We recently moved to Portland and decided to rent an apartment after years of living in a travel trailer. Since we moved during a pandemic we found ourselves furnishing a home on a budget.

We focused on making our space livable but we weren't too concerned with decorations. This way we knew our money was being well spent while sticking to the "less is more" minimalist mindset.

The goal was to make our space feel like home but without frivolous spending. Luckily for us, we live in a small one-bedroom apartment so it's not like we had to go crazy buying a million items.

Our new home changed from an empty apartment into a perfect living space all while staying under budget. We found simple ways to save money while furnishing our new home without sacrificing the final look.

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Make A Budget

We love budgets. Seriously, we really do because it's truly the only way to be in charge of your own finances.

Before you begin going crazy and buying everything for the new home you need to make a budget. This budget should be specific to money left over in your main budget that can be spent on your new home.

If you don't have a main budget stop what you're doing and make one right now. 

We looked at our budget and found ways to take spending from other categories to add to our miscellaneous category for the first few months in our new place. This way we knew the exact amount of spending we could do every month without taking away from other, more important areas.

With some creative thinking and a significant slash to our going-out-to-eat spending, we ended up with $1200 left over for the first month in our new place and $400 for the next two months. This ended up being more than enough to cover our additional spending.

Make A List

Furnishing a home can be tricky because there's a fine line between your wants and needs. That's why the first step in any big process is to sit down and make a list.

We wrote down everything we could possibly need and even a list of things we would want. Anything that would improve our time indoors made the list.

Then we took it a step further and divided the list into Like it, Love it, Gotta Have it. This way we could make some items a priority in our spending budget.

Remember your list should be based on your household wants and needs. It doesn't matter what we think, but what you feel are your wants and needs.

We first bought the items on our Gotta Have it list and only moved to the next if there was money remaining. This helped ensure the money was being well spent without going into debt.

Here's a quick snippet to show what we mean.

Gotta Have It	Couch	Kitchen Table
Love It	Ottoman	Rugs
Like It	Throw Blankets	Candles

Shop at Thrift Stores

We love a good thrift store so it's always the first stop on our shopping trips. Thrifting is one of our favorite ways to not only save money but to be more eco-friendly.

Thrift stores can save you hundreds when filling up an empty apartment. We found a two-dollar side table and a super nice kitchen table and chairs for 50 bucks.

If you are thrifting keep in mind you will have to patient and it may take several trips to find what you are looking for. You might even have to compromise a bit of color or look of certain items.

We're not saying everything you buy has to come from a second-hand store but it should at least be a starting point.

The other nice thing about thrifting is that you can focus on buying what you need. We didn't want to buy a 24-piece dinnerware set for two people.

At the thrift store, we found plates and bowls sold separately. This way we only bought what we needed saving money and space.

Price Compare

Make sure you take the time to do a little bit of price comparing. Even if it only saves you a few dollars, those dollars can add up.

We price compared everything and since we already had our list of items in a spreadsheet it was easy to add in values. This way we knew the cheapest option for everything we were looking at getting.

You can go pretty deep into price comparing so be careful. We suggest checking out a general price online and then you can look at your spreadsheet when shopping in person at stores.

Re-Purpose Items

Re-purposing can be a DIY project or it can simply mean using something for an out of the box reason. It may be your thrift store finds or it might be something you already own.

Sometimes it's not even that out of the box thinking but it can save a few dollars here and there.

While looking for a TV stand the only stable options were over $200. Then we decided to look for desks and found several options under 100 bucks that worked perfectly.

We also found bookshelves are way cheaper than dressers. So in our minimalist closet, we used a small bookshelf with some baskets for clothing storage at half the cost.

For our drinking glasses, we cleaned out glass jars from our groceries like coconut oil and salsa. It gets the job done and didn't cost us anything extra.

Buy a Futon

Futons are no longer the couch of college students. Couches are expensive and futons do the same job but for half the price.

Plus with a futon, you get a couch and another bed. Not the most comfortable bed but it's still a bed.

We do need to share some great advice from our friend Kelly that changed our lives. She said if we do buy a futon we need armrests.

Armrests may not seem like a necessity but they are. The common futon does not have armrests so keep searching until you find one that does.

We found this futon on amazon that was a perfect fit because it not only has armrests but looks like a normal couch.

Buy A Mattress in a Box

If you're new to the adulting world you'll be very shocked to learn that mattresses cost an arm and leg these days. It's so much money!

We get it, it's where you sleep every night so it makes sense to drop some dollars but you don't need to go too wild. We found a king mattress that comes in a box from Amazon that was only $300 but feels like any other mattress.

There are several websites that also sell boxed mattresses with great reviews for half the cost of what's sold in the stores. It's also helpful that the mattress comes in a compact box delivered to your door.

Grow Small Plants

The only decoration we purchased was a few houseplants. Why? Because Kelsey wanted them.

Kelsey did want them but that's not the only reason why plants made the final cut. It's because they are a cheap decoration that adds to your aesthetic while also helping the air quality of your home.

Plants can be pricey but if you buy them small and take the time to grow them, you can save a lot of money. We only bought cheap terracotta pots and small succulents under three dollars.

Already in three months, our plants are twice the size and cost very little in upkeep. It's been a great way to decorate but on a budget.

If you are furnishing a home on a budget then use these tips to save money without too much sacrifice. You can still have a nice looking space without breaking the bank.

We love our minimalist apartment and we love even more that there was no financial stress in the process of making it our own.