First off, just because you’re able to spend up to $2,000 on furniture, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to skimp – so garage sales, relatives’ castaways, and thrift shops are still in play. You’ll likely need to get one or more major items from these sources.

That said, with $2,000 you can afford to spend a little more on a few key items – and you have some more flexibility: instead of just trying to get the basics (couch, bed, table, chairs, coffee table) in the cheapest manner possible, you can actually coordinate the furniture and try to have a cohesive vibe for your new apartment. Box stores such as Target, IKEA and World Market are within play, even if you still need to shop at the lower end of their price spectrum.

How do you figure out what to splurge on, and how to have everything match? Our guest blogger Kate Holland had some tips: pick your large pieces first and design around them and use rugs and accent pillows (which can be found on the cheap) to add color and make the room pop. Places like Fab.com have deals on cheap accent pieces, as well as furniture. Some other online deal sites to consider: Gilt Home and Overstock.com.

During our Design Month, we also worked with Interior Designer Kate Marengo. She had some shopping and design tips for readers, including shopping Estate Sales and Home Decorator’s Collection. She also pointed out that if you’re going to spend major money on just one or two major pieces of furniture, they should be your couch and your bed – since you spend every night sleeping in your bed, and most likely your couch is the other piece of furniture you use the most. Kate also answered readers’ questions in two parts, if you want to see her complete breakdown. (Spoiler alert: after you get your furniture, painting can be a great way to spruce up a place.)

Our blogger Christina walked our readers through all the different, unusual types of beds, while long-time blogger Alissa has the low-down on how to negotiate mattress prices – the key takeaway being: never pay sticker price for a mattress. In fact, offer to pay half and see where that takes you. You should end up settling on 3/4 to 2/3 of the list price.

Still intimidated? Our blogger Alexandra walks readers through how she furnished her studio for under 2K, while I caution readers about renting furniture: as overwhelming as furniture shopping can be, you’re far likely to get a better product at a better price if you buy, rather than rent. Realistically, $2,000 is a reasonable budget for furnishing a small apartment well. If you the patience to spend a few weekends on it, and continue to bargain hunt, you can have a very well-appointed place within a month of moving in.

1. Talk about potential problems as they arise.

In any living situation where you share space, it is important to be open and honest early on when problems arise. Otherwise, frustrations build and eventually explode into one big ugly mess. So to avoid catastrophe and hurt feelings, talk about problems as they arise. That’s not to say that every small thing that gets on your nerves should turn into a discussion, but honesty goes a long way. In my and my boyfriend’s case, things could become uncomfortable because we’ve been living together for almost a year and now we are living together with his mom. We may be comfortable with our open displays of affection or staying up until the early hours of the morning, but for his mom those things can be awkward and annoying. The last thing you want to do is make someone uncomfortable in his or her own home. So talk. As issues come up, we just have a quick talk about them and then move on with our lives. This makes the situation so much more relaxing for everyone involved.

 2. Set and accept boundaries.

After time away from home, you’ve grown and changed and most likely consider yourself an adult. Your parent or relative may not see it that way. A good rule of thumb is to set boundaries that you are both comfortable with and hold to them. Remember, the last time you lived with your parent you still lived by their rules and lifestyle, but in just a few short years you’ve developed your own rules and lifestyle, so, of course, confrontations are going to happen. For example, you might be used to inviting friends over whenever you like. There is no need for permission when you are living on your own, but to your family member this might be a huge invasion of space and show lack of consideration of their feelings and lifestyle. So to avoid power struggles, set boundaries together.  And be willing to compromise. This doesn’t mean that you should accept fault in every issue or compromise to the point of your own extreme discomfort. Remember compromise works both ways; it’s all about give and take.

 3. Discuss any financial obligations early.

An area that can cause major problems when living with family is the topic of money. In order to keep those problems at bay, you should discuss your financial obligations, if any, early. Otherwise, they may have expectations that you didn’t budget for or see coming or they might feel that you are just taking advantage of the fact that they are family. With everyone you’ve ever lived with since adulthood, financial contributions have been discussed initially so do the same with family. It may seem like an unnecessary formality, but it can be discussed lightly and it will definitely clear the air for any misunderstandings.

