For your consideration: You Want A Hot Tub On The Cheap? Here’s How To Git-R-Done Money Kings style.

Are you sure you really want a hot tub? Ask an owner how much they use theirs before really settling on your decision. Plenty of owners report not using their tubs as much as they’d like. You might find that a change in mind is due after a few anecdotal comments from your peers.

The reason to be careful with a hot tub decision has nothing to do with utility expenses or fear of drowning/electrocution. The reason to be careful is solely encompassed in the idea that there’s little you can do to become a hot tub owner without parting with at least $1500.

First things first:

1. Look at the electrical panel in your house. It’s has be rated at 100 Amps or higher in order for your little bubbly dreams to begin. Otherwise, you’re out of luck. You’ll see at the top or the bottom of your breaker panel one sole breaker on it’s own (sometimes you’ll see two coupled together). That’s what they call the “main.” Embedded in the main will be a number. Whatever number you see there represents the whole Amp service for your house. It’s common to see 100, 125, 150, 200 and 60. Again, if you see a number lower than 60, then you need to have to skill (and in some cities) the license to increase the service to your home—or you need to call an electrician (your $1500 just turned into $2500 at this point.
2. Assuming you’ve got enough Amps going to your house. You can start strategizing on how to pull power from your breaker box to the special breaker you’ll need to install on the outside of your house that will eventually connect to your hot tub.
3. We suggest saving a whole lot of money by using 6 gauge Romex wiring for this job vs. steel conduit and individual 6 gauge wiring. Have you lost us at this point? Don’t worry.
4. You’re going to have to visit the hardware store at some point during your adventure. Notice that we’re 4 items into the list and we haven’t even mentioned an actual tub yet. Because you have to go to the hardware store, you’ll have to talk to a couple of the electric department employees. They’ll be able to point you in the right direction for finding the hot tub breaker box (get a 50 amp regardless of the hot tub you choose, unless you’re getting one that will accommodate 10 people and 100 jets), the Romex and for telling you the difference between the Romex and the coduit and individual 6 gauge wires.
5. Maybe the guy at the store will tell you not to use Romex. Maybe you’re great at running cable through conduit you bend and install yourself. If you want to go that route, fine by us. Remember, however, we’re getting this project done a budget. Budget means Romex.
6. After you’ve got your outside breaker box and your Romex, you’ll need to get a 50 Amp breaker for your inside breaker panel where you identified the level of electricity in your home. Hopefully, you have two empty spaces in your breaker. You’ll need them for the special 50 Amp breaker you buy. If you don’t, you’ll have to move a few breakers around in there to free up some space. Don’t know how to do this? Then, again, you have to call an electrician and your $1500 bucks just went up to $2500.
8. Assuming you know what you’re doing, and you don’t need an electrician, a typical box of 50FT, 6 gauge Romex
   and exterior hot tub breaker box with associated inside breaker will set you back about $350. An electrician will charge you this, plus another $700 or so, just do the installation.
9. Now you have to connect all the wires. When you’re done with this, the real fun begins.
10. You need to pick a hot tub. In general, you should face the fact that all hot tubs break. The heater elements die out. The control panels short out. The jets freeze up with hard water gunk. The filters get filled with your skin particles. The PVC glue wears out and you get water leaks. All of this stuff will happen to you when you own a hot tub. What does this all mean? MAINTENANCE!
11. The Money Kings recommend using this #7 of this list as your primary reason for selecting a hot tub.
12. This means that you really ought to think twice about listening to a hot tub salesman when he tells you just how great having 50 jets in your tub is going to feel. Or, when the saleswoman tells you that LCD TVs in tubs are the best thing since sliced bread. Or, when the salesperson tells you that fiber optic lights are the most efficient way to light your tub.
13. Ask hot tub owners how often they have more than one or two people in their tubs.
14. Ask hot tub owners how often they sit in their tub an watch an entire movie for 2 hours.
15. Ask hot tub owners how many of their 64 jets they use for more than 15 minutes at a time.
16. Ask . . . you get the point.

You are ultimately the deciding factor in how much money you’ll spend on this project. The fewer the jets and lights and tvs and radios, the less maintenance and initial expense. You’ll spend $1500 for a tub that has 8 jets and seats 4 people. You’ll spend $10,000 on a tub that seats 7 with built in beer tap, 4 waterfalls and Dr. Phil autographed head rests.

The point here is to enjoy yourself, get wet, relax, chill with your friends, gab on your cell phone, drink wine/beer, smoke cigars, and stay nice and warm. If you want freedom from being broke, then recognizing that it’s okay to splurge a bit on luxury expenses as long as you compensate a bit by doing some install yourself is a great start with a project like buying a hot tub.

The final step is to do your research on brands, services, sizes and colors. Head to your nearest dealer and start haggling!

P.S.: NEVER pay full price. That hot tub salesman wants the sale even more than you want to buy.

Good luck out there.