It’s a funny thought that people fantasize about that first I’m really moving out moment, and a little way into that ambiguous process, you think “man, this all basically sucks.” Independence, Pinterest prime-vibe potential, and your own kitchen…only to find out nothing you want in that apartment exists unless you buy it.
Some people realize this when they’re standing in their new place with one grocery bag of snacks and apparently no spoons. That’s the chaotic energy that comes with each first-time mover, and it’s supposedly the reason this budget-oriented essentials for your first apartment guide matters more than any inspirational quote you could hang on the wall in your small home $20 art frame.
Changing the back support is often just fancy marketing for foam. A thousand-dollar mattress might only have a fifty-dollar cost to manufacture. Who cares? People will spend money once they see the mattress in an advertisement with soft music and a couple cuddling in slow motion. If you are completely starting new, the smarter choice is to get a cheap foam mattress in the $135 range as it is a safe mental choice.
Really, it doesn’t matter what type of mattress you buy; they are all just foam pretending to be friends and lovers. Used is great for most things—but NOT mattresses (unless you want to invite bed bugs to the housewarming party).
Some way, the bedroom always seems to be the centerpiece, even though people typically worry about the aesthetics of their living space first. Honestly, nobody cares what your couch looks like until someone visits—with probably is not happening day one, anyway!
That’s why the inexpensive bedroom necessities for new renters ultimately become the real supporters: a mattress, a box spring or simple bed frame, a couple of pillows no more expensive than a fancy cup of coffee, and curtains you found at Walmart with no care to thread count. You can also omit the nightstand. Your phone can sleep comfortably on the floor. When you’re broke, there must be alternatives.
Right when you think the bedroom has drained your budget, the living room creates its own entrance, but shoudn’t be the financial downfall for the story. You are about to meet your superhero, Facebook Marketplace.
A $100 couch that folds out into a bed? Yes. A couch that may be worth $2,000 and the owner is forced to sell for $250 because they are moving and need to unload it before they leave? Yes, absolutely. The only trick is to check for bugs, be okay with minor stains, and use your ancestral negotiation skills. People want to get rid of their stuff. So bring the price down. Do it with a friendly smile. And leave with more furniture than your entire deposit is worth.
It’s funny that new TVs can be cheaper than what used to be the price range, because the tech market has completely crashed the prices. You can buy a big smart TV for the pocket change between your couch cushions or you can buy a bulky old TV and stick a cheap streaming stick on it to turn it into a Netflix machine. Either way, once you stop caring what the influencers call a minimalist aesthetic, setting up an affordable living room setup for small apartments becomes surprisingly realizable.
When the conversation shifts to bathrooms, we picture marble everything and towels that cost more than a semester of text books. In reality, you only need a few things in your first apartment bathroom: plunger, towels that don’t shed on your body, and a simple $6 toilet paper holder so you’re not functioning like a raccoon. Most bath mats and accessories can be purchased at dollar stores and work just as well as any accessory you would find online. And of course if your apartment didn’t come with storage, facebook marketplace is again, the land of opportunity, filled with cheap bookshelves, mirrors, and oddly fancy IKEA cabinets all for less than $20 because someone just wants it gone.
Let’s further complicate the structure, and go right into the kitchen, which is the final boss of the first-apartment experience. Kitchens will devour your budget with reckless abandon. Particularly if you are a lost soul traipsing the aisles of Target, individually purchasing your pots and pans, spatulas and knives. The secret is to look for bundles: used plate sets that come with mugs, bowls, tiny bowls, and every other shape of bowl the human race has ever invented.
Unless you are investing more than a fancy dinner in your knives. Cheap knives dull quicker than a B movie plotline, and a few more bucks spent on a somewhat better set will prevent you from dealing with sawnging your tomatoes apart for the next 365 days.
Every first-time mover has that infamous I am way too cheap for this, but I need it to survive moment. This typically pertains to pots and pans. Used is completely fine, because soap, and your mom has likely washed off way worse things! If someone is selling an entire set of pots and pans for sixty or eighty bucks, and the handles just look a little confused, they are totally doing you a favor. Simply wash and overly sanitize the pots and pans, and pretend you have been an adult your entire life.
Equipping your first apartment is not about having everything perfect. It is about utility. You certainly shouldn’t feel the need to have your waffle maker, blender, air fryer, or mini espresso machine on day one (unless you want your bank account to call the cops). The rule to remember is this: if you aren’t sure you’ll use it within the next ten days, don’t buy it. Most people think, I’m going to become a culinary wizard the second I move out, and then they realize that cooking pasta a couple times a week is as good as it gets at this point.
You can in fact furnish an entire apartment for less than $500 to $900 if you are on board with buying cheap items before investing into sturdier things. Truly, the fancy stuff can wait. The cute, aesthetic Pinterest kitchens can wait. The matching sets of furniture can wait. Right now, you just need enough items to make the apartment livable, comfortable, and no longer embarrassingly bare. Once you get through the basics, your apartment will begin to feel like a place that is truly yours—the only drawback is that most of it is decor from people you don’t know who sold it for suspiciously low prices.
Moving away becomes about less stress and more about piecing together a version of home that evolves with you. And perhaps one day, after you have upgraded from the $4 pillow and the $100 sofa, you’ll find yourself weirdly nostalgic when you think about your broke-era apartment, because it taught you how little you truly need to start living.
