The day has finally arrived, you are moving into your new home, and the last thing on your mind is how to save money moving.  You spend the day unloading boxes into their appropriate rooms, waiting to be unpacked the next day.  You take a moment to look around and admire your new home.  It is essentially a blank canvas waiting for you to put your beautiful and unique style on it.  You drift off to sleep that night with your mind swimming in the amazing, Pinterest-inspired ideas of what this home will be.

Morning comes and you are so excited to start unpacking and make this home your own.  After a few boxes, you start to notice everything that was acceptable in your old home looks oddly out of place in your new home.  This is not what you had imagined when you envisioned what your new home would look like.  Suddenly you are starting a mental list of everything you need to get: furniture, curtains, bedding, dog….wait, dog?  You think, “I guess we can adjust to having a Golden Retriever in this house (even though it is more French Bulldog if I’m being honest).”

Ever been here?  I know I have way too many times, and every time, I have to give myself a budget reality check before I do something really silly.  Just because you bought a new house, does not mean you need all new stuff.  I repeat a new house does not equal needing new stuff.

It can be so tempting to go out and get new things to match that shiny new home but trust me, you will regret it when you see what it does to your bank account.  If you want to purchase new stuff, give yourself some time in the new home before you commit to new items.  Make sure you are saving for what you want and paying cash for it.  Always.

Make sure you steer clear of these 7 things after you move into your new home.  If you don’t, you could easily spend anywhere from $1,000-$3,000 you hadn’t planned on.

Use our FREE Worksheet to come up with a plan to reuse items for your new home!  Gain instant access by signing up below!

1.  Furniture

Your new home may have additional bedrooms or an office space you didn’t have before.  Leave the spaces empty if you need to. You do not have to immediately fill every space with furniture the day you move in.

Take some time to figure out paint colors and how you want your new home to feel.  Shop around and save up for new furniture.  This could take anywhere from one month to one year.  There is no rush to filling your space.  If you take your time, you will love your new stuff that much more after you pay cash for it.

2.  Blinds & Curtains

This can be a tough one to not purchase right away.  I am a privacy freak and could not stand the thought of people seeing into our windows at night (I have seen way too many Lifetime movies).

Instead of spending your money on new blinds immediately, use old bed sheets to hang up temporarily.  Is this going to look super pretty? No. Is this functional? Absolutely.  This will get the job done to buy you some time to save for blinds and/or curtains.

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3.  Wastebaskets

This one may be hard for you, but this will save you anywhere from $50-$100 pending how many trash cans you have.  Instead of throwing away all of your trash cans, wash them and pack ‘em up for the next house.  Yes, even the kitchen trash can.

Put on some rubber gloves, tie a scarf over your face to kill the smell and scrub those trash cans!  Wash them first with dish soap, then use some bleach to sanitize.  New trash cans are not cheap and you will have plenty of other things to spend your money on during the move.

4.  Bathroom & Kitchen accessories

There are so many things in your kitchen and bathroom that you will want to get new, but again, it will cost you so much money to replace everything.

The mindset you should have when you are moving is:

If I weren’t moving, would I be buying a new one?

• Shower curtain, liner, and hooks
• hanging shower caddy,
• hand soap,
• toilet bowl brush (yes, I know this is gross to move.  Just do it),
• plunger,
• kitchen dish-drain,
• pot-holders

Pro-tip:  Have these items boxed up and easily accessible to unpack right when you move.  This will decrease the “need” to go out and buy these things.

5.  Towels

Your shiny new bathroom and kitchen will be begging for some crisp new towels and washcloths.  Fight the urge to buy these things.  Wash what you have before you move and use those until you really need new towels.

Just remind yourself if you weren’t moving, you wouldn’t be buying new towels.

6.  Bedding

Wash all of your bedding before the move so you can get all of the new rooms set up.  If you are planning to paint and go with a new design in each room, take your time!  Think about your paint colors, shop for bedding and save for it.

Use what you have until you are absolutely ready to purchase new stuff.  Moving is a great opportunity to start fresh with a new design, but give yourself permission to not have your home looking absolutely perfect right away.  There is no pressure to have a magazine ready home within the first week.

The best thing you can do is live in your home for a while before making any big decisions.  The bedding you have will be functional so continue to use it!

7.  Rugs

You do not need new rugs in your home!  Gather all of your rugs, wash the ones you can and put them in your new home where you need them.  Where you had certain rugs in your old home may not work in your new home, but that’s okay!

We have been in our new home for almost a year and I still have rugs in places that don’t match with my current decor.  Visiting company doesn’t care and I just haven’t made it a priority in our budget to buy new rugs for these areas.

Remember:  A rug is just something you walk on.  It is not an emergency to get new rugs for the appearance of things.

Easily have a plan to reuse items for your new home using our FREE House Planning Worksheet!  Get it now when you sign up below!

A new home is such an exciting thing!  Be careful to not get carried away by the expectation that everything else in your home needs to become new too.  Use the basic items you already have until you figure out exactly what you want to do and have the money saved for it.  If you aren’t careful, you could spend a ton of money on new items that you don’t really need.  Initially, the goal should be to save money moving, so you can get a jumpstart on saving for the new things you want.

The best advice I can give you to fight the urge to buy new things is:

Ask yourself,

Do you have any other things you like to avoid buying after a move?

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