Finishing Training, Starting Anew - Talk me down!

Hi all -

Okay - we're about to make the hyper jump into "real" money, but will be dragged down big time by school loans and old stupid choices. I have several friends who are in the same boat, but they seem to be living large - buying $4000 couches - entire HOUSES FULL of furniture right out of the gate. One of them is in cardiology and will be making literally over $100K more than we are so it's a little easier to swallow, but the other is in pretty much the same life raft as us.

We have bought a new house in our new city - and it's significantly nicer than our current one (but KC also has AWESOME housing prices - even cheaper than Cleveland). I'm so tempted to go the "6 months interest free" or "year interest free" route to make my new place spiffy.

There are also some things we really do need to get (a kitchen table, for one), and I'm really torn between my old IKEA roots and buying Arhaus or Crate & Barrel now, because we're in a grown-up house.

Where do you strike the balance between buying nice things - quality - that will last, and continuing to live frugally even though IKEA will probably have to be replaced in a few years???

[DCJenn]

Make the investment in timeless styles and pieces that can travel- kitchen/dining room tables, couches, bed rooms. Everything else are accessories as far as I'm concerned.

For that matter, we're using my parent's dining room set that's 40+ years old- solid maple.

We also bought the appliances that WE wanted. Everything else can wait!

Jenn

[Cumberland]

Since you mentioned crate and barrel, is this pottery barn outlet close to you?

Ohio Factory Stores Prime Outlets
8100 Factory Shops Blvd.
Jeffersonville, OH 43128
740-948-2004

The one near me ( well 3 hours) has amazing stuff- they have tons of furniture that either was just returned bc the customer didnt like it or it had a small scratch.

I also have bought great name brand furniture used out of the classified ads or craigslist.

I say hold out till the right stuff comes along, dont just buy it bc the $$ is coming in.

I agree with making an investment in quality stuff one piece at a time. I have a few Ikea things that came in the nick of time (free!!) but are sort of falling apart. Probably won't make it more than a few years. Things we have spent more on and viewed as longer term furniture have been worth it. Maybe make a list and prioritize?

Also, consider how old your kids are and which pieces of furniture they will be on and around. If you catch my drift.

[Amiens]

Jenn,

I understand what you are feeling as we getting to hit the money train so to speak- going from the standard $37K to let's say almost 5 times our current income.

We have been lucky and stayed out of credit card debt during medical school and residency. We have insane amounts in loans we will start paying on come this summer.

We have friends who will be making a bit more than us, yet have credit card debt, and are already buying brand new furniture for a new house, and making plans to spend their money and what seems to me to be living big. Maybe I have become cheap.

Matt and I have set up a budget- we know what our mortgage, and student loan payments will be. We have also budgeted for saving, charitable contributions, monthly living expenses- gas, food, clothing, etc. We have also set financial goals. Our parents are a big source of inspiration for us- one set has planned for the future while the other is scrambling to do so now, and one set has been in massive debt and bankruptcy. We want to be like the set who has planned for the future. We have set specific goals- to pay off our house sooner rather than later, pay off our student loan debts, have a specific amount in our savings account.

I know that we would feel more comfortable buying things gradually as owning a home is a first for us. Also we have made the goal to save up for purchases rather than try and buy them either all at once and go into debt. I figure I have lived 8 years with our couches which are really starting to show their age considering we have two children now, I can live with them for a bit longer. I am starting realize delayed gratification is such a good thing. I heard a something from a financial guru it was something along these lines- The things you have don't matter, what's in your bank account does. You can have the nicest things in the world and $0 in your bank account, but what happens if an emergency comes up? Those things won't save your rear.

It really made me think- is having a new quality couch more important next month or could save up for two months and then get it.

I am all for getting quality stuff as long as I don't go into debt or sacrifice other values or goals we have set for ourselves.

Something to think about.....

Crystal

Since you mentioned crate and barrel, is this pottery barn outlet close to you?

Ohio Factory Stores Prime Outlets
8100 Factory Shops Blvd.
Jeffersonville, OH 43128
740-948-2004

Not near - roughly 3 hours. But for deals like that it might be worth looking into. I'd have to have stuff shipped to KC though.

