Hey guys, looking to move out soon with a partner and looking for some tips on saving money. Will be moving to a 1 bedroom apartment or something to start off with. Apart from scabbing stuff from our homes what else can save us cash? Also any recommendation on a fridge/washing machine would be awesome.
Cheers
+1 for Gumtree.
You'll find a lot of what you need a very good prices. Everyone likes to upgrade and are happy to let very good condition things go at stupidly cheap prices. Always ask if they still have the receipt for bigger purchases (fridge/washer etc) as there may still be some warranty left (not to mention statutory warranty, but harder if their name is on the receipt). Stick with bigger brands - cheaper to repair, easier to get parts. I like Fisher & Paykel and Whirlpool, but there's plenty of good options. Just google the model to check there is no major complaints. Start looking now and store it if you have to so you don't rush and just panic buy something. Get a good size fridged, but you don't need a double door stainless steel with ice dispenser despite how much you think you do. It will never fit in a 1br apartment kitchen :)
Have a garage sale and sell off any junk you have - depending on how strong your relationship is, take a "swapped" role where you look through each others stuff and stick a post it on anything you think could/should be sold. This will hurt. Guarantee it will be your dirty old junk with huge sentimental value, but maybe it's time to let go of your rollerblades… A 1br apartment is good because it will constrain how much junk you can have. Also work out what duplicates of things you have and ditch it at the garage sale.
If you can't find what you need second hand, buy good quality. Yes, it will cost you more. I have a couch that I bought when I turned 20 that cost me double what I intended to spend, however it's still going strong, looks good and is incredibly comfortable. A friend who is very "thrifty" has been through 4 couches in the same 10 years and none have been as comfortable and he's now spent a lot more. I don't regret my decision now, but it was hard to stomach at the time as the amount seemed huge to a kid who'd just moved out.
Think about saving money with the apartment too. Can you go 1 suburb out further to save $50-100 a week? Are you near public transport so you can avoid driving the car? (Can you dump one of your cars - it's hard at first sharing, but huge saving here. Put the money from selling one into a house deposit). Avoid expensive lighting (dichro/halogen bulbs, heat lamps in bathroom) if you can, it adds up slowly. Same thing with electric hot water and aircon. Consider what it will cost to heat in winter depending on where you are.
Don't cheap out on insurance. If you pay for insurance for your entire life and never ever claim, it's money well spent. Ask anyone who has lost everything.
Being close to restaurants and cafes is nice, but you'll use them. Being closer to supermarkets/fruit and veg stores is a better choice as you'll find you are more inclined to cook at home than the convenience of just walking downstairs. I live right on a main shopping strip with about 30 restaurants within 2 mins walk… not doing me any favours.
Start looking for good size, sturdy boxes and save them for packing. Depending on what you have to move, I've done moves hiring a 3T truck from Thrifty, 2 blokes and a truck on Gumtree and real removalists. For the short move, the Gumtree blokes were great - extra hands makes it pretty quick and cheap. If you have friends with a ute, don't be an ass and ruin their weekend. If they offer, accept, but be realistic - nobody actually wants to give up their weekend to help you move, except maybe your Dad because he wants to get you out of the house.
Not so much financial, but more sanity:
Before you move in, work out the terms of engagement - if you are on similar incomes, keep it 50/50 and neat. I'd suggest a joint account you both pay rent into, plus extra to cover bills (ask your friends what they spend to get an idea on how much to put aside) and maybe a joint high interest savings account if you want to start saving for a deposit for a house too. Starting small helps iron out any differences in opinions before you start dumping both your salaries into one account (and having them scrutinise every purchase you make). It's also good to be clear on jobs - do you each have set jobs that you do each week to keep the house clean or do you rotate it. Don't rely on a view that you'll do things as they need to be done or you may find you're in the doghouse for not noticing things (my partner and I still have these issues after 5 years and we have a fixed job list).
Work out what annoys each other. I hate dishes being left in the sink and my partner insists on certain brands of sauce, Tim Tams etc. If you know what annoys each other, you find you pay more attention to it and it becomes habit to ensure it doesn't happen. It's all about communication.
Good luck with it all
Awesome advice man appreciate it! Anyone also have any advice on how hard it is to secure a rental place being young. We're both 21 afraid that our application as first time renters and being young will work against us. We both have stable jobs etc.
If you're in Sydney and you want a nicer place at a reasonable price, you're in for a challenge unfortunately. Anything within 10km of the city seems to get 10-30 people turn up for inspections on the weekend.
When we first moved to Sydney 2 years ago, I'd heard the horror stories and someone suggested cheating by throwing money at the problem. It worked.
I found the place we wanted and said to the agent "I badly want this property and I'm happy to pay the rent 8 weeks in advance plus the bond if the owner will review our application". The agent gave the "all applications will be assessed equally" and then called me back 30 mins after the inspection and said the owner had agreed. The real cost to this was interest foregone on the 4 weeks of rent which over would be less than $100 - totally worth it not to have to keep going to 1000 open homes and losing every weekend while searching. I repeated the same process for the next property, again, out of laziness. If you have some savings and can do this, I'd suggest giving it a crack. Worst they can say is no.
Other thing is get friendly with a few agents who specialise in the area. Have copies of all your docs ready to go when you turn up to the open home and do the application on the spot. A friend of mine used to carry a bank cheque (counter cheque) with them and offer to pay the bond or holding deposit (they'll almost certainly refuse, but it's a genuine gesture of how serious you are).
Common sense too. Dress nicely, shake the agent's hand, introduce yourself by name and your partner, ask how they're weekend has been and give them a reason to like you and favour your application over another. If someone is in the property, make a point of removing your shoes at the door - demonstrates you're a conscientious tenant and could be a point of difference that costs you 20 seconds of your day. The Agent's recommendation is often all that the owner wants - they don't care normally who you are or what you do. They just want the rent paid and the property kept in good order.
As for being first timers, everyone has to start somewhere and agents know that. A letter from your boss included to say how stable your employment is and how wonderful you are as a human being may not be required, but again, it can't hurt. You can also offer more as a bond payment, but I'd prefer to offer more as upfront rent as it means you can "use" it as you come to the end of the lease leaving you access to more money to sort things for your next move whereas bond refunds may come after you've already had to pay for your next property.
Don't neglect sites other than Realestate.com.au and Domain. Gumtree sometimes has gems for rent where someone is trying to break a lease and wants someone to take it over meaning you can often keep the lower rent they are on (or can negotiate a free week or 2) and just needs the real estate agent to approve it or you may find an investor who manages a property themselves just listing things to avoid the costs of RE.com.au/Domain.
Evaluate your spending habits and evaluate your income.Get an idea of how much living on your own would cost you. Look for apartment listings in your area.If you want, get one or several roommates. You need to consider that having roommates makes it less expensive to pay the rent but it might be harder to live (or not ! it really depends on you).Start looking for good size, sturdy boxes and save them for packing.Bookstores, A perfect place to pick up boxes specifically for free moving boxes.
For me, food and groceries is be a big part of the budget.
I plan my week's cooking and try to not cook per meal. Cook for a few meals. freeze them. I cook for one (myself) and make one pot stuff, and eat them over 3-4 meals. not necessarily consecutively. Cooking for 2, you will have a bit more flexibility. You do not need to do this constantly. Get a few DH deals once in a while.
However even with the daily $14 off $20 from DH, it can add up.
Gumtree!