FTBs with no furniture etc, how much have/did you budget?

Joanthebone

Callie22 wrote: »

And cheap though it may be, think twice about getting a bed from IKEA. They're odd European sizes which means that the only place you can get bedding to fit properly (i.e. wide enough duvets, bottom sheets, duvet covers etc) is IKEA. It's a real pain when you can't take advantage of cheap bedding in the high-street sales.

IKEA sell beds and mattresses in both European and UK sizes now. Their bedlinen is, unfortunately, pure cotton which makes it a bu99er to iron!

catoutthebag

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Zero.

Nada.

Zilch.

In my day, mortgages were so expensive at 17% interest that we all lived with hand-me-downs, family generosity, or make-do affairs.

One of my friends had a cardboard box for a table and milk crates for chairs for the first 3 years in his new flat.... With no TV as they couldn't afford the license and no phone line either. And that was in the 1990's, when prices were at their historical cheapest compared to incomes.

There is simply no need for expensive furniture. Go to ebay, freecycle, gumtree, etc and you can furnish a house with stuff that will do for next to nothing.

You should be focused on maximising your mortgage to buy the biggest/best house possible rather than wasting money on frivolous tat on the inside that will only wear out or break anyway.

shocking advice.

'maximising mortgage''buy biggest house possible'

just because you can borrow x amount does not and should not mean you debt yourself up to the max. this is how we got into this mess partly. people borrowing more than their means allowed.

i could have borrowed nearly double more than i have, but to your dismay, i didnt. i dont want to stretch myself. i want to enjoy mylife in other ways such as travel and hobbies. i dont need a place twice the size. i like modest spaces.

please review your 'money money bigger better' advice next time.:mad:

BitterAndTwisted

Missus_Hyde wrote: »

Many moons ago, when we got married, my mother bought me a Belling cooker from a neighbour who was emigrating.

It cost £15 and lasted for thirty years!! It broke my heart when it finally went to the great electrical heaven in the sky and I had to get rid of it.

I've never found another that I've liked so much, or was so reliable.:grinheart

This made me LOL!

When I moved into my place all I had was a mattress on the floor, a second-hand fridge my mother found for me somewhere and a Belling cooker a friend of hers was replacing. That was thirty years ago and it's still going strong. I must be fifty years at least since it was manufactured. Honestly, they don't make things to last anything like that any longer.

If I was starting from scratch again I dread to think what it would all cost buying brand new. Just kitting out a kitchen with the absolute basics would be a couple of grand. I had to wait a year before I could afford to buy a washing-machine. That was a challenge, let me tell you.

Some of the charity-shop dishes and whatnot I bought for pennies are still in use today.

uk_american

1 bed flat, 3rd floor, no lift and I had just moved new to the area so didn't have any friends or family locally who could provide or help me move furniture.

I had made an offer on the flat that was below asking price, but the vendors had an amount they didn't want to go below. It was a difference of 2k, so I asked them to leave the furniture, as well it included the cooker, washer, fridge/freezer.

The furniture was exactly they type and style I would have bought and everything was under 3 years old as they bought it new with the flat.

So 2k got me the white goods plus: bed frame (I wanted to buy my own mattress), 3 wardrobes, 2 seater sofa, 3 seater sofa, outdoor patio table and chairs. For me it was 2k well spent as it was all top quality, no ikea and 5+ years later I still have all of it in good condition.

For everything smaller I stayed pretty minimalist, was well under £200--1 set of towels, 1 pot, 1 kettle, 2 coffee mugs etc. as it's a tiny one bed and I didn't want to clutter it up while I figured out what I *truly* needed.

Bonniepurple

While we rented, we had to start from scratch. We were lucky in that my Gran was downsizing and we got a lot of her stuff. We've still got most of it (12 years on). Due to finances, most stuff is charity shop or from family. White goods were new - but now getting old.

onetwothreefourfive

I'm hopefully buying a flat later this week. My theory is that I will order a bed and mattress as soon as I get the keys, and everything else can wait.

I do have kitchen stuff, bedding etc, and small items like a bookshelf and a chair that I have collected over the years. If the vendor doesn't leave behind his washing machine and fridge like he said he would, then I'll have to buy those.

But I would rather save up and buy furniture I'll really like, rather than just buying stuff straightaway.

I am quite lucky as I can probably get some stuff off my parents, but I think trawling charity shops is probably the way to go.

dirty_magic

catoutthebag wrote: »

shocking advice.

'maximising mortgage''buy biggest house possible'

just because you can borrow x amount does not and should not mean you debt yourself up to the max. this is how we got into this mess partly. people borrowing more than their means allowed.

i could have borrowed nearly double more than i have, but to your dismay, i didnt. i dont want to stretch myself. i want to enjoy mylife in other ways such as travel and hobbies. i dont need a place twice the size. i like modest spaces.

please review your 'money money bigger better' advice next time.:mad:

In fairness to the poster this probably wasn't bad advice until the banks started offering ridiculous mortgages. We were told we could borrow between 165 and 210k depending where we looked, but we actually decided 140k was our realistic maximum. If we borrowed 210k every penny would go on bills and mortgage payments.

That said, I don't really agree that it's sensible to spend all your budget for furniture on the house. I like to be comfortable, what's the point in owning a house if you can't make it a home?

System

We budgeted 5k and ended up spending twice that! There was just so much we needed because we owned literally nothing. I had no idea how expensive cushions and curtains were!

With hindsight, I'm glad that we did. We only stayed here for 4 years but we had everything set up very soon after moving and most of the stuff we will take with us when we move.

katejo

I bought my first 1 bedroom flat in 1993. I did have a small saving available for furniture so I ordered a sofa/armchair set, washing machine and fridge freezer. The flat already had a new kitchen with oven and hob. Slightly later I ordered some matching cheap pine furniture for my bedroom (£500 for a double bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and bedside table) and for my living room. I still have some of it now but hope to replace what's left in the near future.

katejo

ManuelG wrote: »

Started with an empty house, the January sales, and ebay. Had a cooker, a walk-in wardrobe and... that was it.

Decided I wanted a new sofa regardless, never factored in delivery time (lying on a floor now in a sleeping bag, the delivery of said sofa probably deserves its own thread!) also found Argos decent value for beds/mattresses etc. and got the odd flat pack bedside cabinet for a tenner (cheaper than second hand in the house clearance place down the road!). Got a nice kitchen table and many chairs off ebay, also have a solid oak coffee table that is currently being wasted as the TV stand.

Still need/want a dishwasher, a bigger bookcase (should have taken note of measurements, the Argos baby bookcase really is baby!) an armchair (that'll have to be second hand, but would be nice if the AWOL sofa turns up so I can get clear in my head how much space I really have) and a few sundries.

The basics (bar the sofa!) are there, though. Of course there are things I'd *like* but... I set a budget, and I have to keep to it!

A dishwasher is hardly essential. i managed without one for 20 years until I could eventually afford to have a new kitchen fitted. OK I wouldn't want to lose it now but I didn't even consider having one until a couple of years ago..

I did treat myself to a sofa at the beginning. I ordered it from M & S but they had a parts supply problem at the last minute and it was delivered 6 weeks after i moved in. until then i had to manage with the loan of a white plastic garden chair. The flat didn't feel like home until the sofa and chair arrived.