To think it's impossible to furnish your house when you have little money?

[marry3456x]

I've just got the keys for my new home.
It's basically a shell..no carpets,no appliances no furniture.
It's my first place and I have nothing.
I currently receive ESA which is £202 a fortnight,I have no credit cards.
How on earth am I meant to do this?
It's 2 bedrooms..
Cooker,fridge,washing machine,carpets,kettle toaster,plates,cups,knife,forks
Wardrobe ,bed,dresser,tv,sofa ,blinds /curtains,vinyl floor,coffee table etc etc etc
Is this impossible?
I'm really stressed about it
It all needs decorating..everything
The doors,skirtings,ceiling are all a dirty magnolia /dirty stains on them.

Definitely look at Facebook. You can personalise furniture by repainting it. Many people give stuff away for very little. Make a list of what you need, then search for it. So start with bed, cooker,fridge etc and build from there. Also put a wants ad on there

Good luck, enjoy doing it.

Is it a council/HA place? If so worth asking if they provide any decorating grants as many do.

Facebook groups, charity shop, free cycle, clearance sales, saving up for the odd item from Wilko or Argos, the occasional t k maxx splurge, accepting stuff that came my way and accepting that as long as I didn't have things that looked horrendously bad together, having "decor" would have to wait.

When I moved last time, I had a supermarket delivery box for a chest of drawers & a camp bed to sleep on. I had a mattress on the floor for about 3 months! It's crap at the time but it's magic to watch stuff come together.

Agree with fb groups and freegle. To the person who said save your wages, I suggest you read the original post properly.

Yup, it's pretty shit, but unfortunately there isn't much that can be done. We don't have any charities that help in my area. We had to borrow floor money from a family member and will have to get bits as we go along.

Join the DIY on a Budget group on Facebook. If you look past all the grey, glitter and fablon there are some nice ideas.

I know it will be tempting, but please think very hard before considering anything like BrightHouse where you can pay off in installments. You will pay well over the going rate for stuff.

The only thing you will need new is a mattress. Anything else can be old/second hand. Look on local FB selling sites, charity shops, ads in corner shops etc. My friend got an amazing sofa for free from Freecycle - it was gorgeous and like new.

Try for paint: communityrepaint.org.uk

Also you can find decent things in skips or on the street waiting to be taken away sometimes, just clean them thoroughly (I've got a few things this way). If you want thinks to match you can make chalk paint for wooden furniture.

Don't feel like you need to get everything right away.

And don't feel bad about relying on charities, they're there for your type of situation and WANT to help! Too much stuff goes in landfiĺl and you'll be helping to prevent that do try to look at it like you're actually doing a good deed too.

Ok, so start with the bare essentials, get yourself a microwave, knives, forks etc and a cheap set of plates and a kettle.

Do you have a mattress to sleep on? Check Facebook marketplace, for bed frames/ mattresses if you don’t have these.

Let me share, try furniture schemes in your area, I got a 2 seater sofa, foot stool and corner chair for £60 at the time.

Who is the second person living with you?

Where abouts are you located? If near to me I have a few things I’m wanting to get rid of that may be of some use.

You can find a lot of basics for free or little money in places people already suggested. Sometimes people just want something gone fast more than they want money for it. I just gave something away last week because it was taking up too much room and was no longer needed by us. Others may want to get something gone before moving.

You can replace those things with nicer ones as your budget allows over time.

You can always tell people you're going for an 'eclectic minimalist' look which will explain both the low amount of furnishings and that they may not match perfectly. Plus it sounds kinda cool.

Wilko is great for inexpensive eating and cooking utensils and IKEA for nice cheap pots and pans.

Don’t forget to consider auctions too - our local one sells perfectly good furniture very very cheaply indeed - like almost brand new double beds for a tenner , all sorts of boxes of random cutlery ( every box tend to go for £1) , it’s amazing what you can find . The auction house will usually deliver it to you for about £15 , so even if you bought just the one thing , it’s still substantially cheaper than anywhere else . A lot of my furniture is from auction houses , and looks so so much more expensive than it was .

