Best Ways To Purchase Home Essentials On A Small Budget

Decorating your home can cost a lot of money, but there are plenty of ways to stretch your budget! Explore our ideas and revamp your home on a budget.

Decorating your home is difficult, even when you have a limitless budget. When money is tight, picking out the perfect decorations for your home can feel impossible.

Thankfully, several options exist for the savvy shopper. Here are the six best ways to buy home essentials on a small budget.

1. Shop Wholesale

Manual forklift pallet stacker truck equipment at warehouse

Many major retailers buy in bulk. In fact, they purchase goods in such high volumes that they receive massive discounts from manufacturers. The latter company can do this since selling large quantities of a product to a single retailer lowers the overall logistics cost. The former business does it to offer the lowest prices possible to customers, enticing people to shop with them regularly.

As a consumer, you are the beneficiary of this business model. By shopping wholesale, you can stock your home with all the products you need. Meanwhile, you’re saving a great deal off of what you’d pay as a regular price at a big box retailer.

2. Find a ReStore

You can find furniture, household items, building materials, and more at Habitat for Humanity ReStore locations. Much of their merchandise is actually brand new as local merchants donate items that they no longer need as a result of changing inventory, while contractors also offer these stores their leftover building materials. Best of all, you can feel good about your purchase because proceeds will help families who need safe and comfortable homes.

3. Read Reviews

Woman sitting on sofa in living room and using a tablet

The era of the Internet allows you to learn everything you need to know about a product before you purchase it. By reading feedback online from previous buyers, you’re able to see the pros and cons of just about any item. The people who write reviews already own the items you’re considering purchasing, so they can let you know if making this purchase is worth it for the cash you’ll have to cough up.

For some of your more expensive items, such as quality bedding, it’s important to do your research. Luxury sheets aren’t cheap, but a quality set can last you years.

Egyptian cotton has been the standard for years, but American Supima cotton—used in the recently released Casper sheets—is also a good choice. Reading reviews like this will help you feel more confident that you’ll be satisfied with your items once they come in, especially when you’re buying from an online retailer.

4. Online Shopping

Though you probably shop this way already, there’s likely still a lot you can learn. For example, make Woot a part of your daily Internet reading. This Internet retailer started with the simplest business model ever: They sold one product a day, jazzing it up with a hilarious item description.

They were so good at what they did that Amazon bought them, and now they’ve expanded to sell a handful of items every day. Check their Home section every day to find potential bargains.

5. The Classifieds

young adult beautiful brunette woman drinking coffee and reading newspaper in luxury apartment

In the days before the Internet, budget-conscious consumers would scour the newspaper to find the best deals in the classifieds section. That’s where people seeking to get rid of stuff they weren’t using would go to advertise it.

It’s the old saying about one person’s junk being another’s treasure. While print media is fading away, it’s not gone yet. That means you can still find the occasional deal in the classifieds. Since fewer people read the paper, there’s also less competition for these items.

Of course, you also know that the Internet offers its fair share of classifieds as well. Sites such as Craigslist include thousands of listings for used merchandise.

In many cases, items come in mint condition because the current owner bought it and forgot that they had it. Sometimes, like-new items have sat unused in someone’s closet. You can find the home essentials you need for a fraction of what you’d pay in a store.

6. Estate Sales

Estate sales occur when a service liquidates an entire family residence all at once. With so many items for sale, bargains abound. Plus, the early bird gets the worm. If you arrive before others, you can tag the items you want, thereby gaining preferred status. Best of all, auction rules apply for every item, meaning that you can sometimes find the item you love for pennies on the dollar. If no one else bids, you literally name the price on your purchases.

Garage sales are a similar option and great deals can often be found at both. If you go bargain-hunting at garage sales, try to find neighborhood sales. Multiple venues in the same area create competition, meaning you can often find even lower prices.

Decorating your home can cost a lot of money, but rest assured there are plenty of options to stretch your budget! Explore all the options above and you’ll have beautiful new decorations and essentials for years to come.

About the author

Laura Ashbury

Laura is a full time student writing her way through college. She is passionate about many things but mainly staying healthy and fit, traveling and writing.

Add Comment

Click here to post a comment