Unfurnished Flat - what will we need?

scorpian81

Hello fellow moneysavers,
I hope I have put this post in the right bit, apologies if I haven't.
My partner is 3 months preganant and we are now able to bid on 1or2 bed houses/flats through our local council. Most of the properties are letted by the local housing trust and are mainly unfurnished.
Hopefully it won't be too long before we are moved out, but can anyone help with what we will need for when we are moved as I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of things. My list so far is below.

small 2nd hand tv (we already have a one and a digibox) £20-30 ebay
Double divan bed + bedding 170+40 £210
Washing machine £280
Fridge Freezer £300
Cooker Gas £230 Elec £200
Kettle £25
Microwave (for sterilising baby bottles at first) £70
60 pc dinner set £30
pots and pans £35
Iron £25
Food processor (I've been ordered to by future mum in law) £40
brush and pan/sweeper £5
Appliance insurance (x3) £200
Furniture (tables, chairs, wardrobes, sofa) sourced 2nd hand prices unsure

The list has mostly come from the argos book so savings could be made elsewhere, it's just a rough idea for a slightly clueless couple!:rotfl:
Many thanks in advance

laughingcow81

Your should have a look on freecycle for your local area, you may be able to pick up many of these things for free at first to save you a bit of extra cash.

Or look in classified ads in local papers to help you out.

Some things you will obviously have to buy, but you should be able to get most of it for free! You'd be surprised what people want to get rid of.

tanith

You'll curtains or blinds
Ironing board
Kitchen implements, masher , tin opener, slice etc etc
Bath mat and towels

I'm still thinking:rotfl:

Jowo_2

Do you actually have £1400 to spend upfront on these items anyhow?

You can get the bulk of these items for free from Freecycle or Gumtree freebies.

If you are on a low income, you'll be able to get free or very cheap furniture and appliances from furniture charities such as Emmaus. Ask the local housing trust for a list of local charities that do that or google them.

You'll be able to get cookware for pennies from charity shops. Even Ikea is dirt cheap for kitchenware and have cheap start packs of cutlery, crockery glassware and utensils.

I suggest you ask your MIL to provide the food processor as a house warming gift if you yourselves want one. To liquidise the food when the baby is a toddler, you might only need a hand blender anyhow.

You can get cheaper kettles and microwaves than that from Argos, Tesco, etcm but again, you might get them as a freebie.

BitterAndTwisted

I don't see any towels or tea-towels on that list anywhere and I don't understand why the first thing on your list is a second-hand TV when you already have one.

You seem to have covered the absolute essentials but I'd dispute whether you actually NEED a microwave (or a 60-piece dinner set when there are just two of you) when you have a cooker already but you have excluded an ironing-board.

Most of the things on your list could be acquired through Freecycle but I would NOT recommend you get a bed via that route.

Kitting out a kitchen with some decent cooking equipment like spoons, spatulas, baking tins etcetera can just go on and on but these can be got very cheaply at charity shops or car-boot sales to tide you over.

Cleaning equipment and materials like a washing-up bowl, floor mop can get quite costly as well so I suggest you invest in some distilled vinegar and Stardrops!

ETA: I've just knocked £300 off your budget by dropping that "appliance insurance" which I think is VERY poor value bordering on a cynical con. I really wouldn't bother.

Look at eBay for sofas in your local area for collection. I bought two a couple of years ago from separate sellers for peanuts adn they were of a much better quality than I could ever have afforded new and were also in mint condition. The sellers were just making room for fancy new ones.

clearing_out_my_pockets

Vacuum cleaner
Mop
Toaster
Chopping boards etc
Cot

Congratulations, by the way!

scorpian81

Many thanks for all of your help and ideas. I've just looked at that freecycle site, that's brilliant and will definitely be checking that.
I have £6000 in savings but the rest I want to put by for the influx of baby clothes, toys, and other necessities such as nappies.

Personally, I agree that the insurance is a rip off, and other stuff. It was just off the top of my head. But it doesn't help when my future mil keeps trying to put ideas/orders there. And I thought a hand blender would be sufficient too! It's difference in opinion mainly. She believes everything has to be new, I disagree. only the bed, and most baby items need to be.

I have noted what I'm missing although the list is not in 'priority order'

Jomo

Your list sounds ok, you'll most likely realise what you need to add once you have moved in!

scorpian81

That's pretty much what I expected Jomo. There will always be something I've forgotten or not realised:rotfl:

ClareEmily

Hi there

First congrats on nearly moving into your first new home.

When me and my hubby first moved in, we had:

Bedroom
Second hand bed and bedding
Bedside light
Chest of drawers
Wardrobe already fitted

Living Room
Second hand sofa and chair
My hubby bought with him TV and stereo

Second hand curtains for living and bedroom

Iron and ironing board

I packed a box of kitchen things, go and visit wilkinsons, I was lucky got a lot free from family members:
Secondhand microwave, these are really cheap in places like tescos at mo, approx £30 for a decent one
4 plates
4 bowls
knifes and forks
4 mugs
4 glasses
Kettle
Wooden spoons
Saucepans
Frying pan
Baking trays
Glass oven proof dish
Second hand fridge/freezer
Foil
Cling Film
Tinned food - soup, baked beans etc
Knifes
Scissors
Tin opener
Bin bags
Bin for kitchen
Oven gloves

Cleaning products
CIF
Washing up brush
Washing up liquid
J Cloths
Kitchen rolls
Kitchen multi cleaner
Floor cleaner and mop
Clothes pens

Bathroom
Toilet rolls
Toilet brush and cleaner
Shower Gel
Shower Curtain

To pack in separate box
Kettle
Mugs
Coffee
Tea Bags
Milk
Bread
Toilet Rolls
Kitchen Rolls
Tea towels

Be realistic, as long as you have food, somewhere to lay your head, the place is heated and you can make yourself a cuppa, everything else can wait.

We have so much stuff now but I loved moving into our first home with barely any belongings, and it was fun to buy things together for the first time.

BitterAndTwisted

Baby-clothes, equipment and toys will come flooding your way almost without you having to put the word out. Second-hand baby-clothes can be got very, very cheaply and personally I don't think there's anything wrong with them, they've mostly seen hardly any wear at all and even if other people's standards of hygiene are not your own people rarely operate those same standards to their precious darling tinys. You can launder them in Napisan before use in any case.

Moses baskets for the first few months and later a cot will probaly be offered to you if you put the word out but a tiny new-born could sleep quite easily in a drawer or a cardboard box. Baby's bed-linens can be made from cut-down single bedsheets or even pillow-cases and you could pick these up in charity-shops for pennies.

I would try and dissuade you from spending decent, hard-earned cash in the first few months as babies are dead cheap to keep. It's when they're older that they really start costing you a fortune!