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

Deep_In_Debt

I got a lot of second hand stuff (including kitchen appliances) which lasted me for years. I still have a couple of the second hand chests of drawers I originally got when I moved over 20 years ago which are good quality and still going strong. I think the only new thing I bought was a mattress as my parents gave me a bed frame that they no longer needed. My mum made all the curtains; I just bought the material.

datlex

When I moved here, I moved from an unfurnished room in a shared house to a one bed room unfurnished flats (no carpets or curtains). It is a HA flat, so you get to decorate it yourself. So had to factor that cost in. I didn't look at how much I needed to get furniture. Instead I looked at what my budget was and what I needed. This meant for some items I had very basic items for a while. When I first moved in, my two most indulgent purchases were from Ikea- a pine drop leaf table and a wardrobe with full length mirror on one door £150 each. I already had a bedroom, dressing table, desk, bookcase, microwave, kettle and toaster. I got my kitchen appliances new from currys - basics. Wanted gas cooker so wanted it fitted properly.


Since being here I have upgraded some furniture. But before doing so I have researched what I needed, how much would cost and saved up to buy it. My most recent upgrade was a new fridge freezer with an water dispenser.

TBagpuss

I had a cooker (built in) a fridge (bought 2nd hand for about £30) and a bed. I also had a futon which I bought in a hurry the day I moved in as the bed warehouse had a fire and couldn't deliver my bed, and I needed something to sleep on!

I already owned a kettle, and some crockery, cutlery and pans, all from my time as a student (and most of which was second hand at that time. The exception were the plates and bowls which were a cheap set from a supermarket offer.

My parents then gave me their old vacuum cleaner as they bought a new one, an old B&W TV, and brought me my desk and chair from my old bedroom at their house.

Over the first couple of months I bought a few more things - a table (IKEA - about £25) and a wardrobe and chest of drawers (charity shop - less than £20 each)

I then saved up an bought a washing machine about 8 months after moving in. Other furniture came later, as and when I could afford it.

I think at the time of moving in I spent less than £250 (this was in 1998)

I think a lot depends on what is important to you. I really wanted my own space, and that was much more important to me that having a a lot of stuff. If it would bug you to make do with hand-me-downs and mis-matched stuff from charity shops etc. ten save up a bit monger. Make a list of what your essentials are and what they will cost.

However, i think it is always a good idea to live in a place for a little while before making final decisions about big purchases - you may find that your ideas about what will work where will change a little once you get used to the house.

If I were starting out now, I think the key things I would ensure I could afford would be a good quality mattress, and kitchen equipment sufficent to allow me to cook proper meals. Most other things can wait.

System

Some of my furniture was originally mine - Ikea Poang chair, hi-fi cupboard, lamps, book case etc. With kitchen equipment, I used parents' old stuff as they had 2-3 of everything like Pyrex.

As I moved in the end of Jan 2010, I went to Argos, Sainsburys and Asda to buy microwave, kettle, crockery etc in their clearance sales. In Sainsburys I bought 2 packs of 12 sets (4 bowls, side plates and dinner plates) for £10

Vacuum cleaner, I had my parents old one until it died 20 months later.

Everything else was new. Relatives gave me a combined £450-500 in both money and gift cards towards things.

d0nkeyk0ng

I'm in this situation. Budgeted for deposit and solicitors fees. Completely forgot about the "small" stuff. It's not just furniture. You need to buy things like cutlery, crockery, mop, brush etc. It all adds up.

We've gone for a sofa from a company who will let us pay in installments, and we got 0% finance on our bed. Appliances we've bought with 0% new purchases credit card. We will have paid it all off within twelve months and have bought more stuff by then.