4. Pitch in and help out.

When you are living with family you are not a guest, so don’t act like one. Are the dishes dirty? Then wash them. Is there laundry piling up? Then throw a load into the washing machine. Pitch in with cooking and cleanup if you are sharing meals with the family. Little things like that are a big help and instantly show that you care.

 5. Be courteous and grateful.

A big thing to remember is that your family member has been kind enough to allow you to stay in his or her home, so always be grateful and courteous. There is no rule that says you can move in with family when times get rough or because you made a mistake, so don’t take their graciousness for granted. Make sure they are aware that you appreciate the help and hospitality.  However, family lending you a helping hand doesn’t mean  you are forever in their debt. If a circumstance arises where you feel that you are made to feel guilty for needing extra help, then head back to point one and talk out those problems.

These are just a few of the things that have really helped in my own situation of living with family, especially family that isn’t really my own. Perhaps they will help you navigate those sometimes uncomfortable situations. Feel free to share your own advice below!

Here’s a handy checklist of things you’ll need (or at least want, in all likelihood), organized by room, with extra blanks for YOU to fill in. Our suggested top priorities are in bold, but before you panic keep in mind many of these items can be bought cheaply second-hand or even picked up free.  And if we’ve missed anything, please let us know in the comments!

Entrance area

• Welcome mat (for outside the door)
• Small area rug (for just inside the door)
• Wall hooks for jackets, keys, etc.
• Small table or bench for shoe storage
• Lamp, if there’s no other light source by the door
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
• __________________________________

Living room

• Couch, chairs, or other things to sit on
• Coffee table
• Bookshelves
• Television
• Stand for TV
• Throw pillows for couch/chairs
• Artwork
• Lamp(s)
• For more furnishing suggestions check out our Basic Furniture Checklist
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
• __________________________________

Kitchen

• Food!
• Silverware
• Silverware organizer (drawer insert)
• Dishes (e.g. plates, glasses, mugs, bowls, serving platters, etc.)
• Trash and recycling cans
• Pots and pans
• Oven mitts
• Spatulas, ladles, whisks, etc.
• Container for countertop storage of spatulas, ladles, whisks, etc.
• Dish towels
• Dish drying rack
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Mixing bowls
• Bottle opener and corkscrew
• Plastic containers for food storage (e.g. Tupperware or Gladware)
• Rolls of aluminum foil, wax paper, plastic wrap, and parchment paper
• Paper (or newspaper) to line cupboards and shelves
• Zip-top plastic bags of various sizes
• Cutting boards
• Toaster or toaster oven
• Microwave
• Coffee maker
• Kettle or hotpot
• Ice cube trays
• Blender
• Hand mixer
• Can opener
• Good, sharp knives (at least one large chef’s knife and a small paring knife)
• Serving spoon
• Colander
• Additional free-standing shelves or storage, as needed (e.g. metal shelf units from Target or IKEA)
• Dish soap and sponges/scrubbers
• Trash can
• Small area rug
• For more kitchen essentials, check out our Starter Pantry and Staples Checklist, our Starter Equipment Checklist and Sam’s favorite kitchen equipment sources
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
• __________________________________

Continued on page two…

And, joining a CSA might be just the kick in the pants you need to get started eating at home and eating healthy. The acronym CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and right now is the time to join for this season. When you join a CSA, you buy a “share” in a farmer’s annual output. You pay for your share up front, and usually receive about 20 weeks worth of produce. In other words, if the farm from which you bought a share grows beets, collard greens, strawberries, apples and peaches, you’ll get a percentage of what’s grown. And you’ll get it fresh weekly or bi-weekly – usually it will be delivered to a local farmer’s market, available for pick up, or, in some cases, it will be delivered directly to your door.