Thanks girls. Your suggestions make sense. After I typed my initial message I started a list of "wants" and "needs" and logical ways to achieve them. I think I need to step back and think a bit.

[Phoebe]

Congrats on KC! I know what you mean about wanting to start our right away and leave the old furniture behind with medical training. We didn't have much worth bringing with us and used hand-me-downs for a while. Our circumstance may have been a little different than what others would do, but it worked for us. I consolidated DH's student loans right during the ultra-low interest rates and we deferred them right away so we could get on our feet. We had to buy a car right away since we only had one and we stayed with an economical sedan for DH.

We bought two sets of furniture in our first year of moving. We took advantage of sales and stayed with traditional quality mid-priced furniture. We also kept older furniture for our guest room and restored furniture for my daughter's room. If you go through companies out of North Carolina, you can often get great deals. Now that we have some furniture to sit on, our second year goals have been student loans and savings.

Good Luck!

Just a thought....you can find sale prices on-line that you can't find in catalogs. I have bought a few things from Pottery Barn that way that really paid off! I was looking for one thing in particular and checked every day for a few weeks.

[PrincessFiona]

I just had to throw in my .02 on this issue because it is really near and dear to my heart.

WAIT...do not go to crate and barrel, slumberland or anyplace else...yet. Also, avoid buying furniture on time...and especially avoid the pay in 1 year and you don't have to pay any interest stuff....right now.

We fell into this trap and it made our first two years really painful...really painful.

I know it is exciting to move on and see more money coming in....but you will also be paying considerably more in taxes, etc. Give yourself a few pay cycles to see how much money you will have after taxes, mortgage payments and student loan payments. Once you are jugglng this successfully for a few months, you can figure out what you can afford without being house/furniture/thing poor.

kris

[Vishenka69]

If shopping were a competitive sport I would be an Olympian

Describes me perfectly. If you love PB style but don't want to spend as much, check out West Elm. They're owned by PB but have more reasonable prices without sacrificing quality. Also on C&B site there are listings of all their outlet locations, as well as an Outlet section to shop in online. And now they have a new kids division.

We currently have all IKEA furniture and I can't wait until I can start upgrading in a few years. It'll be so tempting to just trash everything and start our new life with a new house and new furniture.

I didn't know that about West Elm (being owned by PB). I have seen their catalog and thought it looked interesting and a store just opened nearby. I'll have to check it out!

I haven't bought anything on sale from Crate and Barrel on-line but they do have nice things on the sale page. We've had a C&B bedframe for almost 10 years and it is still in great condition. I think their furniture is high quality.

[Rapunzel]

I haven't thoroughly read all the advice given but here's my 2 cents:

Try to pay cash for any furniture you do buy. Several reasons:

1) You're already going to be swimming in interest with a mortgage AND the loan repayments from school AND auto payments.

2) You're apt to make less major purchases and have them spaced farther apart in time due to having that large amount of moolah deducted directly from your bank account.

3) "Saving up" for a larger purchase like furniture will give you at least a few weeks to really, really think about the purchase and you'll have time to comparison shop.

Jennifer

(We've bought a couple of things from Pottery Barn on "clearance" and have been impressed with the quality AND the prices - we have a PB dining room table originally priced at $1100 that we bought for $100 and one that was priced at about $900 that we got for $150. Definitely good quality furniture. Definitely good prices. TRY to get things on sale/clearance if you can!)

I live in a "real" house right now and I have tons of Ikea. We just saw no point in buying lots of nice furniture while the kids were small and destructive. :=


We probably ARE going to just sell most of it when we move this summer. It would cost $4,000 at least to move all of it, plus rental on a storage space until we buy a house or start residency. $4,000 is more than what we PAID for everything altogether minus the leather sofa and Eames chair

We just saw no point in buying lots of nice furniture while the kids were small and destructive. :=

Excellent point - and God knows my kids fit the destructive description!

[SueC]

We came to the same conclusion about not buying new furniture while the kids are small. We do have a nice leather couch (IMO leather makes sense with kids because it's easy to keep clean), but our dining room table is a hand-me-down from my parents and our chairs are those tacky black vinyl restaurant chairs. We may splurge and buy new master-bedroom furniture sometime in the near future, but that's probably about it.