Moving into a new home! *update on last page*

LadyMorticia

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

To be honest LadyM, you are so well-loved on MSE (particularly in the Arms) and on FB that if you were to publish a "wish list" - on FB of course, as we cannot exchange details on MSE - you'd find that some of us are willing to send you things to help get you started :kisses3:

I'll try to send you a list of what Marley & I had when we moved in together. We didn't have much, but it was enough.

I don't know about loved.:rotfl:

Thanks Tigs. That would be really helpful. :grouphug:

Callie22

You may have hard-wired smoke alarms, but if not, then get yourself some. I'd also really, really recommend that you get a carbon monoxide detector. It's a bit of an investment (£20-ish) but having been in a situation where one saved my life I feel that they're invaluable. I'd also recommend getting some contents insurance - again having been in situations where money's been tight when things have been broken or damaged the insurance has always been a blessing.

Above all, I would say don't rush into buying stuff - you've got plenty of time and there's no point spending more than you need to buy things. You can pick things up cheaply through special offers, ebay, and freecycle and slowly get everything looking the way you want it - it feels much better than doing that than worrying about how you're going to pay for the all the things that you've bought because you thought you needed them ...

MatyMoo

Congratulations! A first home is sooooo exciting :j

The two things I forgot were Teaspoons - great having everything to make a cuppa but no spoons for the coffee or sugar was a pain!* and a Tin Opener - Was so tired all I could face was beans on toast and nothing to open the can with, that will be just toast then

* I only had knives and forks in my cutlery collection :rotfl:

LadyMorticia

askabigail wrote: »

Hoover, mop, saucepans, microwave, cutlery, crockery, fridge, towells, bedding, beds, and Martin Lewis!!!:)

Thank you. If only I could keep Martin Lewis on my pocket.:rotfl:

barbiedoll wrote: »

As a previous owner of a one-bedroomed flat, I would just like to say, be careful when people offer you stuff, a small flat can quickly get cluttered. If you have mobility problems, you don't want to be tripping over huge furniture! And don't feel like you can't turn anything down, it's not rude to refuse free stuff that you don't want. I was offered 3 coffee tables, I felt terrible refusing kind offers, although looking back, they probably just wanted to save themselves a trip to the tip! :rotfl:

Same for buying other stuff, it's easy to get carried away and buy dinner sets that have 12 place settings, large amounts of mugs, glasses, cutlery etc etc. When I moved (into a house) I couldn't believe the amount of carp that I had stashed in my cupboard, including two hoovers!

When you buy furniture, make sure that you measure up first. Sofas especially all seem to be made to fit into huge rooms, they look lovely in the showroom or on the website, but you get them home and they completely take over the whole room. And keep the ornaments/knick-knacks to a bare minimum, it's just more to dust and keep clean!

Good luck in your new home!

Thank you so much for the help.

I agree with the cluttered bit. I'm also going to make sure that when we pack, we get rid of paperwork etc that we haven't needed in so long and probably won't and I'm going to put the important paperwork into a folder in plastic pockets so that it's organised and not cluttered all over the place (also means I get to organise things. Yay!).

*max* wrote: »

I second Ikea for small furniture items, like coffee table, shelves...etc that you may like to buy new, as well as small things like cutlery, plates, bathroom stuff.... Bigger items (bed, sofa...) can be had cheap/free second-hand: check your local freecycle, gumtree, and charity shops. Ebay can also be a good source, there is an option to find local items when you search by distance.

For small electricals, things like bed linens and towels, argos and the big supermarkets are good. Tesco direct also have discount codes very often.

For gas & eletric, check out the comparison websites to get the cheapest providers. Take a meter reading as soon as you move in.

TV licence can be paid by direct debit monthly, that's what I do.

And finally, congratulations! It's a great feeling, isn't it?

Thank you.

Luckily, we already have our own bed. The in-laws bought it for us when we got married (we weren't allowed to share a room untiil we were married as they're Christians and think it's wrong. Which is fair enough. It's their house and we respected their rules).

I'm going to write down everything people are posting, just incase I can't find this thread again.

I'm so excited.

