Spend less than $30 for all supplies needed to paint 2 or more rooms!

I, by no means, am a professional painter.  I have, however been painting our house room by room.  I've also helped other people paint, and have learned a few things that you may find interesting if your time is your money.

I just recently finished painting my entire living room - average size - and 3/4 of our guest room - with about 1/5th of a gallon of paint to spare.  I still remember talking with a good friend about how a paint company told her his estimation of painting 3 walls of a bedroom would take 2-3 gallons of paint... wow.  With that average, and paying full price for paint, it would cost me way more than $30 for all of my supplies.

One of my discoveries was the amazingness of the small foam rollers.  I bought one for our closets and bathrooms to use when painting.  I noticed that there was less paint waste overall.

When I paint a room with these rollers, it definitely takes 2 coats.  However, even when I have bought paint and primer and painted my walls the way the paint stores dictate, I still have about 2 coats of paint I have to put up.

Overall, it may take a little longer, but not by much.  In under 3 hours I completed the edging and painting of all coats to our guest bedroom - by myself.

Another amazing tool I discovered was the paint edger.  Watch out - this tool may become your best friend. It slides smoothly on the wall, and leaves a crisp line where the ceiling/wall meet the painted wall.  It also absorbs an amazing amount of paint (but doesn't waste), and is awesome for using to paint small sections, or to touch walls up.  Make sure you run the edger over the edge of the paint on the wall to keep it from being a distinct line on your wall.

For all of the supplies, of which the paint is really the only thing you will need to replenish for your other rooms - the roller and edger last a long time, and the refills are super cheap - your start-up cost is less than $30 (taxes included).  See the breakdown below:

Paint Pan: ~$2
Aluminum Foil (This saves your paint tray, and also keeps the paint wetter if you need to cover with saran wrap overnight.  When you are done - throw away with no pan to clean or toss!)
Foam Roller, and Refills (2): ~$11

Gallon of Oops paint (at Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, etc): ~$6
Paint Edger (this is my favorite) and refills (2): ~$8

I hope you too can paint without being too hard on your wallet.  I recommend listening to your favorite music and simply enjoying the time with you and your paint - it is very therapeutic :)