Financing Conundrum
Discussion
At the end of this month we move in to our first home. We currently rent a 2 bedroom flat and have MINIMAL furniture. We are buying a 3 bed house with much more space.
We want to fit out several rooms and financing the main bits of furniture is causing us some confusion. Could any financial gurus offer any advice?
We are wanting to buy some nice new things:
New bed
1 or 2 Mattresses (one for our old bed in the second bedroom)
Dining Table Set
Sofas
For the main furniture that is the lot but, we are spending nigh on £24k buying this house and the cupboards are BARE! We could save up but it would take a good few months to get all those bits and it would mean any soft furnishings would need to wait even longer.
We could take advantage of some of the 0% finance options available from many furniture outfits but then we have credit over our heads which we have spent the last 12 months removing!
Or finally, the method I haven't thought much about until now, our Overdraft of nearly £3k.
Any sensible suggestions would be most appreciated. I would rather not be spending the next year saving to furnish our new home.
We want to fit out several rooms and financing the main bits of furniture is causing us some confusion. Could any financial gurus offer any advice?
We are wanting to buy some nice new things:
New bed
1 or 2 Mattresses (one for our old bed in the second bedroom)
Dining Table Set
Sofas
For the main furniture that is the lot but, we are spending nigh on £24k buying this house and the cupboards are BARE! We could save up but it would take a good few months to get all those bits and it would mean any soft furnishings would need to wait even longer.
We could take advantage of some of the 0% finance options available from many furniture outfits but then we have credit over our heads which we have spent the last 12 months removing!
Or finally, the method I haven't thought much about until now, our Overdraft of nearly £3k.
Any sensible suggestions would be most appreciated. I would rather not be spending the next year saving to furnish our new home.
This is a very good confusing post!
So you want a load of new furniture now. You don't have the money to buy it yet but don't want to take out any credit.
I think your only option left is to steal it isn't it?
We were in Ikea at the weekend and they were offering 0% but not on Sofas (I think it was on everything else).
Hope that helps
M
So you want a load of new furniture now. You don't have the money to buy it yet but don't want to take out any credit.
I think your only option left is to steal it isn't it?
We were in Ikea at the weekend and they were offering 0% but not on Sofas (I think it was on everything else).
Hope that helps
M
Haha.. Yeah I see the problem. I knew what I wanted to say, just didn't do a very good job getting it across.
I'm not totally against credit, just didn't know if it was a good option or not.
To simplify..
You want some new furniture, can't afford it now due to recent expenditure but would like it asap. Would you:
Wait - it's best to be patient and buy it outright.
0% Finance - it's interest free so can't hurt!
Overdraft - you don't need to affect your credit score this way.
Sorry, stressful first day back at work
I'm not totally against credit, just didn't know if it was a good option or not.
To simplify..
You want some new furniture, can't afford it now due to recent expenditure but would like it asap. Would you:
Wait - it's best to be patient and buy it outright.
0% Finance - it's interest free so can't hurt!
Overdraft - you don't need to affect your credit score this way.
Sorry, stressful first day back at work
Donatello said:
Haha.. Yeah I see the problem. I knew what I wanted to say, just didn't do a very good job getting it across.
I'm not totally against credit, just didn't know if it was a good option or not.
To simplify..
You want some new furniture, can't afford it now due to recent expenditure but would like it asap. Would you:
Wait - it's best to be patient and buy it outright.
0% Finance - it's interest free so can't hurt!
Overdraft - you don't need to affect your credit score this way.
Sorry, stressful first day back at work
The Overdraft will affect your credit score to some degree. It will also cost you the most and is really not a good way to do it. It should be treated as an emergency source of funding.I'm not totally against credit, just didn't know if it was a good option or not.
To simplify..
You want some new furniture, can't afford it now due to recent expenditure but would like it asap. Would you:
Wait - it's best to be patient and buy it outright.
0% Finance - it's interest free so can't hurt!
Overdraft - you don't need to affect your credit score this way.
Sorry, stressful first day back at work
If I were you I would use the 0% finance option but as little as you can get away with. Perhaps draw up a list of exactly what you want and how much it will cost. Then prioritise it and see if you can spread it out over the next year or two. For example, if you don't have anything at all to sit on then I would make your Sofas a priority. Try and make do with a bed that you may already have or can get cheap from somewhere (someone suggested freecycle or friends etc).
Then as your 0% Finance is paid off, you should have been able to save and replace some of the older stuff, maybe using some more 0% to top it up.
No-one has a full house of new furniture from day one. You need to buy it gradually, it gives you something to work towards and means that you don't have to replace it all again in one go when it is worn out!
When we bought our first house, we answered an ad for some second hand sofas in the paper. When we got there, it was a family emigrating to Australia. We ended up buying nearly everything they had! Dining room set, hoover, cupboards even some cutlery. I think we got the lot for about £500 which was amazing for what we got! We called them our fairy godcouple.
