It’s been over two years since I purchased my home. I figured after the hefty down payment and associated closing costs that all of my big ticket items were out of the way. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. I came from several years of renting apartments and houses with several different friends. Each of us brought our own bedroom furniture, and a compilation of used tables, chairs, and couches that didn’t come close to matching each other. Once I bought my house I realized just how empty it all was. I went from sharing 1600 square feet of living space with three guys, to having over 2300 square feet all to myself. Heck, my bedroom furniture didn’t even take up much of the master bedroom. I knew it was time to start loading up on new furniture, but the sum total of all the furniture I’ve accumulated probably outweighed the down payment itself.
While I normally like to purchase items online, furniture is the one thing I need to see and feel. Not to mention the cost of shipping, and then the pain of assembling the furniture is outside my range of knowledge. I started off by purchasing living room furniture. After all, this was going to be used just about every day. I needed a sofa, couch, end tables, coffee table, and most importantly, a large screen television. I made sure I was extra economical and went to a discounted furniture store and shopped their clearance section. In the end, I wound up with very nice leather furniture for a fraction of the regular price. I was quite happy with my deal from this store, and I stuck with them through some other furniture purchases. I actually purchased my bed from this store as well. That time around I was a bit more seasoned and learned that buying furniture is much like buying a car, you can always haggle regardless of the sticker price. This actually led me to my final furniture buying lesson, don’t buy a mattress from a furniture store, you’ll get ripped off every time! Mattresses are severely marked up at brick and mortar stores, you need to find a specialty discount retailer…preferably a mattress surplus warehouse. I ended up visiting one of these stores that had a Groupon available, and picked up a good deal at a fraction of the price.