So let me reiterate this: all through the summer and early fall, you’ll get boxes –literally boxes – full of healthy, fresh, nutrient-rich, delicious produce. This is a jackpot, particularly if you feel like you could start cooking at home, but you never quite get around to it. With a CSA, you have no excuse: you’ll have pounds of fruits and vegetables sitting in your refrigerator, ready to use.

In fact, the number one complaint people have about CSAs is that it provides too much produce – which is why it’s a great solution for a house full of roommates. Say you and three friends live together. For an initial investment of, say, $600 (which may seem like a lot, but split it four ways, and remember that you’re getting 20 weeks worth of produce, and you realize you’re each only paying $7.50 a week), you’ll get not only food delivered to your door, but dinner possibilities as well.

Thought experiment: you’ve only ever had kale in a restaurant. You like it, but you’ve never been quite adventurous enough to try cooking it on your own. But then you get a nice big bunch of it from your CSA. So, you might as well get up the gumption and cook it. (Look online for great recipes.) Similarly, if you like eating fruit, but rarely get around to actually buying it, be prepared for peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, raspberries, nectarines and plums to be delivered to your door. You’ll be eating fruit daily.

New York, Chicago, L.A., and San Francisco have tons of CSA options, and even smaller places like Lincoln, Nebraska have a few options. If you live alone, or only have one roommate, you can usually order a “half-share,” meaning that you pay half as much and get half as many fruits and veggies. Also, certain boutique CSAs provide meat and cheese as well – check your local listings.

However, there are some drawbacks to CSAs, so let me outline them here: if you’re traveling regularly, you’re going to miss out – the fruits and veggies are still going to come. And you’re going to have to give them away, or let them go to waste – and since most CSAs require that you commit for the whole season, you’ll lose out on a portion of your investment.

Also, you often can’t choose what fruits and vegetables you get – you just get what’s in season, and what the farm grows. So if you’re a picky eater, or have lots of allergies, you might find you’re getting bunches of stuff you won’t or can’t eat.

And, finally, there’s the aforementioned complaint: you’ll be getting (potentially) too much produce. Some people love it and try to change their eating habits to incorporate as much produce as possible. Other people are more stubborn and less adaptable – they end up being overwhelmed by the produce, and don’t eat even half of it.

So here’s my recommendation: if you’re a curious cooker and an adventurous eater, try out a CSA, particularly if you live in a house of like-minded roommates. It’s the sort of project you’ll make work, especially if the mere thought of joining a CSA gets your heart thumping!

1. Switch out a showerhead: Sometimes the showerhead you get stuck with in your rental isn’t the best – you might want something with more or less power. Whatever the case may be, you’re looking at changing your showerhead. This upgrade is an easy fix that you can definitely get done on your own. All you’ll need is an adjustable wrench to loosen the nut at the base of your showerhead, plumber’s tape to place around the end of the shower arm, and a new showerhead to screw onto the arm.

2. Unclog a toilet/tub/sink: Another helpful skill is learning to unclog a drain. (Yes, we know your super /landlord should be available to do that, but they may take their sweet time, while your toilet is out of commission.) If you buy a plunger for the toilet, a flexible snake to drain the sinks and tub, and some Drano, you’ll be good to go! Of course, if these tools don’t get the job done, get your super/ landlord involved. But most of the time, a little elbow grease and the right tool will do the fix.

3. Cook quick meals: I know some people aren’t cookers. They either don’t like doing it, they don’t know how, or they just hate doing the dishes afterwards. But I’m not talking about elaborate three course meals. I’m thinking along the lines of sandwiches, pastas, and rice bowls. Sometimes when the cash flow is a bit tight, our nutrition takes the biggest hit when we’re trying to save money. However, if you buy cheap ingredients and cook them together, you’ll be able to eat good and healthy for days. If you can boil pasta, make rice, cook up chopped meat or vegetables and beans, and put your favorite fixings between 2 slices of bread, you’ll be able to feed yourself for half the cost of takeout or restaurant meals. Leftovers are your frugal friend.

