Is it ok living in bare minimum?

Bumblefeet

Eek, Never mind, I could have sworn I read you were moving into Northampton, or was that another thread ?

I'll leave the info up, incase its of use to anyone else though

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, it is OK living with the bare minimum. I did it years ago when I got my first flat with not a stick of furniture or a penny to my name.

It's easy to get into a flat spin and focus on what you don't have. (I did!) Try to separate out the things you really do need from those that you think you want. In my opinion what you will need from the very start is something to cook food on and the equipment to do it with and something to sleep on. All of those things can be acquired cheaply or even for nowt if you're determined and not very fussy. Anything else is an absolute luxury. I acquired a donated second-hand cooker, a fridge (no freezer) and slept on a mattress on the floor for the first six months. I would try to persuade you in the very strongest terms possible not to spend every last penny to your name on carpeting. It really can wait. Maybe for years, like mine did.

Tygermoth

When I got my rented flat I had nothing. For nearly a year I walked to a laundrette (if it couldn't be hand washed), had no tv (read books) no fridge and no carpets. Couldn't afford to run the hot air heating on a key meter so lived in layers like the Michelin man.

I had a old cooker and a bed. That was it. pots n pan from the market, dishes from charity shop.

You get used to living frugally very quickly and i find the lessons i learned then still are relevant now. Namely that as long as there is a bed and food on the table you can get through anything (though i didnt actually have a table lol)

In fact i got so used to it that my brother lost his temper after visiting once and went out and bought me a fridge because i had mentioned i didn't need one and had work arounds for everything. however he hated UHT milk in his tea. lol

I have never been so brassic as i was at that point in my life. I lived on beans, bread and tea.

It reminds me how lucky i am now to enjoy life's little comforts (like having heating and good food) and i will admit i am more thankful and enjoy what i have than most i know.

Ps. as above I never actually carpeted the flat in the end, just got used to it and thought it a waste of good money as it was a rental and i would have to remove the carpets when i left.

Brighton_belle

Another here urging you not to spend on carpets til you can afford it and certainly do not get a loan. Even interest free they have to be paid back. Carpets really are not essential and many generations before us grew up without carpets because the expectation wasn't there.
If it helps OP, we are probably more than twice your age and we sleep on a mattress on the floor (floorboards) because we can't afford a bed (that fits our tiny bedroom) and that feels completely ok to us. We sleep really well.

Definitely try freecycle for stuff. We got an oven from there and numberous sets of shelves for storage. It will be dfficult without a car of course but the person offering might be kind enough to deliver.
Good warm slippers are agreat idea for both of you.

wiggywoo9

I was worried about health visitors etc as I'd be embarassed for people to see it?

aliasojo

I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest carpet might be worth giving some consideration to, but only for 1 room.

It really depends on the flat. If the flat isn't cold and you're not going to be driven daft by noise coming up through the floor from neighbours then it's not a necessity.

However if it's a cold flat, having carpet in one main room would help cut down draughts and help stop your heat from escaping, which obviously would then help with heating costs.

Sitting on a carpeted floor is more comfortable than sitting on floorboards. Worse case scenario is a camp chair to sit on but at least with carpet under you it's warmer and doesn't seem so bad.

I've done both in my time (no carpet and couch from a second hand shop and also carpet and camp chair). Personally I found the latter to be better despite not having a couch simply because it was warmer and I could also sit on the floor with the duvet as a cushion.

There's no need to carpet the rest of the house straight away and you might get lucky with freecycle as suggested above for other things which would help free up money for a cheap carpet for one room? I wouldn't borrow to get one though.

The house we rent presently has laminate in one room and the room next to it is carpeted. The carpeted room is much warmer than the room with laminate, I can only imagine how cold it would be with no flooring at all.

As said though, really depends on the flat. If the flat is fine and a carpet would only be a 'nice' thing to have, then leave it off the 'priority' list.

Just view it all as an exciting adventure OP. I sometimes wish I could go back to the days where I'd just left home, despite not having a penny to my name and scouring the second hand shops for bargains. Those were poor days but happy ones.

Good luck.

aliasojo

wiggywoo9 wrote: »

I was worried about health visitors etc as I'd be embarassed for people to see it?

Health visitors wouldn't bat an eyelid at flat with no carpet or sparse furniture.

They would only be concerned with signs of neglect and that isn't a result of having little in the way of possessions.

Health Visitors might even be useful and offer help if they know of local schemes which might benefit you.

I know my old area had a scheme where people donated things, local tradesmen gave their time to check the items (so an electrician would check a donated cooker for example) and Health Visitors and Social Workers would put people in touch with this scheme if they thought they could help.

suki1964

My fist flat and I was in the same boat, low income, no financial help anywhere and not a stick of furniture to be had.

My first cooker was a camping stove , fridge was the window ledge, bed was a mattress on top of old curtains and newspaper to keep the drafts at bay

I learned to love the radio


Washing was hand washing smells and lights, with a bag of bedding towels and jeans taken to the launderette weekly

Baths were a weekly luxury, most days was a strip wash with saucepan of hot water

But I slowly accumulated bits via word of mouth, people are very generous when having a clear out and know you are in need . I don't think I had matching anything for the first 10 years of homemaking, everything was make do, gifts and finds. I remember when hubby's dad died leaving us some money 12 years ago, we went out and bought for the first time ever a decent bed and bedding (still in use today)

The most important thing is, paying your rent and essential bills, food and then heating, then everything else. Everyone so far has given you great advice on where to look for things that you need as basics, the rest will come - eventually

Mojisola

suki1964 wrote: »

My first cooker was a camping stove , fridge was the window ledge, bed was a mattress on top of old curtains and newspaper to keep the drafts at bay

If you want to go one step up from that - a bucket with a few inches of water in the bottom, milk bottles standing in the water and cloth draped over them but dangling in the water. The constant evaporation keeps the food cool. If you have a water-tight plastic container you can keep other foods cool in there as well.

FatVonD

I agree with Aliasjo about just carpeting one room, you could probably pick up an offcut very cheaply. If you're worried about your health visitor or social services make that carpeted room your son's bedroom.

When I moved from a flat to a bungalow that need completely renovating (even though I had furniture and stuff which I stored in the garage) we lived in 1 room with just a mattress on the floor, a TV and our clothes in bin bags and only moved in furniture as each room was ready (so much easier to decorate when there's no furniture!)

We stayed in that room for a few weeks until the rewiring was sorted then I decorated my son's bedroom, got him bunk beds for that room then we both moved in there while I sorted out my room and carried on from there.

For the first few months we had just a kettle, a fridge, a washing machine and a microwave (by choice) and we managed fine.