Moving out: Any tips and advice I should get?

[Nitsuki]

So my fiance and I are moving out together and getting our own apartment, currently together we make around $45k/yr so splitting the bills will be no prob (will be more once I find my job in my field and her in her field as well). We've already found some apartments in mind, and a coworker of mine is hooking me up w/ a realtor to negotiate prices as far as rent and all.

I was browsing through walmart to find some furniture, there are some pretty insane prices, we're getting a bigger TV later for the living room so we're gonna stick w/ our 32" for the time being. So I was wondering if anyone has any tips before doing the big move, like as far as finding good priced furniture (more or less a dinner table and a sofa), looking at utility equipment, etc.

A friend of mine told me to avoid a certain complex due to old equipment being used for A/C and he had to pay a high energy bill due to it. That's why i wondered.

[Komm Suesser Tod]

Don't get furniture from walmart, it's fucking shit. All the stuff will just fall apart.

[wagon]

Don't get furniture from walmart, it's fucking shit. All the stuff will just fall apart.

IKEA, nice and not terribly expensive.

As far as TV goes, quality over quantity. A friend bought a gorgeous 42' Samsung LCD 1080p from best buy for like $700.

I think it's best to compile a list of item that you want to buy and budget them, look online to compare prices before purchasing them from stores.

[Omnipotent]

Bobs basement or whatever it is called is GOLD

[Valisk]

Craig's List. They have tons of furniture listings, some which are brand new and you can go check it out before making a decision.

[thetruepandagod]

garage sales for cheap good furniture, funny too because i just read something in regards to how most interior designers have to make due with rather eclectic matchings because of the shit economy forcing people to get mis matched furniture from garage sales.

[absolutezero]

IKEA!!!!

but really, best place ever. for furniture

Also make sure you get a 2 bedroom apt or a place can have your own space there will be days you will need it!

also invest in Insurance if get an apartment covers theft / fire blah blah good thing to have and isn't to costly

[BerenTebogo]

Don't try too hard to make an apartment feel like a house. Just have some fucking fun with it. If you're not even married yet you're young enough to still want to come home and fuck on the coffee table with all of your shit still on it, etc. An example would be to not buy a fancy, try-hard bed frame and headboard unless you fuck like a pilgrim or don't care about your wife losing an eye on a bedpost corner.

Don't buy anything you can't see yourself breaking aside from electronics.

/totallysubjectiveadvice

[richardd]

im in the same position as you

i;ve been finding some great deals on some furniture over on craiglist. the best deals are the rich familes who are in a rush to move out by a deadline and are willing to haggle even more. my dad found a rich couple who sold him an entire sectional, black leather, immaculate condition for $300. he got lucky. but obviously, you want to check for things like bedbugs and whanot, no matter how good it looks on 1st impression.


but if you're going to by little appliances that you need, i'd buy a George foreman grill. The newer generation models run like 50-60 bucks and get the job done. you can find cheap silverware at walmart too, but ya. hit up that CL

[richardd]

Craig's List. They have tons of furniture listings, some which are brand new and you can go check it out before making a decision.

dammit you beat me val

[Valisk]

dammit you beat me val

That's because you wrote a book. I gave him Cliff's Notes

[richardd]

great minds think alike

[Meat]

befriend someone with a costco or a restaurant depot membership

[Baha]

For whole beds or seperate frame/box-spring/mattress parts, liquidation stores can yield some great deals year-round. You might end up having to drive a bit farther, but you'll probably be able to save 30-60%.
Sometimes you can catch simple furniture cheaply there as well (chairs, tables, night-stands, maybe things like book/dvd racks too)

[Meresgi]

Don't get furniture from walmart, it's fucking shit. All the stuff will just fall apart.

^ This man, I used to put the furniture together at Wal-mart so I know first hand how shit made it is. Not only is it shit quality but 90% of the stuff comes missing screws or parts and we had to just slap them together anyways. One time I had to hammer a nail into a spot where a screw should have went just to keep it all together...that was "great".

[Sigi]

When moving out, photograph all your stuff, especially you high dollar items. Make certain there is a timestamp on that photo- also use a disposable- that way movers/ landlords can't screw you/ steal/ damage your possesions and you be sol- photographic evidence speaks volumes

[Phey]

Second hand as much furniture as you can. You always have time to get a nice furniture set when you can save up and afford to do one room at a time.

[MarkM.]

Avoid the name brand furniture stores like the plague, those places are way over priced. For end tables and the like, Target has decent stuff for a decent price.

[Dareus]

Craigs list, seriously. When I moved into my first apartment I got a really beautiful coffee table and two end tables for 40 bucks. They were practically in perfect condition and the lady selling them even offered me a nice media center thingie for free ( It was too big to take sadly).

Also, ask your parents, grandparents, and whomever else in your family/friends you know that has been living in their own home for a while now. I can almost guarantee you they will have a stockpile of old shit they don't use anymore piled somewhere in the basement or attic. I got just about everything I needed for my kitchen like pots, pans, utensils, plates, toasters, ect just by asking.

[Vuitton]

Okay, here is my gay man advice (and what I did personally). Before I moved out, I saved up about $7000 to buy furniture and other random essentials such as pots and pans, ironing board, iron, microwave, tools, basic 4 piece set of dishes, flatware, ect. This way when I was fully moved out I could be confident in that I had everything I needed to live my life as if I had never moved out in terms of needing something I used to have but no longer did.

$7K is what I used to fully furnish (from nothing but a TV and queen size mattress) my (large studio) apartment fully from West Elm (queen size wood bed frame & wood headboard, wood nightstand, wood entertainment console), Ikea (accessories/dishes/glasses/computer desk/kitchen table/book shelf/chairs), Target (pots/pans/flatware/ironing board/cleaning supplies), HomoDepot (toaster/coffee/microwave/water filter/iron). Then I got stuff like my modular rug from Flor.com, lighting from lampsplus.com, and framed artwork from posters.com.

I guess, basically, my tip is to make sure you save enough money before you move out to buy everything you need to live as if you never moved out: no missing amenities or comforts, and a place you feel comfortable living. Because once you move out you have all these expenses you've never had before and finding the money to buy things you need could be tough if you already have an expensive cost of living because you go out a lot for dinners and drinks or travel.

Edit:

My biggest fear when I moved out (besides losing my job a month after moving in and not being able to pay rent! which never happened btw), was randomly needing something I didn't use all the time such as an iron and ironing board or hammer/nail or screw driver, or something, that I would normally expect to have at home, but not having it because I was now on my own and never thought to buy it, so now I have some unexpected expense. Mine was the vacuum cleaner because all of my apartments since I've moved out have been hard wood, but then I bought a nice rug and oh shit, I need to vacuum it (-____-).