Argos have a good range think it's called colour match or something like that where they do curtains rugs bedding lamps lampshades etc at a fab price
In our area we have a company that sells second hand large furniture items at low prices for anyone claiming a beneifit worth asking your local council if you have one in your area
I remeber a relative few years back moving into his first home he had nothing except his bedroom furnishing all the family each had a clear out to help him until he could afford what he wanted st spare curtains bedding cushions covers towels few towels dishes etc he pretty much was set on the small items before he even got the keys
Budgeting loan can take over a month from applying for it and you need to have been claiming the same benefit for 6 months to approve for it

And try to get wooden stuff, doesnt matter if it matches, then paint it. The shabby chic look can be done really cheaply.

Many years ago I furnished my first home with stuff bought from the cards in shop windows.
Try ebay with distance from your location filters. You'll get some real bargains on stuff that nobody has bid on if you leave it to the last minute and aren't too fussy immediately. Get the basics and replace when you can afford to.

Please do try the charity stores. We've donated furniture to the British Heart Foundation in the past. They are only allowed to accept furniture that passes all the current safety standards.

Oh and AO.com is great for inexpensive appliances, also because you can apply to pay in instalments. I think if you've never bought anything from them then when you sign up you get a code for £20 off your first order.

Do ask for help! There's a lot of help about that people feel too "proud" (Can't think of a better word to describe it, sorry) to accept.
DP and I have visited a number of second hand / charity shop furniture shops this weekend. Some off them offer free delivery, access to crisis funds, Credit Union loans.
We. bought my DD a desk for £5. Looks fab. She loves it and DP has gone from being a tad snobby about "preloved" to thinking it's a good choice!

Try Facebook sites - local facebay ones/ I need a whisk ones/ freecycle/ local selling. I just gave someone a toaster for free today because we had bought a bigger one and I just wanted to see it put to good use.

Local tips often sell quite nice furniture too, my sister often comes home with more stuff than she dropped off

On our local buy and sell Facebook site people often post asking for free or cheap unwanted items, they get a good few offers. It’s worth a try. Also there is a Homestart charity (Scotland) that take donations for people setting up homes on low income. We have donated furniture and TVs to them. There should be something similar by you. I understand the Salvation Army shops are great places to pick up really cheap furniture too. Supermarket basics are really good for plates, cutlery, etc. Good luck x

It’s actually much better for the environment anyway to use 2nd hand furniture, so there’s no shame in it at all!

Hope you get your budgeting loan too.

Speak to citizens advice and see if you'd be eligible for any grants.

Don’t dismiss my idea -

Ask a friend with a car to take you to the local recycling centres (we used to call them dumps!)

So often people throw away furniture and perfectly good appliances or furnishings because they have new ones and have no one to give the stuff to. Our local one actually sells the furniture now as they didn’t like to see it all go to waste!

Also - check out local auctions. Sometimes lovely furniture sells cheaply because it isn’t fashionable

British Heart Foundation and Salvation Army have cheap furniture

We donated our old furniture to BHF.
Also try council tips. Ours has a 'too good to recycle' corner and people pop things like lamps and lampshades there.

"Second hand furniture seems to have virtually zero value these days. "

So true, I tried selling some of mine on Gumtree when I moved (had no choice as was given notice on rented flat) and despite taking decent pictures and having low prices, had almost no takers even though everything was in great condition. Ended up donating it all to a charity shop who were willing to collect it and even they remarked on how good condition everything was in.

So try Gumtree (they also have a freebies section), local facebook groups (search for your area and the word share) and Freegle/ Freecycle. Also charity shops and Ikea is good for homewares..

I'm in Durham.
My dad suggested the BHA shop too,I had a look in today and they had a sofa £70 plus £10 delivery which isn't bad .. I could get a couple of cheap throws.
I have a mattress and my dads I can use for now and bed frame too.

Big pot of white emulsion and do everywhere to cheer it up/make it feel less grubby - add colour over time.