When money is tight, furnishing your home certainly isn’t the easiest thing to do. You need money, time and a great deal of commitment in order to make your home look exactly like you want it to look. However, just because you don’t have a lot of money doesn’t mean that you can’t furnish your home at all. In fact, there are many things you can do to save some money around the house, from looking for outdoor furniture online to get the best deals to asking your friends if they can help out. Here are just a few of the things you might like to consider when you’re trying to save money furnishing your house.
- Don’t be too fussy
Yes, we all want to have the house of our dreams, but it’s not always possible at the time being. Remember that you will likely have plenty of opportunities to decorate and furnish your home in the future, but if it needs doing desperately right now, there are ways you can do it on the cheap. If you’re too fussy about the furnishing of your home, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get stuff for the property very cheap or free of charge. However, if you’re happy to go with the flow and make do with the bargains you can get your hands on, you’ll be on your way to having a very cheaply furnished home. You might not have wanted blue in your living room, you can actually make the purple curtains match if you put the red photo frames into a different area!
- Ask your friends
Don’t beg your friends for money to help out with the furnishing of your home, but there’s certainly no harm in asking around to see if anybody has any furniture that they would be happy to donate to you. This might be a mattress, a book cabinet or a TV stand, and it might be just the thing that you need for your home. If you use social media, send out a little message or write a status letting people know that you’re trying to furnish your house and you need some supplies to help you along. It’s surprising how many people have things inside the home that they don’t want but never got round to getting rid of it.
- Check second-hand furniture
You can pick up some great bargains by looking around for some second-hand furniture. For example, websites such as eBay will have loads of great deals available, both brand new and from sellers who are looking to get rid of some excess junk or furniture lying around in their homes. You can even go to your local second-hand shops and see if there is any furniture on offer there. Doing a quick Google search will help you to find suitable shops which are close enough to you. Pay them a visit and see what is on offer. Even if you don’t like anything that is for sale there, it might give you some further ideas about furnishing your home on a budget.
- Plan carefully
Once you’ve discovered all the cheap or free ways that you can get your hands on some furniture for your home, you need to remember that planning is still an essential part of the process. You can plan your finances and budgets in a number of ways. If you prefer to write everything down, get a notebook and dedicate it to your furnishing plans and money matters. Alternatively, you may like to create a Google document, which is ideal if you are planning it with other people. Everybody can update the document and it can be seen instantly by the other users. You can also make use of many free budgeting apps which are available for downloading onto your smartphone or tablet.
- Avoid things you don’t need
Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean you have to buy it. This is a common mistake that many people make, and you will only end up with loads of items that you don’t need. These will take up space in your home and will also have cost you valuable money. Make a list of the things that you do actually need for your home, and see how strict you can be when it comes to sticking to the list!
