Kitting out a student house

rayoflight_2

Hey gang,

I am about to move into my student house but it doesn't include many basic items such as a microwave, mop and bucket, vacuum cleaner, kettle toaster etc. Has anyone any ideas of where would be best to shop for these things? Obviously I'll also need general household items such as cleaning products and stuff too. Having lived with my parents up until this point I'm pretty clueless about such things! Please help!

Clive_Woody

If you have a large Tesco near you that does electrical goods too you can usually pick up very cheap bits there (kettle, toaster, microwave, etc), plus get your cleaning products.

Or shop online and get it delivered

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-5615.aspx

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-0643.aspx

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-4593.aspx

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-4605.aspx

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-6992.aspx

Are you sure your landlord isn't supplying any of these, normally there is some of this stuff there.

Get yourself a Tesco clubcard and start collecting points.

rayoflight_2

Yes, unfortunately I am sure the Landlord doesn't supply them (unbelievable I know). They don't supply desks either, which is quite unfortunate since it is student accommodation. However, I did put my moneysaving thinking cap on and bought the previous tenant's desk from her very cheaply...

Thank you for recommending Tesco - I will certainly check it out. If anyone thinks of anything else - absolutely anything household-related, let me know! It;s a very sparingly equipped house!

ormus

try your parents and family first, most will give small older items for free.
and dont forget freecycle. mention youre a student and offers will come flooding in.
try the local pound shop too.
argos and asda etc... if all else fails.

inamabilis

lidl sometimes have some good prices.

Where are you at uni?

bestpud

I second asking family and friends, and freecycle too.

Word of warning about Tesco value toasers and kettles though - they don't last well!

We are on out second toaster (first one burnt out in less than 6 months) and this one smells very hot if we cook more than one lot of toast at a time. We do use our toaster every day though so maybe they are better for more limited use. But then toast is quick, cheap and easy when studying...

We also had a value kettle which broke within about 3 months. We now have the next model up (still very cheap) and that seems to be holding out better.

I guess it's weighing up whether it's cheaper to buy for peanuts and replace more often, or have an initially bigger outlay but have it for longer?

Poppy9

Wilkinson's is cheap for cleaning products. The advantage of Wilkinson over Tesco is that you are not tempted to buy food you don't want as the food in Wilkies doesn't looks so appealing.

Don't buy expensive bathroom & kitchen wipes. Buy a bottle of cleaning solution and some microfibre cloths. The cloths can be washed in the machine and will save on buying J-cloths all the time.

Own brand washing powder is fine and you should only need 1/2 the recomended dose for a decent wash.

Best of all sit down and pick your Mother's brain. She will probably donate all the cleaning stuff you will need and hopefully help you give it a good clean when you move in:rolleyes:

BornSloppy

Have you tried Gumtree? I saw someone giving a desk away and a piano!

rayoflight_2

Thanks so much for the advice guys!

Clive_Woody

Actually that's a fair point about buying very cheap stuff, it isn't built to last and with three years ahead it might be worth paying a bit more.

In particular I would advise to invest in a half decent toaster (trust me get one of the four slice ones), because quite possibly like me and most other students, toast will become part of your staple diet. You really can't beat a few slices of toast with peanut butter after a night out on the beers.....well unless you have a nut allergy!

Don't get carried away with the cleaning products, the novelty of cleaning will soon wear off and unless you have a clean-freak house mate the next time you will bother to do any serious cleaning is just before you move out and want to get your deposit back.