Although it may be tempting to buy nice expensive furniture when you first set out on your own, this may not be the best idea. New furniture can be very costly, and you need to consider how long you are actually planning on living in that place, not to mention that town or city. The more new stuff you buy, the more it will tie you down. Owning a lot of “stuff” tends to complicate life more than you might expect.
A friend of ours, who has done a lot of travelling and working around different parts of the world, shared with us recently how she regretted her decision to buy brand new leather couches. Due to her frequent moves, she has been burdened with having to move her furniture along with her. She knows that if she were to try to sell it, she would never recover her costs, but the moving costs have amounted to almost half of what she has paid for the furniture to begin with.
As they say, hindsight is 20/20, but she does wish she had simply purchased secondhand furniture so that when she was ready to move on again, she could easily get rid of her furniture by selling it or donating it, rather than having to pay for it to be transported to her new place.
My husband and I have yet to buy any expensive furniture, partly because we are still comfortable using furniture we purchased at a garage sale when we were first married, and partly because we are anticipating a move to another city in the near future. It wouldn’t make any sense for us to buy expensive furniture now and then have to pack it in a U-Haul.
If you really want to buy all brand new furniture, make sure that you are planning on staying in that home, or at least that same city, for a long time. Also, don’t buy it until you can afford it. Tuck money away every paycheck until you have enough to pay for your furniture in cash. You will appreciate it more knowing it’s paid for, and it will spare you from any headaches later when you have to try to pay off the debt.
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