LadyMorticia

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

I'd imagine so - the smoke alarm, central heating etc will all be running in the background. The readings should be low but the point is you don't want to pay for stuff you haven't used.

Whilst you're checking meters, remember to check where your stopcock is for the water, just in case of emergencies.

Thank you.

I'm going to make a list of things to ask when we visit the property and a list of things to check etc as I don't want to move in and then have no idea where things are!

ours will higher than yours as we're in a 4 bed house, but our gas DD was £54/month initially (low £42 and i expect it will drop further in the new year). Water was £65/month, now we pay £40 something. Tv license was £29.10 (now £12 odd). Council tax wont let us pay over 12 months, so we have 10 payments of £112 instead of the £80 a month we'd anticipated.

Thank you.

We don't really use that much electricity I don't think. I think the main things that might use more are DH's amps for his guitars but he's a musician so that's to be expected.

We might use more gas though because the M.E means that I'm really sensitive to the cold and find it hard to warm up.

And at the other end of the scale, phone, tv and broadband start off cheap where you get so many months free/half price at the start of your contract, and as everything else starts getting cheaper, they start getting more expensive until you can switch deals :cool:


don't want to put you off, but it did throw my budget a bit because I had no idea it was going to happen.

We're trying to shop around for the best phone, TV and broadband deal. The problem is that the village we live in doesn't have fibre optic cables so that might limit us a bit.:o

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

Congrats on getting your own place

Thank you.

the argos book idea is great..its what i did but i think wilkos/ikea might be better value for money and they sell plates etc as singles

have fun though..and dont go too mad with the purple stuff lol

Lol. But purple is awesome. Nah. Don;t worry. We won't go overboard. They'll be plenty of teal stuff too. ;P :rotfl:

*max* wrote: »

One more thing! If you are going to get a BB bundle, don't forget to check the cashback sites, as some give good deals! for example, quidco are offering £61.75 cashback for taking out a contract with Virgin Media. Better than a kick in the teeth!

We were going to go with Virgin Media but our village doesn't have fibre optic cables so it limits us a bit.

LadyMorticia

lynzpower wrote: »

Have you got access to wheels?

I found ebay fantastic for furniture, have had some fab bargains.

We have (although our car isn't that big).

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

We're just about to move into our first owned flat as well, and I find making lists by room really useful. I've divided it into "essential" "really useful" and "nice to have".

For example, for my son's room:

Essential:

Bed
mattress
chest of drawers
shelves
bed linen
curtains

Really useful:

rug (wood floor there, so no carpets)
wardrobe

Nice to have:

toy box
desk & chair

I like that idea too.

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Congratulations on getting the flat! That sounds really exciting for you.

Thank you.

I'd like to second the 'don't get too much stuff' before you move in. Sometimes it takes living somewhere to see how you use it to know best what furtniture to really need. If you have mobility problems, then keeping the place uncluttered wil make life easier as well as needing less cleaning etc.

Thank you. I agree. I think we're just going to get the essentials e.g. fridge, cooker, plates and kettle first and then see what space is like.

Good storage is a must, (though I am a believer in don't have too much stuff to start with!) Make sure everything to have in flat has a home because then it will be easy to keep clutter free. Clutter free = energy saving for you as well as keeping your home a restful and relaxing place to live in.

I can't stand living in cluttered environments. I have OCD so everything has to have a place or it completely sends me out of whack. A blessing or a curse, I'm not sure.:o

Think about lots of shelving; some baskets on shelving can be a simple and attractive way to store little things between the books and what ever else needs a home .
Things like coffee tables - make them earn their keep by having two uses - one as a table and the 2nd as a storage box. Think about storage under the bed too, that is easy for you to use and pull out. Argos have some good ideas for this.
Also , think about how you are going to store your paperwork, all the bills etc: gas,elec,water/sewerage/C.Tax etc Perhaps some A4 files or an expanding folder.

I like the baskets idea. I also want to put some pictures up to make it personal. I'm a photographer so maybe can frame my best work so that we don't have to buy already framed artwork (although, I'm not saying my work is fantastic).

