not change your budget. The price stays with the business that quoted it, and your budget stays the number you set. As the work goes on, you record each payment on the project, and those show what the job actually cost.

Who else can see it

Only you, and anyone you share your home with on Zulma. The project says so right under the budget, and says it is never shown to a business.

Projects are part of Zulma at app.zulma.ca, which is free for up to 3 homes.