We then replaced the less nice stuff gradually. That was ten years ago now and we still have the hoover and a few other things. We passed a lot of it on to mine and my wife's brothers when they bought their first houses.
HTH
M
The only thing I would buy new out of that lot if I were strapped for cash would be the mattresses. Buy a useable fair value one/two. When you have the money in a year or two to buy yourself a lovely new bed then you can include a better quality and longer lasting matress then.
The actual bed, sofa and dining room set you can get for pretty much free off Gumtree etc.
If you are strapped for cash then it is absolute folly to go and buy new what you can get for free and clean/disinfect.
When the world operated on common sense most people furnished their first homes with hand me downs and freebies and over the course of years as they had the spare money would replace each item with something new of quality to last them 20 years.
This need to have everything new and instantly is foolhardy. If it is driven by the other half then I'm afraid you are getting an early insight into what your future holds.
The actual bed, sofa and dining room set you can get for pretty much free off Gumtree etc.
If you are strapped for cash then it is absolute folly to go and buy new what you can get for free and clean/disinfect.
When the world operated on common sense most people furnished their first homes with hand me downs and freebies and over the course of years as they had the spare money would replace each item with something new of quality to last them 20 years.
This need to have everything new and instantly is foolhardy. If it is driven by the other half then I'm afraid you are getting an early insight into what your future holds.
Just done exactly this. Moved in just before new year to a completely bare house.
My advice would be beg/buy/borrow/steal any cheap furniture you can get for the first few months and snap up the stuff you want as and when you have the money. A few reasons for this:
First, it saves borrowing a chunk and having ongoing monthly payments, which however small they look on paper all add up.
Second, it means you get to live in the house first and know exactly what you want where before buying it. My first big proper furniture purchase was a lovely hardwood dining table that someone had bought up country, sent home at some cost and then decided didn't fit with the rest of their house and sold at a substantial loss.
Finally it's more fun. I've already got a story behind the table and a few other smaller bits I've picked up, and the house is starting to feel like my own, rather than something out of a showroom.
Of course everyone is different, and if you just want to move in to your new place and not have to think about anything except paying for it for the next couple of years then it's probably the way to do it.
My advice would be beg/buy/borrow/steal any cheap furniture you can get for the first few months and snap up the stuff you want as and when you have the money. A few reasons for this:
First, it saves borrowing a chunk and having ongoing monthly payments, which however small they look on paper all add up.
Second, it means you get to live in the house first and know exactly what you want where before buying it. My first big proper furniture purchase was a lovely hardwood dining table that someone had bought up country, sent home at some cost and then decided didn't fit with the rest of their house and sold at a substantial loss.
Finally it's more fun. I've already got a story behind the table and a few other smaller bits I've picked up, and the house is starting to feel like my own, rather than something out of a showroom.
Of course everyone is different, and if you just want to move in to your new place and not have to think about anything except paying for it for the next couple of years then it's probably the way to do it.
AJS- said:
Just done exactly this. Moved in just before new year to a completely bare house.
My advice would be beg/buy/borrow/steal any cheap furniture you can get for the first few months and snap up the stuff you want as and when you have the money. A few reasons for this:
First, it saves borrowing a chunk and having ongoing monthly payments, which however small they look on paper all add up.
Second, it means you get to live in the house first and know exactly what you want where before buying it. My first big proper furniture purchase was a lovely hardwood dining table that someone had bought up country, sent home at some cost and then decided didn't fit with the rest of their house and sold at a substantial loss.
Finally it's more fun. I've already got a story behind the table and a few other smaller bits I've picked up, and the house is starting to feel like my own, rather than something out of a showroom.
Of course everyone is different, and if you just want to move in to your new place and not have to think about anything except paying for it for the next couple of years then it's probably the way to do it.
I collected a whole property full of top end furniture years ago just biding my time until a distressed seller appeared with something that fit the room scheme.My advice would be beg/buy/borrow/steal any cheap furniture you can get for the first few months and snap up the stuff you want as and when you have the money. A few reasons for this:
First, it saves borrowing a chunk and having ongoing monthly payments, which however small they look on paper all add up.
Second, it means you get to live in the house first and know exactly what you want where before buying it. My first big proper furniture purchase was a lovely hardwood dining table that someone had bought up country, sent home at some cost and then decided didn't fit with the rest of their house and sold at a substantial loss.
Finally it's more fun. I've already got a story behind the table and a few other smaller bits I've picked up, and the house is starting to feel like my own, rather than something out of a showroom.
Of course everyone is different, and if you just want to move in to your new place and not have to think about anything except paying for it for the next couple of years then it's probably the way to do it.
The one thing I would say is that in the current economic climate there is going to be shortage of nice, nearly new furniture available for next to nothing.
Buy smart, live well.
DonkeyApple said:
I collected a whole property full of top end furniture years ago just biding my time until a distressed seller appeared with something that fit the room scheme.
