1. Finish the plan. The more time you spend working out and finalizing the plan with your architect and contractor, the more time you'll have to find cost savings and prevent expensive change orders down the road
2. Find a contractor willing to value engineer your project. Value engineering is when the design team, you and the contractor discuss creative ways to achieve the design intent for less. Be honest about your budget from the beginning — if you find a builder you want to work with and he knows you are serious about working with him and not shopping around for a bunch of quotes, he will be more likely to put in the time to get creative with your budget.
by Kenny Grono
2. Find a contractor willing to value engineer your project. Value engineering is when the design team, you and the contractor discuss creative ways to achieve the design intent for less. Be honest about your budget from the beginning — if you find a builder you want to work with and he knows you are serious about working with him and not shopping around for a bunch of quotes, he will be more likely to put in the time to get creative with your budget.
3. Use eBay and Craigslist. I know, I know — I told you not to buy your own materials. But certain deals are hard to pass up. If you can get the farmhouse sink you want for half price because someone else has to unload it, go for it. Just get it before the cabinet design is finalized and have it onsite before you plan around it.
by Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc. 
4. Schedule work for the winter. Contractors are generally very busy in the summer but might be willing to give you a discount if you schedule work for the winter — at least here, in Philadelphia. It may be different in a warm city like San Diego. Ask your contractor when work is generally slow and ask for a discount if you postpone the work until then.
5. Be nice. If you treat your contractor and the staff respectfully, he will remember this when the opportunity arises to go the extra mile for you.
6. Be 'good pay.' A client who is "good pay" is one who pays when the contract stipulates, without needing to be reminded or convinced. This works similar to the previous tip: If the contractor feels that you are not the type to try to stiff him, he will be more comfortable going out on a limb for you.
by Forum Phi
5. Be nice. If you treat your contractor and the staff respectfully, he will remember this when the opportunity arises to go the extra mile for you.
6. Be 'good pay.' A client who is "good pay" is one who pays when the contract stipulates, without needing to be reminded or convinced. This works similar to the previous tip: If the contractor feels that you are not the type to try to stiff him, he will be more comfortable going out on a limb for you.
7. Focus on what you need. Do you really need that cutting-edge pot filler or superexpensive backsplash tile? Scale back and cut out the fluff when you can — with a little extra work, it's possible to find less-expensive but still high-quality products.
8. Barter. If you have a valuable skill or a vacation home, you may be able to barter for some of the cost of your remodel. Your contractor will still have to pay taxes on payment delivered this way, but it means less out-of-pocket cash for both of you. I have bartered my services for art and pottery before, and it worked out great.
by Case Remodeling 8. Barter. If you have a valuable skill or a vacation home, you may be able to barter for some of the cost of your remodel. Your contractor will still have to pay taxes on payment delivered this way, but it means less out-of-pocket cash for both of you. I have bartered my services for art and pottery before, and it worked out great.
9. Don't do everything now. Stage or downscale the project. Before budget becomes a driving factor, we often get carried away and want to change everything. If there are parts of the project you could do another time without added cost, wait on those. Staging different parts of the project will allow you to save up more money beforehand.
10. Do some of the work yourself. If you want to bring up this option with your contractor, be careful to stay out of his way while doing your own work. Maybe you can install the floating cork floor after the room is built but before the finish carpenters and painters come in — you could even do it on a weekend so there's no disruption to the contractor's schedule. Not everyone will be open to this type of arrangement, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
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by Arcanum Architecture
10. Do some of the work yourself. If you want to bring up this option with your contractor, be careful to stay out of his way while doing your own work. Maybe you can install the floating cork floor after the room is built but before the finish carpenters and painters come in — you could even do it on a weekend so there's no disruption to the contractor's schedule. Not everyone will be open to this type of arrangement, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
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Review a home pro you've worked with
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You will be glad you did.
I agree with number 1, finish the plan. To expand on this, make sure the plan isn't just a dry pencil drawing, but is a full description of the vision of the space, the reason for the project, the objective and the priority design considerations. If you write down your priorities first, then when a snag comes up, you can look at your criteria to help you make rational decisions.
The three major elements of a project are scope (both amount of work and quality), price and schedule. Pick your main concern and make most of your decisions based on it, then pick your secondary and be prepared to regularly compromise on the third criteria.
Limit wow factors and make material and design decisions based on your own priorities. Just because your contractor or designer or architect loves light fixtures, doesn't mean you should spend a fortunate on the "right" ones if you only care about whether you get light when you flip the switch. On the other hand, if light fixtures are super important to you, spend more money on them and less on flooring.
Stick to mid-range for materials and labor. If you see ceiling lights from $10-$100, pick one from $30-$90...or, better yet, pick the $90 fixture that is on sale for $60. Low end materials don't last and are too much of a pain to install without damaging and super high end materials eat up lots of budget without adding significant value.
Spend much of your budget on classic elements for a functional space, spending lots of time and effort to get the structural issues, flow, spatial proportions, window and door placement and mechanical/electrical issues right as those are almost impossible to fix later. Second, move on to the expensive elements like flooring and cabinets and stick to good quality, classic products and then indulge your creativity in the decorative elements like paint colors, hardware, fixtures etc.
Splurge on something you want, but don't really need if it makes the project come together. In my kitchen redo, I spent $360 on the exact right ceiling fan which was a fortune to me and twice what I paid for my vintage stove. But, it was the right item and four years later I know that both the fan and the stove were excellent purchases.
The biggest tip I give to my clients is to use an Integrated Design Process (IDP), in which a contractor is selected early in the design process (rather than competitive bidding). In IDP, the contractor is a valuable team member throughout the design process, providing input relative to costing, constructability, and preferences from the very start - a very team-oriented approach. I find this to be more efficient than value engineering later in the process.