Friday 21 August 2015

Budgeting for your House Move

Being given the keys to our very own house was one of the most exiting moments of my life so far.  All of our hard work and determination had finally paid off and our tummies were full of butterflies when we put the key in the lock and swung open our front door for the first time.

It's hard not to get carried away when you finally step foot into your new house.  Being presented with a completely empty house that's all yours, the temptation to start shopping for expensive furniture to make your new home look perfect is overwhelming. 
Having worked so hard to save the money for our deposit we knew we had to be sensible about decorating our new home.  A house full of beautiful trinkets would involve spending money that we didn't have and that could have been a slippery slope.
As a first step we sat down together to write down a list of all the things we would ideally want to make our house functional.  Whilst cushions and vases are pretty, it was more important that we had furniture to allow us to be comfortable in our new home.
With a three bedroom house to fill we knew it was sensible not to try to furnish the entire house in one go.  We agreed that the most important items of furniture to begin with were a bed, sofa, kitchen table and chairs.  We bought all of these on a 0% interest credit card with an agreement to pay them off when we have a bit more money.
 
After that we went for a trip round Ikea to make a note of the rest of the furniture that we'd want to finish decorating our home.  Decorating your home with cheap furniture you can afford is great as a starting point, we know that over the years we can begin to replace things as and when we get more money.
We made sure to note how much the rest of the furniture totalled so we knew how much extra we'd need to save to be able to furnish the rest of our home.  We then put all the items into priority order.  Unfortunately, the things we were the most excited about weren't always the things that were the most important.    For us that meant that budgeting to buy a wardrobe and chests of drawers was more important than my dressing table and blogging desk (still sulking about this!)



Furnishing your home is expensive and to help one of my lovely readers out, Newcastle Building  Society have given us a £50 Homebase Voucher to give away!   You can enter using the Rafflecopter below - best of luck!
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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13 comments

  1. good luck in your new home! I understand how frustrating it is to have no furniture - two years on and we still have some bamboo tables in the living room that were going spare from my aunt's kitchen. I do recommend checking out second hand shops too - i managed to pick up my vintage style leather sofa for £35 including delivery and most people assume it cost thousands!

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  2. Just been reading your latest posts on saving and getting the keys to your own home. Congratulations to you both. Everything takes time but you'll soon have it nice and homely!
    Steph

    www.pricelesslifeofmine.com

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  3. I'm so excited for you about your move, it must be amazing having a place that's properly all yours, I can't wait to see some of how you do end up decorating the place :) I agree with the commenter above though, I highly recommend second hand shops for furniture, you can get stuff thats so much sturdier than flatpacked and for half the price! x

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  4. Ahh the credit card tip is handy! Even though Chris and I aren't in the position to buy yet, we do have plans to so I'll be thinking of this post in a few years time. The furniture tips though are things we've already done with rented places in the past - buy cheap and upgrade when possible!

    Great post.

    Rhi xo

    www.chapterandcircle.co.uk

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  5. Exciting times!! Good luck in your new home :)

    V x

    http://dizzymissjames.blogspot.co.uk/

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  6. Looks like a great start - haha, Alan will be building all of our furniture :P

    Lizzie Dripping

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  7. Hope you are enjoying your new home! We moved a month ago and I'm struggling to slow my husband down when it comes to making new purchases! Haha! We've bought a couple of essentials but have started out redecorating and are two rooms down now. Now is a really good time to buy outdoor Summery things like patio furniture and BBQs. We've gotten some really great deals from B&Q this weekend. It's really nice taking our time actually and hopefully means that when everything is complete we will be very proud of our house and feel quite an attachment!

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  8. Been following your house purchase like mad! Saving tips are a big help, me and my boyfriend are saving up but we're well aware it's going to take a longgggg time 😩. Congratulations xxx

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  9. congratulations on the house, Chloe!! and for the engagement, of course <3 what an exciting for you both! love this series, I love reading about the process. x

    Miho @ Wander to Wonder

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  10. We are quite lucky (in a way haha) to of rented so long that we have a good amount of our own furniture that when we do finally get to buy our house we should already have everything we need :) I remember moving into our first unfurnished flat though and getting to build pieces up. It's sad to say but we slept on a mattress on the floor for months as a washing machine was higher than a bed on the list and I refused to get a credit card haha.
    I'm so excited for you and to see what you do with your blank canvas!!

    xo

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  11. Good luck to you. My boyfriend and I are also saving for a deposit but we are both working in London and are feeling a bit deflated by the house inflation rate. We might have to move out of London and look for new jobs if we want to stand a chance. Like you, we have no furniture so it'll be a challenge to start with but I'm sure we'll get there. Rome has not been built in a day as they say ;)

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  12. Good luck with your new home everything takes time but you will get the beautiful home you want

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  13. Congratulation on your first home! I can't wait to see your home when it's finished

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