4. Use a fire extinguisher:  Let’s say you took my advice and started trying to cook meals for yourself but you put the pot holder too close to the flame or you used too much grease frying something. This would be the perfect time to pull out your fire extinguisher and put out the fire before it gets out of your control. Your neighbors will thank you and your building owner will especially be grateful. If you have anything in your apartment that can create an open flame like candles, incense, or small appliances like an indoor grill, you should definitely own a fire extinguisher and learn how to use it before the flames erupt.

5. Perform Heimlich Maneuver/CPR: If you have a roommate and he starts to choke on something he’s eating, it would be imperative and life saving for you to be able to perform the Heimlich Maneuver and CPR.  To learn both, make a fun day out of it and go with your roommate(s) to training at a local hospital or fire department when they give free classes.

6. Use a screwdriver: Over time with frequent usage, things tend to get a bit wobbly, so it is very important to know how to use a screwdriver. Almost any piece of furniture or kitchen appliance has screws holding it together so you should definitely own and learn how to use both flat and Phillips head screwdrivers.  Also, some new furniture (hello Ikea!) comes with tools that help you to keep put them together and fix them if any mishap should happen. So don’t throw away those extra screws or Hex Keys; you might need them in the future.
Continued on page two…

Hello there. I’m Audra and my story of apartment living started almost a year ago. On a gorgeous day in May of last year, I found myself dressed in a cap and gown at my university’s commencement. It’s an understatement to say that everything happened too fast. I barely realized that I was going to start living in the “real world” — that meant finding another job, paying bills for things like doctor visits, and finding a place to live for myself and my boyfriend  in Macon, Georgia.  After days of scouring the internet for a place to live, I found the perfect apartment to call home; complete with hardwood floors, French doors, ample windows, and a great community.

But a year has passed by, and life has thrown new changes our way — this time an email with a great job offer for my boyfriend in another city changed everything. Our great apartment had to go and I began the apartment search again. As a creature of habit, I went back to Craigslist, hotpads.com, and sketchy Google postings, trying to find a place that could begin to compare to our perfect apartment, but I was disappointed over and over again.  Everything I found was too pricy, too far away, or just too gross to fathom.

However, the in-person search turned out to be much easier, and I learned a tough lesson about judging an apartment by its online listing. After a day of running around in our new, much smaller town (and coincidentally my boyfriend’s hometown), we felt defeated. When we were just about to call it quits, my boyfriend suggested that we visit a place I had ruled out in an earlier online search due to small square footage and a hefty price tag. Despite my protests, we made the trip anyway.

Looking around the building, I immediately felt a sense that this would be my new home. Each apartment they showed had a unique character all to itself. Formerly an old cotton mill, the apartments have a charm unlike any other, including exposed brick and 14-foot factory windows, and I was instantly in love. The price tag wasn’t all that bad either.

That night we poured over bank records and floor plans and finally decided to call the place our new home. In the beginning of our search, I was convinced that nothing would be as perfect as where we live now, but the new place has put those fears aside (the new apartment even has a set of French doors). As I write this, I go through spurts of packing and daydreaming about fun decorating projects for the new apartment. Although we will be staying with family throughout May while we wait for the apartment to come available in early June, I have a growing list of projects for our new home and a Pinterest board to match. So stay tuned…the journey has just begun!

I’m  Renting a Condo…from My Mother

Renting an apartment is a process that has the potential of hitting many highs and lows with all kinds of people you have to deal with. And when it comes to renting a condo, it’s the same story, unless your future landlord and the condo’s owner is your mother.

It’s kind of funny in a “meant to be” way how this journey started. I had been searching for an apartment for a year and a half with no luck. I live in New York so it proved to be challenging for me to find an affordable apartment with everything I wanted without the help of a broker. I refused to give a fee of a month’s rent to someone for doing something that I thought I could do on my own. I finally popped the bubble I was in and realized that this was an uphill battle I wasn’t going to win.  Meanwhile, my mom had wanted to turn my bedroom into an office ever since I left for college, so she asked me if I would be willing to rent from her if she bought a condo. I thought she was nuts but she said she’d wanted to buy a condo for a while for its tax benefits.  How could I say no to that?  It would be a more stable agreement than renting from a random landlord and I could stay as long as I wanted or needed to. That means getting a condo should be a breeze, right? No. Not at all.

