3 Surprising Ways to Find Furniture On a Budget

Have you ever noticed that furniture can be… crazy expensive?

You probably want to have a nicely furnished home, but the prices can be insane.

If you wanted to spend all your savings (you do have savings, right?) on furniture, you could.

And not only new furniture– old furniture can break the bank, too.

Is there no way to get nice, comfortable furniture without destroying your finances?

Of course there is! Here are three ways to buy furniture on a budget.

To Craigslist You Go!

Craigslist is a crowd-sourced, local platform that can be a fantastic way to find good, solid furniture.

It’s especially good if you can be a little strategic about it.

For example, if you live in driving distance to a college town and are willing to make the drive, check the Craigslist for the area toward the end of the school year.

Around that time, many students are getting rid of great furniture for fantastic prices, because they have yet to learn the value of a good piece of furniture.

Craigslist is also awesome because the furniture owners are often trying to clean out their home or apartment as quickly as possible.

Once you find a piece of furniture that you’re interested in, you can always try to negotiate and talk the seller down on the price.

Second-Hand Shops

The next stop? Your local antique circuit.

Local second hand shops are a great next stop on a search for furniture.

And since you don’t have to leave your house to scope out Craigslist, one second hand shop might be the only stop you need to make!

Another reason that second hand shops are a good place to find furniture is that you can get furniture that is older or that comes with a few stains.

For just a little work and a relatively small investment, you can redo the furniture to make it look like new!

(For extra inspiration, just check out Pinterest or popular renovation blogs!).

Large Retailers (Carefully!)

Finally, you can shop at large retailers so long as you do so carefully and on the large scale.

Large retailers such as IKEA offer a staggering amount of furniture at surprisingly low prices.

In addition to mega-furniture retailers like IKEA, more ubiquitous retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart have upped the quality of the furniture that they offer, at prices set to compete with IKEA.

These are great places to include in your furniture search because they have large selections in their store for you to view, and even larger selections in their online stores.

If you accent your second hand pieces with store bought pieces, you’ll be able to put together a collection of furniture that represents your personality but doesn’t break your wallet.

So check Craiglist and second hand shops to see what your community has to offer when you set out to find new furniture.

If you don’t find what you are looking for there, visit larger retailers like IKEA, Targer, and Wal-Mart to broaden your search to find the furniture you want at a price that works for your budget.

5 Easy Things You Can Do To Save An Emergency Fund

Building an emergency fund is one of the most important financial steps you can make for yourself (or your family).

When you decide on the amount that you want to establish it can feel like a long road before you reach it.

I felt like it took me a long time to build our emergency fund, I wanted that dollar amount in my account but I didn’t have the patience to do it slowly.

I thought if I couldn’t have it all at once in some windfall amount there would be no doing it. I was wrong.

Just Start!

Eventually this is what I did. I just started. Though it didn’t seem like that $20 was going to do anything, within a few weeks that $20 was $100 and I liked that number even more.

I went in with the mentality that if I had enough money for something totally unnecessary, like nail polish or a fancy coffee, I had enough to put in my ER fund account too, if I couldn’t do both I had to pick and ER fund always won.

Delegate Windfall Money

I can’t say I get windfall money often but I did get a few hundred dollars at Christmas time from my boss that I wasn’t expecting.

Since it was unexpected and thus, un-budgeted, I put it all in my savings account for the emergency fund.

The same goes for change in pay. Since I’m paid hourly and not salary, it varies. I do my budget based on an average amount, if there is more, even just $20 I appropriate it to the ER account while I’m building it up.

Sell Something

Though I prefer to just donate things to people in need, sometimes I may have something of value that I can sell.

The only thing I won’t sell and put in my account is if I sell something of my daughters. Since it was something that either we bought for her or someone else bought for her, it wouldn’t be fair of me to sell for my own profit.

I’d put the money in her account instead.

Earn Extra Money

There are a ton of ways to do this from picking up extra shifts at work to earning more through a side-job, of you earn money that isn’t within your regular budget save it until your emergency fund is maximized. Try passive income.

Tax Refund

Though this may go under the windfall money category, if you get a tax refund good use of it would be to beef up the savings!

Once your emergency fund is at a level you’re comfortable with, delegate any of your extra money towards your next financial priority, whatever that may be but don’t do anything else, additional debt payments and all, until you have a realistic emergency fund in place.

How did you build your emergency fund? How long did it take?

4 Simple Tips to Eat Paleo on a Budget

Have you heard of the paleo diet?

It’s a growing food trend in which people commit to eating a diet of meat, fruits, and vegetables… and that’s it!

No dairy, grains, or processed foods or oils.

While the transition can be hard, the damage to your grocery bill can be even harder. A diet loaded with meat and vegetables sounds expensive, right? And it sounds impossible to save money on groceries with a paleo diet.

All those delicious, nutritious meals could add up, but they do not have to. There are many ways of avoiding draining your budget in order to eat Paleo (or to just add more fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables for your diet!).

Here are three tips for eating Paleo wthout blowing your budget.

Keep an eye out for sales

While you’re always on the lookout for sales, eating paleo should encourage you to bring your game to a whole new level. Grocery stores frequently offer sales on meats and vegetables. When it comes to finding decently priced, high-quality meats, look around to see who is offering the best deals. Track those sales and stock up (sticking extras in your freezer) so that you an purchase the right items at the right time. In addition to grocery stores, investigate local farms and see what sorts of seasonal deals they offer.

Buy fresh for health and savings

Processed meats and meals have a deceptively low price tag because of the long-term health costs that accompany them. Instead, purchase fresh ingredients at a lower cost and cook them at home yourself. In addition to helping your grocery bill, this will allow you to ensure that your meals are paleo and that they do not contain any unexpected ingredients.

Buy in bulk for long-term discounts

Finally, higher grocery costs correspond to serving-sized items. Instead of falling for that trap, buy in bulk. Check with local farms and butchers to see of deals they offer for large purchases. This might mean seriously large order. Like, buy an extra fridge, large. But this could end up saving you big bucks in the long run.

Cook at home

Another benefit of diets like paleo and Whole 30 being so popular is that the Internet has exploded with recipe ideas and practice grocery lists. Make full use of these resources by planning your meals and your cooking time each week. This will help you make sure there’s enough food in the house (thereby preventing you from a last-minute dinner out) and help you stretch your dollar through the week.

Don’t let the potential price tag of a paleo diet scare you away from adopting it as your food plan. The health benefits and the benefits to the environment make the diet a great way to plan your meals. These tips will help you balance nutrition and price, leaving you healthier and wealthier than you were before.

Suburban Finance

Author: Sarah