You can save a few bucks on a large project by ripping larger home center boards into smaller stock, and perhaps create trim, nosing, or spacer scrap.
Take a 1 x 6 for example. At 5 1/2″ wide, you can rip it twice at 2 1/2″ wide and create two 1 x 3s, plus wind up with a thin strip that is roughly 1/4″ depending on the thickness of your blade.
1 x 6 ripped into two 1 x 3s
In this particular example, you can save between 50 cents and $1 by creating two 1 x 3s instead of buying two 1 x 3s. Sometimes with larger width boards (1 x 10s and 1 x 12s) you might not necessarily come out ahead. Be sure to do your math before purchasing.
Also make sure to account for the width of you blade for each rip cut when determining how many cuts you can get from a particular board.
Here’s a helpful chart (you can probably create several more combinations, but this will give you an idea):
1 x 4 = two 1 x 2s
1 x 6 = one 1 x 4 and one 1 x 2; two 1 x 3s; one 1 x 3 and one 1 x 2; three 1 x 2s
1 x 8 = one 1 x 6 and one 1 x 2; two 1 x 3s and one 1 x 2; one 1 x 3 and two 1 x 2s; four 1 x 2s
1 x 10 = one 1 x 8 and one 1 x 2; one 1 x 6 and one 1 x 4 or one 1 x 6 and one 1 x 3 or one 1 x 6 and two 1 x 2s; two 1 x 4s and one 1 x 2; one 1 x 4 and two 1 x 3s or one 1 x 4 and one 1 x 3 and one 1 x 2; three 1 x 3s; five 1 x 2s
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