My mother decided to include me in every part of the process, which was a great learning experience. We started by looking online for listings and went to look at places on our own and with a real estate agent.  I can’t even begin to describe some of the dumps we saw. My mom was strict about her $200,000 budget and she wanted a 2 bedroom so pickings were really slim. I started to get a little deflated, but after about three months of searching the agent finally found something with potential. I thought it was another dump but my mom saw its potential.  The apartment was in a 4-story building (mom doesn’t like highrises), in my neighborhood of choice, and under budget. When I compared it to the other places we saw, there was no comparison. It has 2 full bedrooms, plenty of closet space, a workable single wall kitchen and an actual living room! Like a room that can fit two couches comfortably. Unheard of in NY! We started negotiations immediately.

My mother was looking for a place she could renovate but this one was a big mess with broken cabinets, holes in closets, and a front door with no knob or lock. Yep, you read that right. So my mom negotiated $10,000 off the asking price and after the final inspection revealed more problems, she got the seller to shave off another $2,000!
Continued on page two…

We were recently interviewed by US News and World Report about the topic and we’ve covered it before, but the issue is timely enough to merit a fresh post. To review the related legal issues we brought in Donna Petrucelli (donna.petrucelli@elliman.com), an attorney and broker with Douglas Elliman in NYC, while our blogger Alex Starace will talk about the relationship aspects.

What should you watch for when signing a lease?

Alex: If the two of you are in a studio or one-bedroom and end up breaking up, it’s not as simple as just swapping in a new roommate. So, be prepared. Before you sign the lease, see what the terms are for breaking it. Some management companies will allow it if you pay a penalty and/or find a new renter. Also, make sure both of your names are on the lease.

Donna: Yes, usually your legal rights are very limited if your name is not on the lease. If, for example, the person whose name is on the lease moves out, or the lease terminates, the landlord does not have to allow the roommate whose name was not on the lease to remain in the residence.

However, in some situations, you could also use this to your advantage: if your name is not on the lease, you can move out and the landlord cannot go after you for your share of the rent.

Alex: If you live together in a bigger apartment, where each resident could plausibly have his or her own room, make sure there’s language that allows you to swap roommates. Some management companies will want to personally vet the new roommate, but that’s a good thing – you’ll know you’re getting someone who can pay. And most companies will allow you to make such a switch.

Donna: Leases usually have a clause in them that makes each tenant/roommate “jointly and severally” liable for the rent.  That means that each tenant named on the lease  is responsible for paying not only his/her share of the rent but the entire rent if the other roommate fails to pays his/her share.  To minimize your liability, you would want to have a clause that states you are liable for only your share of the rent – this is referred to as “several liability” or “individual liability.”

What happens, then, if you actually break up?

Alex: It’s emotionally difficult. I think that’s the hardest part – you’ve shared a space together, and now what should be your home feels poisonous and tainted.

Donna: You need to read the lease to see what it says about early termination of the lease.  However, in most cases the tenants will probably by “jointly and severally liable” for the lease payments and, therefore, each party would still be liable for the full amount of the lease payments until the lease term expires.  In this case, the landlord can sue one or both of the tenants for the full amount remaining on the lease.

Alex: I would say, though, that getting sued is unlikely if you’re at all conscious of your legal responsibilities. The mechanics of what you do in the event of a break-up depend a lot on the specifics of each case  – it’s a headache, and it’s difficult to deal with, but the actual break-up is (I would hope) the real heartache.

There are tons of practical options, and what you can do depends on what your lease says and how forgiving your landlord is. I’ve known couples where one of them finds an incredibly small studio, and then they add the price of the studio and the shared apartment and divide by two, and each pay that much per month. It’s a good way for both of you to get your separate space until the lease expires. Or, you could see about subletting your place. Or, if you have a big enough space, you can find a new roommate and one of you move out. It just depends on the case.

