right what are the absolute bare requirements for when I'm living on my own.....

[fannyannie]

before the boys come and move in?

I'm going to be there for a month before I can buy all the nitty bits and pieces - but I will obviously need to get some essentials

Things I definitely need are

Bed (will have the sofa bed to sleep on so that's ok - and linen I'll be taking with me too)
Cooker (can be supplied by the landlord - at no extra cost to the rent)
Basic cooking equipment
Fridge/Freezer
Hoover (to keep the bare floors clean )
Washing Machine would be useful - although there's a laundrette round the corner so that could wait a month if nessecary

I'll have a TV - and if I sleep on the sofa bed downstairs then I can use that as a sofa during the day (which is exactly what H and I did when we moved into our first rented place - we slept in the lounge on the sofa bed until we'd sorted a proper bed out (or was it the other way round - we sorted a sofa out and moved the sofabed upstairs) - anyhow - I can live with sleeping downstairs seen as though I'll be on my own.

What other 'essentials' do I need????

make sure you regualry check your local freecycle

to see if local people are giving away free furniture etc or anything else.

dustpan and brush / mop / kitchen bin / bath towels / table and chairs /Wardrobe

bath towels I'm taking from home (we've got currently got a big wicker chest thing in the bathroom FULL of them - and we never use most of them - so I'll have more than enough of those.

Oh yes - I suppose I'd better get a dustpan and brush and mop to clean my kitchen floor with (my most hated 'job' in the housework).

I'll probably get a wardrobe at the end of the first month of living there - in the mean time I'm going to have one of those hanging rail things.

I'll get a cheap table and chairs - that's now 'on the list' - I suppose when the boys do come over we should still 'sit down' for dinner - and I can then use it to do some jigsaws on when they're at H's (I've got loads of jigsaws under DS1's bed - but I haven't done one for YEARS!)

Hi fa

You aren't seriously suggesting sleeping on a sofa bed in the last month of pg are you? And after baby arrives, the sleep you are allowed needs to be quality sleep.

A bed is an absolute necessity IMO. You could prob pick up a reasonable for £150ish in sales at the mo if you can store it.

Will post again when I've read list properly!

Don't forget a TV licence! People often get caught out when they move into new places.

Does the place have curtains? If not, start looking around now to avoid being without them when you first move in.

Also agree with checking freecycle for bits and pieces of furniture etc

No - my last month of pg will be May - and I'm talking about February here - I've actually slept on our sofa bed and it's very comfortable (thankfully) and I can sleep well on it - I also slept on a sofabed (much more uncomfortable one than the one I'll be using) for the last 6 months of my pg with DS1 and for about 1 1/2yrs after he was born - so I'm really not worried about that.

Even the bed we got after the sofabed was a very old one - someone was wanting to get rid of it (for free) as she felt it was still ok to use, but not good enough to sell - it was a grotty old divan on it's last legs but it did us for nearly 2yrs LOL.

DVD player or freeview will be very useful in early months while you are feeding and attending to new one. I found it an absolute godsend to plonk dd1 down in front of something while I sorted dd2 (was on my own at this stage).

a phone of some sort. Just a land line better than just a mobile Imo - there are some good deals at the mo.

kettle, cups, plates, cutlery. Bed linen. Beds for boys (eventually).

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Betty - don't worry shan't forget my tv licence - can hardly forget - H is TV Licence sales officer - it's his job to visit people that haven't got them and persaude them to buy one (and if they refuse they then get the nasty enforcement officers at the door).

He's even advised me of the cheapest way (quarterly) of paying for it - it's just a shame they no longer get commision for sales they make that are from people they haven't been allocated visits too - or else I'd help him out with a 'bonus' sale.

Ah,new baby is further off than I thought.
Godd job too, gives you some breathing space!

oops -no dear of forgeting that then fannyannie !

I just thought about it as we were visited a week after we moved into our first house together many years ago -scared the living daylights out of me, I thought we'd get a huge fine! As we had proof of just moving in days beforehand we were OK but had to purchase one immediatly and prove it to them.

Pruni - it'll only be for the first month that I'll (probably) be compromising on the bed - then I'll have the money to kit the house out with some basic furniture.

The TV I'll have with me is a TV/Video Combi and we've (thankfully) not got round to getting rid of all the old kids videos. Slightly bigger TV (it's only a little 14 inch one LOL) and freeview will be on the cards for either end of March or end of April.

I'll get myself a cheap kettle. cups, plates, cutlery and bed linen we've got plenty of 'spare' in this house - so I'll take that with me - and then just replace with nicer newer, matching stuff over time.

Boys beds we're sorting - we'd already budgeted to buy them bunk beds - so that plan will continue - and there's plenty of excess childrens linen.

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What about a basic tool kit:

screwdivers
hammer
pliers
fuses
torch (for power cuts etc)

Tesco value range is very good for stuff like microwaves and kettles.

Mentioning Tesco reminds me -will you need an iron? They had them in Tesco for less than £5 !

You can apparently get Tesco Value DVD player for £17.50 too!

ahh yes - iron and ironing board would be useful too wouldn't it .

Pruni - Enforcement officers wear the same as the Sales Officers (which is smart/smart casual) but have authority to search your house and hand you out a fine - or start proceedings to take you to court to be given up to £1000 fine.

They visit any address that doesn't have a licence (as they have all that information - all new houses that are built they have details for too) so if you haven't got a TV you may still get a visit from a Sales Officer, but are unlikely to get an Enforcement Officer.

What area are you in FA?

We are closing our restaurant and have some lovely chairs and dining tables for sale.

collision - I'm in Northamptonshire

Am a bit dim at Geog!! Which part?

East Midlands - if you draw a triangle between Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham we're about having way across the bottom line of the triangle (if that makes sense)

not sure if this will work - but if it has this map shows where I am.

TK maxx is a good place to get bargains on this sort of thing.