When you move from your small rented flat to a new home that is bigger than that, the first thing that you notice is that the little furniture that you currently have will not go too far in furnishing your new leaving space.
In such a situation, most new homeowners buy new pieces not being able to resist the temptation to use their credit cards. This way they end up use it more than required, well that is the magic of credit cards! In turn they take on more debt and in larger amounts carrying higher rate of interest.
These people are more concerned about decorating their new home as quickly as possible without caring for the consequences of taking on such debts that will surely start to accumulate once they fail to pay the bills within the interest free period. This will lead to:
- Interests being charged on the high balance outstanding at a very high compound rate
- Interests, overdue and other fines getting accumulated inflating the original loan amount and
- Matters slowly going out of control with them skipping a few payments cementing the way for the debt collectors to come in.
In the end these homeowners having a lot of other financial obligations and loan payments to make, look for ways to settle their debts or file for bankruptcy, both of which are equally dangerous for the credit and financial health and future, in their respective ways.
If you go through the debt settlement reviews and bankruptcy reports, you will seldom find people recommending such moves as a suitable measure for debt and finance management.
Rank your rooms
Therefore, you will need to find alternative ways and make proper plans according to your affordability and budget to make sure that you furnish your new home by being debt free completely. However, you will need to be highly committed for this and also must be willing to give some time to it.
Your home decor planning process should start with ranking your rooms by priority. Remember, there is no set rule that says you will have complete furnishing your house in six months or even in a year for that matter. Since a house is a long term investment and commitment you will have to slow down the process and let things happen at a much relaxed pace.
- This will help you to handle your home decorating venture in stages making it easier for you financially to meet with the needs.
- It will also give you enough time to make arrangements to move on to the next stage confidently and save more to be financially stronger to fund bigger purchases.
- In addition to that you will also have better decorating ideas when you do not have to rush things to completion.
Typically, your first priority should be the living room because this is the place where you and your visitors will spend most of the non-sleeping time. After all, this is the room that needs most of the decoration and a considerable chunk of your budget as well.
After your living room you can focus on your dining room and then to the master bedroom and others.
Accepting and using hand-me-downs
Incorporating hand-me-down furniture is another useful way to decorate your new home at low or no cost and complete it debt-free. However, if you want to create a cohesive space this way you will need to be more selective.
It is true that the news of your buying a new home will spread like a wildfire and soon you will see everyone from your distant to close relatives, coworkers and casual acquaintances offering their old furniture to you to help you get started.
Though this is a very generous and kind gesture on their part, you must be very judicious and thoughtful about what to accept and what to refuse. This way you will not end up stacking up too many items that you do not love or seldom use. In order to make sure you make the rights election there are a few specific questions that you should ask yourself. These are:
- Is the piece is a right fit for your style and how will you use it often?
- It is in good working condition?
- Can it be modified to work well with the design that you have in mind with a simple repaint or addition of new stain or knobs?
- Can you think of a place to set this item in the particular room you want to furnish currently?
These answers will ensure that you do not leave out a piece that could have been a better fit for the particular room.
Add Craigslist
You will be better off when you add Craigslist to your bookmarks bar. There will be a point of time in future when you will be surprised yourself seeing how many items in your home you have bought off by searching through new CL listings. There are a few things to remember when you use CL for this matter such as:
- Do not be afraid to negotiate on the price
- Be safe and selective on your choice
- Research the neighborhood well before you visit
- Try scheduling pickups during the day time
- Use a public place for dealing if at all possible
- Use your judgment and
- Leave the place and situation immediately if feel uncomfortable during the interactions with the seller online or in person.
You can find absolute gems here provided you have the patience and are consistent in your search. This is because you will not find the exact item you want right at the first instant but if you keep on checking the site, the odds of finding the exact piece you want will be much higher over the course of a few weeks.
Lastly, if you are buying any new item such as the mattress and the living room sofa for hygiene and life expectancy reasons, do not forget to ask for a cash discount. At all cost avoid all 0% interest financing offers as these may be dicey if you are not well versed with such loans, leading you to further debt.