Continued on page two…

FURNISHING BUDGET $0

If you have absolutely no money to spend on furnishing, we’ve found many places where even an empty wallet goes a long way.

Castaways from family, friends, coworkers
-          Check out grandma’s basement; find out who among your co-workers is redecorating or moving; ask your super to let you know when your neighbors throw out furniture. Get the word out as widely as you can that you’ll take anything they don’t need.
Street finds. 
-          Walk or drive around nice neighborhoods the night before garbage pick-up.  You may need to do this with a friend, so you have help hauling your goodies home.
Dumpster diving
-           and garbage drop-off days at the local dump/recycling center, if you live in a rural area.
Craigslist Free
-          You should know that there will be a lot of competition for good stuff on Craigslist Free,  so check out our guest blogger  Kelly M’s tips on how you can be the winner.
Freecycle.org

Our most frugal bloggers, Elyse and  Alissa  share their tricks for scoring free stuff from these sources.  But, let’s face it, your most important piece of furniture, a bed, will be tough to get free.  You might be able to score an airbed off Craigslist Free, but with bedbug scares picking up discarded mattresses, no matter how perfect they look, is not advisable.  You have to be careful with anything that you cannot fully disinfect before bringing home.  One super cheap, temporary bedding option, suggested by one of our readers, was to buy the thickest king size mattress pad (they can be found on sale for about $20) and fold it over for a twin “mattress”.  Not free, but close to, and a lot better than hard floor.

FURNISHING BUDGET UP TO $500

As your furnishing budget hits the big double and triple digits, many new places become affordable.

Stoop sales and yard sales
-          Great sources for small decorative items and sometimes even smaller pieces of furniture, such as chairs or side tables.
-          Yard sales are often  loaded with dishes and kitchen implements so you can use them to equip your kitchen.
-          Now is a great time to scout for stoop and yard sales, because people use them to get rid of the assorted and sundry that turn up in spring cleaning.
Thrift shops
-          Most cities have a number of thrift shop options, running from national (Salvation Army, Goodwill) to ones kept by local charities (for example, Housing Works in NYC).
-          Alex reviewed some of the best a few months ago.

With stoop sale and thrift shop bargains, adding a few dollars of paint or a fabric remnant, can turn them into a treasures.   Doug recently learned some pro tips from decorators on what you can do with $50-100 to perk up your place.

Online deal sites
-          A relatively new budget furnishing resource.
-          These sites are for a knowledgeable shopper who knows what a comparable item sells in retail stores.
-          Watch out for shipping cost that can make a bargain not so, particularly for lower priced items.
Big Box stores
-          As your budget gets closer to $500, you can start checking out your local Ikea, Target, Walmart and other large chain stores. They may not be affordable all the time, but when they run sales, bargains can be had.

Alissa shared her plan for using her $500 furnishing budget a while back.  If we have missed your favorite super bargain furnishing resources, please share your secrets in the comments.

We’ll be covering next what our bloggers  have done with furnishing budget in the $1,000 and $2,000 range.

How much do you need to save before you can afford to rent an apartment? The short answer is about 10% of your annual salary, but check out these two posts here and here for how we came up with the amount.

And what about utilities: electric, cable, heat, a/c, phone?  How much do you need to budget for those in addition to your rent.  The answer depends whether you have roommates or go solo; with roommates about 10% on top of your rent, without roommates it could be as much as 20%.  The details are here.

Is your credit score high enough? If your FICO score is in the 650-700 range you should be fine. Under 600 may require a higher security deposit, and under 500 a guarantor. Here and  here are posts that explain credit scores.

How far in advance should you start looking? The answer depends largely on where you are looking.

When is the best time of the year to apartment hunt?  Alissa has found that each season has its pros and cons.

How do you make sure the landlord gives you the lease? The rental process you have to go through is similar to looking for a job, so take it seriously.  These seven tips will help you stand out in the crowd, and make the landlord pick you.

If we missed  your favorite post, let us know in the comments below.