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Need to get a cat shelter for stray or community cats—or just a stubborn house cat that refuses to stay indoors? Your first thought may be to head to the pet store to pick something up. But you might actually be better served by turning a plastic tote with lid into a cat shelter through your own DIY skills. Here are a few reasons why.

1. It is a relatively easy project.

Turning plastic containers for storage with lids into cat shelters may sound like a challenge, but it really is not. In fact, there are only a few steps and basic supplies involved, which I will share with you in my next article. You should be able to complete the project in an afternoon with no trouble, even if you do not have a lot of DIY experience.

2. It will probably save you money.

Cat shelters are not cheap. Many of them start out at around $50 and increase from there. Quite a few models top $100, and still are not particularly fancy or special. So if you do buy a cat shelter, it will run you a lot of money.

You can probably purchase the supplies you need for building a cat shelter yourself out of cheap plastic storage bins for a fraction of the price that you would spend on a cat shelter that is ready-made. Your total supply costs might add up to around $20-$30, maybe even less—especially if you already have one or more bins on hand.

3. It is less likely to flood.

For some reason, a lot of pre-made cat shelters share a common design flaw, and that is that the door is located way down at the very bottom of the unit, at ground level. This is an issue, as it means that there is no protection from flooding inside the shelter.

If you build your own cat shelter out of cheap plastic bins for storage, you can put the door at just the right level above the ground so that it is less likely to have flooding issues. You can also make sure it is small enough to keep out predators (large openings are another common cat shelter flaw).

4. You can customize it more easily.

Finally, one more challenge when you are shopping for cat shelters is finding shelters that are the right size for your needs. You need one that is right for the amount of cats you want to house, and that has the correct dimensions to fit where you need to put it. Plastic bins come in all sizes, so you will probably find the DIY route an easier one when it comes to getting the right dimensions (many cat shelters may be too large or too small). Plus, you can customize the insulation to provide the perfect amount of warmth.

You now know just a few reasons why plastic bins are perfect for building cat shelters—and how taking a couple hours for a DIY project can save you money and help you provide a better place to stay for the cats in your community.