To spend £1,900 on a rug?

[Theyalwaysknewbest]

I love it so much.
I've been looking at it for over 1 year and I love it as much now as I did when I first saw it.
I've spent a year looking at rugs and haven't found any I particularly like.
This one, I love!
It's 3 metres x 2 metres.
Am I mad to spend this on a rug?
It would fill the floor space in our lounge.
Would sit on top of a wooden floor.
For context, I bring home £1,500 per month.
We are going camping in England for our family summer holiday.
We are not well off! At all!
But I love this rug and there is an option to pay it off monthly at zero % interest.....
I feel like it's wrong to spend this much on a rug but equally I really wish to have it!!

You want to buy a rug on a payment plan that it would otherwise take you four years to save for? And it's more than your monthly salary. Just no. Can you even afford the repayments?

It sounds mad. That's without the constant worry about spills, etc.

What about the regret if her boiler breaks or she's of work unexpectedly unwell not only with 0 savings but a grand and a half in debt over a rug?

There is nothing worse than buyer's remorse, when it is not rectifiable - when you can't return it. Also, this is not the sort of a thing you would regret not having bought ages down the line. Usually you regret not having bought something which is a one-off (and this is mass-produced from a shop) or an insane bargain - like a painting that would increase in price, etc. But this is not this sort of a rug. The ones that will cause regret at not having bought them, cost in the thousands.

In the 90s all big home purchases were this much of an investment. We earns less, we bought lasting quality.

If you had £1500 and all the bills were paid, then I’d encourage you to get it. Especially if you can’t stop thinking about it. Every time I’ve told myself that I don’t really need it, I’ve regretted it. I’m still thinking about a giant watermelon bowl I saw in TK Max in 2006. I don’t even like watermelon but it was beautiful.

But I don’t think you can afford the repayments. It doesn’t matter if it’s not the same rug that has been linked to; if the price is the same then the repayments will be the same. Keep saving and pray that it goes in their sale.

Go for it.
you’ll see it every day
it will make you happy every day

Surely it would be more sensible to put the money already saved into an account for emergencies?
At the end of the day a rug is just ‘stuff’ and your family wellbeing is far more important than stuff.

I just bought an expensive (to us) rug. I was going to be my usual sensible self but the ones in our preferred price range were horrendous & cheap looking.

I refused to pay the (equivalent of) £1400 for it, though. The shop assistant quickly halved the price and admitted it was going on sale the next day. So it pays to ask. She wasn't going to offer if I didn't say the price was a deal breaker, and there's a massive mark up.

I don't regret it, but also we're more careful around it, so don't enjoy the space as much as we're worried about getting it dirty. We could afford it too, which makes the difference. If we didn't have spare money I would have gone the cheapie rug. It's just stuff.

Honestly, I understand the allure, but my rug from Next for £230 has just about survived 2 dogs. Do not spend a months salary on something that you’ll be terrified of spilling your coffee on and thus never really enjoy!

It sounds good quality and should last a lifetime. So, a good investment. Generally, if you love something, you’ll always love it.

But if you still have another 1k to find, how long will it take to pay off? Some clever accounting may help. Take the John Lewis interest free credit, pay off as much as you can afford each month. Then, if you still have a balance outstanding when you become liable for interest, take out a credit card where you can transfer your balance with zero interest for another year etc.

Could any family loan you the remaining money once you run out of free credit (grandparents, parents)? If you set up a standing order to pay them back each month.

I wouldn't not on credit. It will be marked or damaged long before you have finished paying for it.

OP, to be blunt, you cannot afford this rug. You don’t earn enough. If it’s taken you ages to save £500 then surely that tells you you can’t afford it?

Sorry op it’s not a good decision to spend that much on a rug. It may be worth that much and may make you happy in some ways, but the high cost will make your life hard in other ways and take away choices. It would not be a sensible purchase.

If it's taken you a year to save 500.quid then how are you going to afford 100 a month?

Seriously dude it's out of your financial range. I understand, I went past a shop with this rug in the window. It was love at first sight. It was only 150 quid though.

Honestly if I felt this passionately I'd be making it happen with my actions not by taking on debt.

I'd be on Vinted and saving the cash from sales.

I'd be looking to have money from the food budget

I'd have probably taken a bar job or some kind of side hustle.

In this economic climate you'd be nuts to spend that much on a rug when you are not motivated to save more than £40 pm

Just get it. It'll make you smile every day.

You should also enquire with your local JL branch if you can purchase as ex-display.

With wool rugs and carpets, you have to be wary of moths, especially under furniture, and especially wicker, jute etc. They ate my wool carpet under some jute storage baskets. Best to have furniture on legs and vacuum regularly.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1766009314/?ref=share_ios_native_control

this is similar! It would be insane to spend nearly £2k on a rug with your financial situation. Surely there are other similar options with the same aesthetic. It is a beautiful rug though, I see where you’re coming from.

Haven’t read the thread, but I think no matter what our circumstances, every house needs something we go slightly over our budget because we love it so much/investment purposes.

Avid antique rug shopper here: go to easyliveauction.com or ebay and look for rugs there, you will be able to find a beautiful vintage persian/anatolian/caucasian rug for £200 or less. Use the money saved to buy that. Don’t buy a £1900 rug. The payments will be too much.

Have a look at Ikea, they often have nice ones.

Or have a look on FB Marketplace, my friend got a lovely Laura Ashley one, that someone was selling.

It’s lovely to fall in love with something, ( a Laura Ashley French Dresser was the object of my desire, that I later saw in a neighbours house, I never got one)

With a rug, if you spill something on it, or it’s spoilt, you’ll be upset.

Buy an equally lovely, but less expensive one. 🩷

I have coveted lovely rugs but not until my cats the dead and my children are grown up and have left home!

Been through too many over the years

I get that but in the basis of your income and how slow you're saving, you just can't afford this one. You can still find a lovely wool rug.

I used to be very poor (much poorer than £1.5k/m) but I'm a bit of a fabric snob too, albeit for me it's about clothing. I bought beautiful wool, silk and cotton stuff... from charity shops, eBay or VERY rarely in the sale with a discount code etc. I still have some of those pieces and I was able to save too and got myself in a much better position without (too much!) avoidable debt.

Keep looking, the affordable wool rug of your dreams might be out there!!

You are being ridiculous and this is clearly bait or an uno reverse or why else would you mention the camping holiday.

waste of time thread.

I’m someone who would say go for it! But I would worry with it being wool that it’ll be really hard to keep clean. Just coming from someone with wood carpets upstairs. 😬