Any advice for keeping projects on budget?

Any advice for keeping projects on budget?
On the design front, be very careful if you hear the word “just.” People seem to think that the volume is what counts. “I’m just bumping out the kitchen four feet,” they say. Well you might as well make it 40 feet, because it’s the corners that cost money. Put yourself in the builder’s position. You’ve been told to build a bump-out. You cut your whole in the wall and, boom, you’re off. But as soon as you hit a corner everything stops. Careful cuts get made, fasteners get put in, trim added. So much of the labor is when you change direction. So on the design front, remember it’s the corners that count.