<p>does anyone know the approximate cost of furnishing a completely UNfurnished apartment? </p>
<p>where do you go to college - how much did it cost you to furnish your apt?</p>
<p>any info on second hand furniture and other savings, etc?</p>
<p>Go to Garage sales. They will save you a lot of money if you are willign to put in the time to search them out and stuff.</p>
<p>Craigslist.com <– tons of people moving out or whatever list their furniture there, quite cheap or even free</p>
<p>Ikea is heaven…cheap, but chic. i’ll be moving into my own studio apartment in the fall (i go to NU) and i’ll have to get everything–and almost everything i’ll get will most likely come from there.</p>
<p>check out goodwill. they usually have couches for like ten bucks.</p>
<p>If you want new furniture: Ikea is heaven. If there isn’t one near you… Target, Walmart & Kmart.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind used furniture: Garage Sales, Thrift stores, Dumpster Diving, Craigslist.</p>
<p>salvation army sometimes has 50% off sales near holidays… so, it’s cheap to start with, then you get 50% off. My coffee table cost me $2.50. If you are even cheaper than that, you can go around to different apartment complexes near a big school at the end of the year… as people move out, they will just dump unwanted perfectly good furniture by the dumpsters.</p>
<p>Most of my furniture came from my parents - they were conveiniantly moving to a smaller house when I was moving out so I got a ton of furniture they just didn’t have space for anymore. So, I can’t give you an approximate amount. There are some real deals out there if you look around. I did buy a new mattress (a used one sounded gross)… JCPenny on sale for $400 (full size, mattress/boxspring set)</p>
<p>This year we moved into this apartment completely unfurnished and with absolutely no furniture that we brought from home (we weren’t fortunate enough to have any relatives moving or anything).</p>
<p>We went about furnishing our place as comfortable and cheaply as possible. The first thing we did was find things all about Westwood. We picked up a small couch that had been left in front of my friends place for free. Not in the greatest condition, but it did have a fold out bed, and it was pretty comfortable and could be cleaned. We found 2 dinner table chairs and a recliner left in our apartment complex. Sometimes you just luck into it.</p>
<p>The rest of the things we found mostly through the Internet. We found a very very nice barely used couch on Craigslist for about $180. Our dinner table and a set of 4 chairs was another $100. I bought a TV stand off a guy back home in Long Beach for $10. Split between 6 guys, the cost really isn’t too bad. It also helps that we had most of the kitchen supplies on us already and didn’t need to spend much money there.</p>
<p>It’s whatever you set the budget at. I put my budget at $400 and stuck to it. Go dumpster diving–ideal times are in May, when students move back home and leave stuff on the curb. I got a desk, a couch, and a chair (which turned out to be a valuable antique) that way. Patrol neighborhoods looking for tag and estate sales – my parents’ neighbor moved back to NYC, and gave me a Le Creuset skillet, a full set of glassware, and a set of Hickory chairs for free. Craigslist is also great; I found an IKEA daybed there for $25. It had been slept on once. </p>
<p>If there’s an IKEA near you, great. Before you shop for anything, go to the As-Is section. Many times already assembled items, items that are just a little scratched, etc., are available for at least 50% off. </p>
<p>If you must buy new, buy in August/Sept. This is when stores put their furniture on sale; to make room for the new stuff. If you have to buy one thing new, make it a mattress and don’t overlook the virtues of foam mattresses. These are more popular in Europe, but IKEA sells them here and they do wonders for your back.</p>
<p>Finally, this is morbid, but read the obits and then scout out the properties. From what I gather, most antiques dealers get alot of their stuff this way.</p>