My offer on a 3bed semi-detached for £245k was accepted. Overwhelming feeling of dread now.

white_tree

amandaleeds said:

I furnished my big 2 bed flat for less than £2k including appliances. It was either free or 2nd hand, albeit maybe a few things from Dunelm. I blew all my savings on the deposit so had to wait each pay day to gradually get everything, but you don't need much to start with 😊

i hope i can furnish everything on just 2k, although i doubt it. nice to know it's possible though

white_tree

horsewithnoname said:

Join your local freecycle groups, people give away loads of decent stuff. 

thanks where can i find a freecycle group?

TeeAy

white_tree said:

horsewithnoname said:

Join your local freecycle groups, people give away loads of decent stuff. 

thanks where can i find a freecycle group?

congrats on your new house!  
look for a local group in your area https://www.freecycle.org/   Its amazing what types of things are on there!

Sapindus

And the lovely thing about buying from one of the big charity shop warehouses, stating the obvious though it might be, is that the charity benefits.  My son just bought a sofa bed in one which was only marginally cheaper than getting it new because Ikea have just dropped the price on it, but the money went to a better place!  And when you can afford to trade up, the stuff can go back and go round again.

Missus_Hyde

Yorkie1 said:

When I first moved into an unfurnished (rented) house, a friend said that all you need furniture-wise is something to sleep on and somewhere to sit when you watch the TV. The rest could come with time.
(Obviously, you need white goods etc.)

She was right, to a degree. As others have said, you don't need everything at once, and you don't need it to be new as long as it is safe.

Good luck!

When we got married ( almost fifty years ago 😳) we were buying our first house and my mother knew some neighbours who were emigrating and selling a lot of their furniture and white goods.

She bought us a Belling oven for £15.00 from them and I had it for thirty years!! I cried like a baby when it eventually gave up the ghost and I've never found an oven which I've liked as much.😉

I hope that if you do decide to buy your house, you'll have many happy years there.☺️

Slinky

bobster2 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

Don't think your monthlies is complete - what about TV license, home insurance after year 1, no travel costs (work or otherwise), maintenance on the property, life insurance. Having said that, your budget is healthy IMO, above £1k after all bills paid is pretty good even if you stay on your own for the next 5 years. 

Even with a mortgage - life insurance is not absolutely necessary if you don't have any dependents (e.g spouse or children).

Without these, the beneficiaries would be whoever ends up inheriting from your estate (parents? siblings?). For a young person on a tight budget I don't think they need to feel a financial obligation to put aside money each month for a policy to benefit parents/siblings.

Without life insurance the mortgage provider can just sell the property and claim the equity to cover the outstanding mortgage.

This is OK up to a point, but insurance that covers long term sickness should certainly be considered. My friend was diagnosed in her 30s with a terminal brain tumour and the insurance paid off the mortgage. She lived for nearly 5 more years (way beyond the expected 14 months average). Without this payout she could have struggled to afford living in the house, and having to move whilst being seriously ill isn't something anybody would want to do.