First Time Renter's

abc1989

Hi,

I'm posting this on behalf of someone; they are first time renters and need a checklist for basic furniture they need to buy. Does anyone have one or have previously posted one? They also need a basic idea of what bills, I have said to the so far;
Gas
Electric
Water
TV License
Council Tax
Phone (Optional)

I don’t think I have missed anything so far!

BitterAndTwisted

The furniture they will need to buy will be utterly dependent on whether they rent a furnished or unfurnished property, obviously.

If an unfurnished property, most rentals will come with some white-goods like a stove and fridge/freezer.

As an absolute minimum I'd say that they'd need a washing-machine, a sofa and a bed. Anything else can be bought as and when finances allow.

PasturesNew

Absolute minimum is some garden furniture and a blow up mattress. That's what I'll be getting whether I rent or buy.

It's cheap, quick and portable

chewmylegoff

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

The furniture they will need to buy will be utterly dependent on whether they rent a furnished or unfurnished property, obviously.

If an unfurnished property, most rentals will come with some white-goods like a stove and fridge/freezer.

As an absolute minimum I'd say that they'd need a washing-machine, a sofa and a bed. Anything else can be bought as and when finances allow.

i think the white goods thing may vary depending on where you are renting. for instance, i've never seen an unfurnished property offered for rental (and i've seen a lot - all in london) without all the white goods, including a washing machine. on the other hand, i have a friend who rents in north wales who had to get all white goods as there was nothing in the kitchen at all (including cooker). he said that all the rentals there are like that.

anyway, it's best not to limit yourself by buying any of this stuff until you've actually found the place and signed the contract. What you don't want is to buy a load of stuff that you then find you do not need, or buy stuff and then the landlord decides he doesn't want to rent to you and returns your holding deposit.

Once it's all confirmed, get what you need for that particular house. If worst comes to worst you can live without furniture and sleep on an inflatible mattress for a few days until things are delivered.

hazyjo

- Contents insurance

If they're budgeting to see what they can afford, they should also take into account the day to day essentials too:

- Grocery shopping/beauty 'essentials' (makeup, moisturiser, hair stuff, etc ain't usually cheap...)
- Car expenses
- Mobile phone bills
- Pension
- Pet insurance (if relevant)
- Contact lenses (if relevant)
- Travel expenses
- Spending money(!)

Plenty others, but they're off the top of my head

Jx

LittleMissMPB

I would add Rent to their bills list. Also contents insurance if it's wanted.

We rent and in every place we have lived, it has been advertised as unfurnished, but an oven, hob and extractor hood have always been fitted to the kitchen so it's worth having a look around the place they want first to see what's included. A few places we looked at had integrated washing machines, however none I've looked at included a fridge/freezer

When I first moved away from my mums house this was my list, I've added a few of the 'little' things that both myself and my mum forgot ( list is excluding baby things as I had a 14month old at the time). Just take off things that aren't wanted/needed

Bed (+ bedding)
Sofa
Washing Machine / Dryer (we later bought a dishwasher as a 'luxury' item)
Fridge Freezer (bought a huge second hand one for £80 from a repair shop)
TV + stand (again, luxury if money is very tight)
Wardrobe/drawers for clothes
Clothes airer (you know, the indor washing line type thing)
Lightbulbs (the previous tenants for this house even took every single one of them with them)
Toilet seat (I'm paranoid about germs lol)
Curtains + curtain rails (again, previous tenants even took the rails)
Vacuum cleaner
Telephone if needed
And check where moving to for Oven/hob

I think that's everything. I'll add more if I think of anything.

LittleMissMPB

PasturesNew wrote: »

Absolute minimum is some garden furniture and a blow up mattress. That's what I'll be getting whether I rent or buy.

It's cheap, quick and portable

lol when my ex moved out he took everything. I used a blow up bed in the front room as a bed and sofa in one. They are great, I think it was under a tenner from Tesco.

evespikey

in terms of bills- internet!

dancingfairy

Budget calculator:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
This will list all typical bill categories- just ignore the ones that aren't relevant to you and your situation.
df