Starting again ... on a budget!

thriftymum1

Hi,

Not sure if this post is in the right place so feel free to move if there's a more appropriate forum!

I split from my partner a couple of months ago and have been staying with family since. I am on the waiting list for a council property and as I don't have a secure tenancy, am in an overcrowded property and have a 4yr old daughter, the wait isn't very long. so I think I may be rehoused within the next couple of months.

My problem is that when I left the family home, I left my ex with absolutely everything so I need to completely furnish my new place from scratch. I have made lists of everything I will need and have started buying bits & bobs that I can store easily but everyday I seem to be thinking of more things that I need to add to the list . I have been trying to save as much as I can while at my parents so I have some cash (around £2000) but when I look at the price of everything I have a mini panic attack that I wont have anywhere near enough money to be able to get my house nice.

so..... my question is, what are the best places/ways to decorate & furnish a house so it looks nice but doesn't break the bank. I want to avoid credit if I can as I'm now a single parent & I only work part time, will have enough to pay for when we go it alone without credit repayments on top!

Sorry for the long post & thanks in advance for any help

nickj_2

ebay ,freecycle, freinds etc for furniture , local papers, shops
B+Q do 3 for 2 offers on paint , keep a look out for deals

BJV

You need to start looking on ebay. I am or should I say used to be excessive about buying brands. The more i paid it almost made it furniture more attractive. Until I started my own company about four years ago.

The first year was hard but now thank god fab. During that time I had no income at all which was hard after being " comfortable" .

E bay has completely changed the way I look at house hold and in fact many items. I still like the brands, still like quality and yes there can be a lot of tat but there are also some amazing bargains.

I got a two month old branded never used corner suit ( beautiful ) for £70.00. You really do not have to spend a fortune.

In fact now I have gone the opposite way and am a skin flint. I always want a bargain.

Hopefully just trying to buy two Jasper Conrad Cushions for £1.73!

27col

There is no actual requirement to get your house "nice" immediately. It may be what you would like, but a delay is not going to be something that you cannot live with. Do it as you can afford it, and you don't have to have new stuff. There are fantastic bargains to be had out there. you never know until you start looking..

-taff

Have the basics to start with, i.e.e somehwere to sit, somewhere to eat. All the rest can be bought as and when you find the bargain.

I waited for 4 months to find th eperfect wadrobe on ebay - a double pine with a drawer underneath within 20 miles of where I live for £50 when they were all going to a £100 or more, because they'd put a different area than the one they usually sold on it.

This will help

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/local-ebay-deals/


I'm off to pick up a fridge freezer from freecycle tonight as well

thriftymum1

Thanks for the ideas, will make full use of ebay I think, have also started getting some bits from car boot sales, have picked up some great bargains!

I am now on the lookout for places I can pick up things I "need" to have new (mattress's, bedding, towels etc)!

I thought it would be a pain in the bum but I'm actually having loads of fun looking for the best prices and get a little sense of satisfaction when I don't have to pay full price for something

xx

Leif

There are online shops that sell decent new stuff at good prices e.g. pine double bedstead ~£100, mattress ~£100. Check out local charity shops, they can have quite usable items, sometimes quite nice ones. Ebay is good, but take care. I've had some nice items from ordinary people selling things they do not want, and not being able to take nice photos, they sell cheap. Check the feedback to get an idea of the seller. I had to take one table back which was misdescribed. Ikea is very good for basic functional good value items. Amazon of course, although they are tax avoiding scum bags. Also notice boards in local shops. My neighbour picked up a like new shed from a local person, delivered for free, very nice, seller and buyer were happy.

Apparently car boot sales can be good too. Also auctions are brilliant, sometimes you get real bargains. Take care of course, decide before bidding on your maximum bid and stick to it.

Rain_Shadow

BJV wrote: »

E bay has completely changed the way I look at house hold and in fact many items. I still like the brands, still like quality and yes there can be a lot of tat but there are also some amazing bargains.



Hopefully just trying to buy two Jasper Conrad Cushions for £1.73!

That's the trouble with Ebay - full of chinese fakes.

Alan_T_2

Was not quite in the same circumstances but reasonably similar... split from wife (share custody of a then 3yr old), stayed in house until it was sold, however never knew when it would be sold and I'd have to get somewhere. Had agreed that she could take pretty much most of the things in the house and I would get "new" things.

What I did was to make a list of the things I needed and prioritise the list on what I absolutely needed day 1. For me it was getting daughters bedroom sorted and things to eat from and at, clean and wash with, and sit and relax.

For the smaller bits of the list I started a good few months ahead of time buying things in sales, had iron/ironing board, bedding, plates, glasses, kettle, toaster, cutlery, towels, cleaning things (mop and brush) etc all sitting in my folks cellar for approx 4 months before I had sold.

Once I had exit date confirmed I started looking around for the bigger things like bedroom furniture for my daughter, and for this I got her involved in picking something so it was her room from day 1 and she settled quicker.

For other stuff like washing machines and furniture I was fortunate that I had the budget to get new, but when I was helping my current girlfriend move her flat we got huge amounts of stuff on Freecycle/Freegle and Gumtree... it's about accepting what the item's purpose is for more than the style. At the end of the day a wardrobe is just somewhere for hanging clothes in all reality, and a washing machine is just something for washing clothes, and when you realise that it makes it fairly cheap and easy to fit out a place. Kirstie Alsopp did a programme on C4 recently about fitting out house for free and the jist of this was about picking up furniture from Freecycle and the like and upcycling them into more contemporary pieces.

theGrinch

imagination...you cant beat it. read style magazines on and offline for hints and tips and stay flexible.

wasnt there a C4 programme on this exact area this summer?

Errata

If there's a charity furniture warehouse where you live it's worth a wander round. This morning in my local Hospice warehouse I saw my M&S sofa and chair on sale for £75 - I paid vastly more than that new and I'm currently sitting on the sofa:mad:
ebay is good for pre-loved M&S bedding, which is better quality than cheap new Asda etc.
Good luck!