Making the most of out of your money when buying new furniture
Furnishing your first home can feel like an astronomical task. Buying everything from the pots and pans needed in the kitchen, to the corner sofa you have always longed for can feel overwhelming and be very costly. Here are four of our tried and tested money tips to help you afford your dream furnishings.
1. Use credit cards with voucher points
For our bigger pieces of furniture, I took out a credit card with John Lewis partnership. The card offered 0% interest for 9 months but also converts the money you pay off into gift vouchers. Having had the money saved before using the credit card this worked well for us. We initially put the furniture on the credit card and in return received a good supply of vouchers which we put towards smaller items for the flat. I wouldn’t usually recommend a credit card but as long as you can pay off the debt before the interest starts, or save the money initially this felt like a worthwhile transaction to help us afford smaller items.
2. Shop around
If you are shopping on the high street then you can easily find the same product stocked on multiple sites for different prices. When I find an item I love, I put the name of the product into a search engine and simply scroll down the list taking note of the cheapest price. It’s as easy as that! You might even find these products on second hand sites like Gumtree and Facebook marketplace for half the price.
3. Limit your impulse buys
Our society is driven by quick impulse purchases and with providers like Klarna being introduced there has been a big push on buy now, pay later which is only enhancing the problem further. I used to be that girl that dipped into her savings on impulse and then felt the guilt sit on my shoulders for days if not weeks after. It sounds simple but breaking the mould on impulse buying is a solution to saving more, it gives you extra time to consider what you are buying and whether you truly love it and need it. One of the ways I have curbed my impulse buying is by using my Monzo card. One of the handy features of Monzo is the “pots” option. You can set up a saving pot for different items and drip small amounts of money into the pot over a number of months and watch it gradually fill up to its goal. For instance, if there was a coffee table you wanted to buy you could create a “pot” with the title “Coffee table” set your saving goal, and even add a picture of the table if you like a visual. Saving obviously takes time but I have also discovered there is a greater sense of pride in buying the final item when you have intentionally saved for it.
4. Rethink your expenditures
I moved home for 6 months before moving into the flat to save money instead of paying rent in London. If there is a short-term option you could make to reduce your outgoings it might be worth thinking about, if it achieves your long-term goal.
There are so many thrifty ways to create your dream home, the examples above are just a few of the ways we went about furnishing our first flat together. I hope you found these tips helpful for furnishing your own place.