I like nice stuff, and I like cheap stuff. The best is when it's both nice and cheap.
When my partner and I moved from our apartment in Brooklyn, New York, to the San Francisco Bay Area, California, we knew we couldn't afford to bring all our large secondhand stuff. Long-distance moving trucks charge by square footage.
Should we keep the $300 green velvet vintage couch? What about the pristine $50 mid-century Danish modern armoire? Or the $200 one-of-a-kind reclaimed wood butcher block?
To stick to our cross-country moving budget, we had to make hard choices. We compared the financial cost of transporting each item to its emotional value. We also factored in the likelihood of finding an equally cool, low-priced piece down the road. Our general rule was to bring the most valuable pieces and practical everyday items, and then sell or donate everything else.
Once we got to the Bay Area, we had to zhuzh up our new 1,200-square-foot home (which I call our "middle-adulthood castle" because it has an office and a yard) without breaking our budget. So we put on our bargain-hunting hats.
Furnishing our new digs wasn't as expensive as we thought.
Saving money before our cross-country move
Back in New York, we prepared for our move by creating a rough budget and an inventory of our furniture, appliances, decorations and assorted household items. We made the list a few months in advance so we could start purging and downsizing (that also gave us room to stage our moving boxes).
💰 Tip 1: Keep the furniture you love or can't sell for a reasonable price
We took our new bed because, even though it's less than perfect, no one really buys used mattresses in NYC (bed bugs are still a thing). We also took the custom-made butcher block and the antique dining set given to us by friends since they had both emotional and practical value.
💰 Tip 2: If something still works and you use it every day, pack it
It was a smart financial move to keep our functional printer, blender and other small appliances. We knew that our budget would be stretched after moving, so this would save us the expense of replacing items unnecessarily.
💰 Tip 3: Take the opportunity to purge… a lot
It felt good to give away (and throw away) clothes, rugs, shoes and every piece of particle board furniture that no longer served us. We got a nice chunk of cash for our used, quality stuff. Selling bookshelves, dressers, a window AC, lamps, tables and other items online netted us about $3,000, which went toward our moving expenses. We also sold smaller items, such as books, plants and utensils, ranging from $5 to $40 each, which added up.
How to find discount prices when furnishing your new home
After we moved, we put together a list of what we needed and how much we had left to spend. We decided which items should be brand-new (rugs and couches, for example) and which items we could get secondhand (nearly everything else). Luckily, my partner and I have similar aesthetic tastes and equally frugal personalities, so we started searching.
💡 Search NextDoor, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace
For discounted furnishings, we "shopped" around on NextDoor, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. We found things we needed — bookshelves, mirrors, lamps and desks — and many more things we didn't know we needed. Several of those items would have cost 10 times as much at a retail store, and a few of the pieces were listed for free.
Our best finds were an adjustable standing desk for $100, a 6-foot-tall solid cherry wood bookcase for $50, a mid-century modern mirror for $40 and a NordicTrack elliptical machine for $30.
💡 Check online for moving and estate sales
Once you're on a local social media site like Nextdoor, look for moving and estate sales. People who were moving generally wanted to get rid of items quickly and were open to negotiating. We found a few sellers in charge of their family estate who were eager to sell items cheaply en masse, which is how we scored most of our outdoor furniture.
The coolest wins were a vintage Salterini-style wrought-iron outdoor bistro set for $40 and a mosaic-top table and chairs for $25. And plants. Loads of plants.
💡 Don't skip used furniture and antique stores
Antique stores are treasure troves of charmingly odd but long-lasting finds. Solid-wood furniture can survive generations and often costs the same as the flimsy stuff made of manufactured wood from places like Ikea and Wayfair.
We bought unique household items from used furniture shops around the Bay Area, including a pink velvet Wingback chair for $40. We also found a gorgeous vintage 12-drawer Arts and Crafts-style dresser for $400 at a secondhand furniture store in San Leandro. (A similar piece sells for $2,000 new at Pottery Barn.)
💡 Hire a Lugg or borrow a van for bulky purchases
To buy a bulky used item at a discount, we had to add on the cost of schlepping it. For several of our larger items, we used Lugg, an on-demand moving and delivery service (think Lyft with a truck and some muscle).
A lightly used NordicTrack elliptical machine going for $30 from a nearby seller cost $140 to have it delivered by two professional movers, including a tip. That means we paid under $200 for a $1,500 piece of exercise equipment.
💡 Tell friends and family exactly what you need
We weren't shy about telling our friends and family in the Bay Area that our new home needed love. My aunt and uncle, who were clearing out their garage, invited us over to pilfer. We collected various tools, kitchen items and supplies.
One of my closest friends gave me her family's treasured coffee table. After some sanding and varnish, it looks stunning.
💡 Act fast, negotiate prices and be human
Buying affordable used furniture isn't as convenient as purchasing things online. You have to spend time looking, act quickly and be a serious buyer.
Our biggest success with sellers was showing our interest in an item before anyone else, offering an incentive for them to hold it and just being human. When we went to pick up a bookshelf in Richmond, one seller offered us a bag of plums from his backyard tree. Another seller from Walnut Creek contacted us days after we bought patio furniture to offer us her remaining garden supplies and planters at no cost.
In the process of making our new place beautiful on a budget, we made some priceless connections, which made us feel even more at home.