I already have the idea of files. I like to keep things organised. If I need something, I like to be able to find it. I don't want to wade through loads of things to find it, as it's time-consuming and uses up my energy which I need for other things.

You'll want somewhere to store towels and your spare duvet cover/sheet and pillow cases. Don't have too many spares, just one spare of each is enough especially when you live in a small space.
You'll want something to put dirty laundry and to dry it on too.

You only need a few mugs and a couple of plates and bowls to start with. Fewer dishes means they don't pile up for days.

Hope some of that helps. Have fun planning your new home.:D

Thank you.

LadyMorticia

Callie22 wrote: »

You may have hard-wired smoke alarms, but if not, then get yourself some. I'd also really, really recommend that you get a carbon monoxide detector. It's a bit of an investment (£20-ish) but having been in a situation where one saved my life I feel that they're invaluable. I'd also recommend getting some contents insurance - again having been in situations where money's been tight when things have been broken or damaged the insurance has always been a blessing. [/QUOTE

Definitely going to get a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector. £20 in the grand scheme of things isn't that much when they can save a life.

Above all, I would say don't rush into buying stuff - you've got plenty of time and there's no point spending more than you need to buy things. You can pick things up cheaply through special offers, ebay, and freecycle and slowly get everything looking the way you want it - it feels much better than doing that than worrying about how you're going to pay for the all the things that you've bought because you thought you needed them ...

We struggle with money sometimes so think we need to make a list of the essentials and then just buy those for the time-being and then add everything else as and when.

MatyMoo wrote: »

Congratulations! A first home is sooooo exciting :j

The two things I forgot were Teaspoons - great having everything to make a cuppa but no spoons for the coffee or sugar was a pain!* and a Tin Opener - Was so tired all I could face was beans on toast and nothing to open the can with, that will be just toast then

* I only had knives and forks in my cutlery collection :rotfl:

Thank you.

Oh gosh! I probably would have forgotten them if someone hadn't mentioned it.:o

MrsAtobe

Congratulations on your new home!!!

No-one's mentioned the corkscrew/bottle opener yet... lol

If you have a TK Maxx near you, please try them for saucepans, I've seen Judge and Circulon pans in there recently. I appreciate that you have a lot of things to get in a short space of time, and you may not have money to spare, but I've recently bought some of the Circulon pans from there, and not only do they make washing up a nicer experience, but I've found that I use a lower setting to keep them simmering. Every little helps with the fuel bills .

tankgirl1

Congrats again!

My big thing (having just moved into a new build!) was floor covering - the HA don't provide this - cost an arm and a leg to get bobby basic carpet put down - I managed to get a budgeting loan so I could pay up.

The next big thing was curtain rails & curtains - Privacy!!

I am lucky, I already had the white goods - fridge freezer, washer & dryer, and had a telly and sky box too, although I no longer subscribe to sky as I'm just too skint! There was no ariel when we moved in, and it worked out cheaper to remove the sky dish from the old place and get it re-installed.

Most of my stuff is either hand me downs, gifted from freecycle, or from a 2nd hand shop - and we just about have our brand spanking new home looking cosy!

Oh - BT told me it took them a min of 16 working days to get an engineer out to a new build - but the new build had to be registered first - something the builders have to do apparently....arrghhh! took forever!

I bought a dongle & topped up my mobile

Outer_Limits

Congratulations again! :j:j

The rooms idea is good, plus I would consider basic activities.

Sleeping - you have a bed, which is a great plus You also need pillows, duvet, and bedlinen...

Bathing - you need a few towels.

Eating/drinking - cooker/fridge/kettle possibly microwave (basic ones are very cheap) cooking utensils, chopping board, sharp knife, plus pots/china/cutlery/tea towels - you might want to check out charity shops for possible bargains.

Cleaning - broom/dustpan&brush/bin, mop&bucket, duster, cloths or sponges and floor/bath/kitchen cleaner.

Laundry - A washing machine as laundrettes are so expensive and such hard work! But - where to dry stuff? Either a machine with built-in dryer, or some airers or indoor lines.

And somewhere to sit! Good idea to check sizes before choosing - also will it fit going up the stairs and through the door?