Apartments are often our first time venturing out into the world of having our housing. Although you can’t completely customize your living space, the furniture you fill it with can help make a space unique to you.
It’s not impossible to furnish your apartment on a budget! Here’s how much buying furniture for your new place may cost, plus some tips to help you save money.
If You Buy Entirely New
Buying entirely new can be alluring, especially if you’re considering doing it to try and ensure your apartment matches and flows easily. Unfortunately, furniture sets are expensive, and there’s no place that’s truer than when buying new furniture. Per bedroom, a new furniture set can cost upwards of $2,000. A kitchen table and chair averages out to around $400, and a medium-quality couch can cost about $900.
This is all before the mattress, before ottomans, or stools for your kitchen’s breakfast counter. A two-bedroom apartment at this rate would start at $5,300, which is beyond many people’s budget.
If You Buy Second Hand
Buying second-hand can make this a lot better! On sites like craigslist, if you want a whole bedroom set, you can get it for around $600. A kitchen table with chairs can cost closer to $150, and a couch can be free or upwards of $400 depending on how new or used it is. This means a two-bedroom apartment would be $1,750 at the most, which is a huge reduction. If you mix and match pieces, you can bring that cost down even lower and add a lot of fun character to your apartment.
See If Your Family Has Hand-Me-Downs
When moving into Arlington apartments: tell your family! Let friends and family know that you’re moving and if anyone has hand-me-downs that you’d be extraordinarily thankful for them. Although not everything someone offers will be free, you can often find family members will set it to you for far less than it’s worth.
Shop Deals and Watch for Sales
It’s pricey trying to furnish your home! Instead of letting the money get you down, shop for deals and sales. This could mean waiting until Black Friday to get a deal, or it could mean becoming a pro at couponing, but you can knock hundreds of dollars off your total by planning and seeking out discounts.
There’s No One-Price-Fits-All
Unfortunately, there’s no way to fully predict how much you will spend on furnishing your home until you see what deals are available to you. Stores have sales go in, and out of rotation within a couple of hours at times, so it’s okay to take your time and wait for a good deal to come up before you put anything in your cart.
Regardless of whether you buy second-hand or brand new, ensure that what you’re getting is of good quality and that you’ll be able to use it for years to come. Wasting money on products that will break or crack won’t help you, even if you’re saving money by buying them.