The one thing I would say is that in the current economic climate there is going to be shortage of nice, nearly new furniture available for next to nothing.
Buy smart, live well.
True enough, but stuff still does get sold.The one thing I would say is that in the current economic climate there is going to be shortage of nice, nearly new furniture available for next to nothing.
Buy smart, live well.
On the flip side you have repossessions, relocations and of course there's always people dying recession or not.
AJS- said:
DonkeyApple said:
I collected a whole property full of top end furniture years ago just biding my time until a distressed seller appeared with something that fit the room scheme.
The one thing I would say is that in the current economic climate there is going to be shortage of nice, nearly new furniture available for next to nothing.
Buy smart, live well.
True enough, but stuff still does get sold.The one thing I would say is that in the current economic climate there is going to be shortage of nice, nearly new furniture available for next to nothing.
Buy smart, live well.
On the flip side you have repossessions, relocations and of course there's always people dying recession or not.
Buy a new mattress. Ikea do fairly decent beds. At least ok for a couple of years to get started. The rest, beg borrow & steal, also don't forget local auctions. You can get some fantastic bargains, people don't seem to want old furniture, quite why I don't know, some of it is superb.
Freecycle and relatives are a good source - it's surprising how easily people will get rid of stuff for nothing.
I'd also try to be not so precious on getting "stuff" for the house. It will fill up quick enough when people know you are after things.
A friend's mum always says how she lived with packing crate furniture and newspaper down for carpet because they really stretched themselves buying a house and bought the nice stuff when they could.
A good mattress would be the priority.
I'd also try to be not so precious on getting "stuff" for the house. It will fill up quick enough when people know you are after things.
A friend's mum always says how she lived with packing crate furniture and newspaper down for carpet because they really stretched themselves buying a house and bought the nice stuff when they could.
A good mattress would be the priority.
eBay is pretty good for furniture if you can collect, most stuff isn't really postable so the buyers are limited and prices lower as a result.
0% is a good deal for new furniture, but new furniture is relatively expensive compared with eBay, freecycle etc.
Charity shops round my way sell over priced tat as 'vintage', I would avoid.
Mattresses are about £200 for a decent one new and are materially better than someones old mattress that's going free or on eBay, so I would invest in those, certainly for your bed, but if your spare bed is more of an emergency bed, then maybe see what else you can get on the cheap.
0% is a good deal for new furniture, but new furniture is relatively expensive compared with eBay, freecycle etc.
Charity shops round my way sell over priced tat as 'vintage', I would avoid.
Mattresses are about £200 for a decent one new and are materially better than someones old mattress that's going free or on eBay, so I would invest in those, certainly for your bed, but if your spare bed is more of an emergency bed, then maybe see what else you can get on the cheap.
paulrockliffe said:
eBay is pretty good for furniture if you can collect, most stuff isn't really postable so the buyers are limited and prices lower as a result.
0% is a good deal for new furniture, but new furniture is relatively expensive compared with eBay, freecycle etc.
Charity shops round my way sell over priced tat as 'vintage', I would avoid.
Mattresses are about £200 for a decent one new and are materially better than someones old mattress that's going free or on eBay, so I would invest in those, certainly for your bed, but if your spare bed is more of an emergency bed, then maybe see what else you can get on the cheap.
A piece of crap futon ensures guests never outstay their welcome. 0% is a good deal for new furniture, but new furniture is relatively expensive compared with eBay, freecycle etc.
Charity shops round my way sell over priced tat as 'vintage', I would avoid.
Mattresses are about £200 for a decent one new and are materially better than someones old mattress that's going free or on eBay, so I would invest in those, certainly for your bed, but if your spare bed is more of an emergency bed, then maybe see what else you can get on the cheap.
It's mental to take on debt on behalf of the odd random who may want to stay over.
All in I think the PH consensus is to buy one new mattress and get everything else you need for pretty much free, which is, when you start looking and asking around remarkably easy. Even easier in my day as that stuff used to be snapped up by landlords but fire safety laws etc now means it's better for them to buy new and write down etc.
Donatello said:
Thanks for the advice guys. Lots more than I expected to be honest!
I guess you're right, we would be best to sit it out. Already sent texts/emails/facebook status out to family and friends. Will look for some bargains now and save up for the nicer stuff.
Thanks again.
I think you'll be amazed what you can get for bugger all. I guess you're right, we would be best to sit it out. Already sent texts/emails/facebook status out to family and friends. Will look for some bargains now and save up for the nicer stuff.
Thanks again.
Also, all the people I know who kitted out their first flat with new stuff while everyone else used second hand were out in the shops a couple of years later anyway.
I think that when you get your first mortgage an home after a while your mindset and tastes change a little bit and the stuff you liked at the time suddenly doesn't seem right.
Anyway huge congratulations on taking the plunge. It'll be brilliant and all I can say is that the more you avoid spending money the easier it all is and unless this is your final home the sooner you can move on.
Good luck.
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