Costs involved with setting up your first home after you purchase the home

daheff · 25-09-2020 9:34am

One thing to make sure you get done first after appliances is to tile your shower

Gael23 · 25-09-2020 11:16am

iamwhoiam wrote: »

When my daughter and family were buying a new house I bought a big washing basket .Every week while shopping I bought something .Cloths , brushes, soap, dettol, floor wipes, washing powder , shampoo, salt, sugar, toilet roll, fairy liquid, etc etc .The basket was over flowing .
I did this for months and the day they moved in I gave it to them and they said it was the best present ever !!
Maybe anyone preparing to move could do this for themselves

I ding I only need a few different cleaning products but I do have a couple of different types of cloths

Maz2016 · 25-09-2020 11:40am

iamwhoiam wrote: »

When my daughter and family were buying a new house I bought a big washing basket .Every week while shopping I bought something .Cloths , brushes, soap, dettol, floor wipes, washing powder , shampoo, salt, sugar, toilet roll, fairy liquid, etc etc .The basket was over flowing .
I did this for months and the day they moved in I gave it to them and they said it was the best present ever !!
Maybe anyone preparing to move could do this for themselves

What a great idea

ebayissues · 30-09-2020 3:16pm

Ha most people talk about 7k for solocitor and stamp duty but you need an extra bob..minimum 5kish tbh. couch, bed, appliances, cleaning products,curtain, lawnmower.

jrosen · 30-09-2020 3:43pm

I have just added off the top of my head what we have spent. At the moment we are hitting about 13k

Granted new build but that only covers floors and carpets, blinds dining furniture and one couch. Then general kettles/microwave/washing machine/some crockery and cutlery. We had alot of that before we moved and also had all our own beds etc. All other kitchen appliances came with the house.

We have another 1k soon for additional tiling in all bathrooms. To fit out the living room with couch/flooring/some built in units we have a rough cost of 9k. We still dont have any light fittings and no decor whatsoever.

Gael23 · 30-09-2020 4:06pm

ebayissues wrote: »

Ha most people talk about 7k for solocitor and stamp duty but you need an extra bob..minimum 5kish tbh. couch, bed, appliances, cleaning products,curtain, lawnmower.

Sometimes Dunnes have offers on cleaning stuff so I stock up then. Last time I got 2 bottles of bleach, couple of kitchen and bathroom sprays and a bottle of cream cleaner all for €10

Padkir · 30-09-2020 5:01pm

I'd be pretty organised on stuff like this, and I like excel, so I kept a pretty detailed tracker when we were buying a couple of years ago. Not sure how the formatting will copy since I'm copying from excel, so apologies if it's all over the place!

Legal fees:
Stamp duty
Solicitor's fees
Land registry and searches
Building survey
Valuation fees

It's 1% for stamp duty and then approximately another 1% for everything else combined.

Furnishing and other costs:
We listed every room in the house and all the items we thought we would need to buy for each of them and allocated a rough budget. For the likes of the kitchen, there was so much small stuff, it wasn't even about the budgeting, just a way of reminding ourselves of everything we needed!

The below totals about €21k. Ended up being not far off what we had budgeted. Forgot some stuff, decided we didn't need others, some cost more than expected, some less, etc. but it generally evened out. We also noted the items that weren't urgent and didn't buy those right away until we were sure we had the money; probably had everything on this list sorted within 6-9 months of moving in.

General
Arrange professional cleaning €250
Arrange moving in date and book van €150
Change door locks once keys received €300
Get chimney swept €70
Get smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm €50
Get boiler serviced and new timer fitted €150
Lawnmower €350
Ladder €100
Robovac €300

Master bedroom
King bed €300
Mattress €700
Duvet, pillows * 2 and mattress protector €120
Fitted king sheets * 2 €50
Sliding wardrobes €1,500
Chest of drawers €500
Bedside lockers * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Curtains * 2 €300
Repair walls and paint room €250
Light fitting €100

Master bedroom en-suite
Shelves/freestanding unit for storage €50
Bin €10
Towel rails (1 for hand towel; 1 for bath towel) €30

Bedroom 2
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Wardrobe and chest of drawers €400
Curtains * 2 €300

Bedroom 3 (downstairs)
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Light fitting €100

Bedroom 4 / fun room
Sliding wardrobes €2,200
Light fitting €75

Home office
Desk * 2 €300
Chair * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Monitor * 2 €240
Keyboard * 2 €30
Rug * 2 €100

Main bathroom (upstairs)
Hand towel rail €15
Bin €10

Hall (upstairs)
Repair walls and paint room €300

Bathroom (downstairs)
Bin €10

Utility room
Washer €350
Dryer €450
Hand towel rail €15

Kitchen/dining room
Table and 6 chairs €1,000
Curtains (dining room) €200
Blinds (kitchen & patio door) €200
Fridge freezer €850
Oven €600
Hob & extractor €500
Microwave €150
Kettle €40
Toaster €40
Dishwasher €200
Bins €20
Crockery set €100
Tea/coffee holders €18
Large bowls €20
Cutlery set €30
Mug tree and mugs €50
Glasses €50
Salt and pepper shaker €15
Sugar bowl €10
Chopping board €10
Spice rack €10
Kitchen roll holder €5
Baking set €50
Teapot €30
Utensil holder and tongs, spoons, ladle €15
Apron €11
Oven mitts €5
Silicon mat (for hot pots/pans) €10
Mat (inside patio doors) €15
Knife sharpener €10
Steamer €25
Dish drainer €10
Mop and bucket €10
Brush €7
Ironing board €50
Dining room console table €200

Living room
Large two seater sofa €700
Two seater sofa €600
TV €500
TV stand €100
Lamp €50
Side table * 2 €120
Rug €75
Cushion * 6 €60
Coal/turf storage €30
Fireplace accessories (including ashes bucket) €40
Curtains * 2 €300
Art commissioning €100
Repair walls and paint room €250

Hall (downstairs)
Table €100
Mirror €100
Welcome mat €20
Sideboard for under stairs €350
Repair walls and paint room €300

Pivot Eoin · 30-09-2020 5:27pm

Padkir wrote: »

I'd be pretty organised on stuff like this, and I like excel, so I kept a pretty detailed tracker when we were buying a couple of years ago. Not sure how the formatting will copy since I'm copying from excel, so apologies if it's all over the place!

Legal fees:
Stamp duty
Solicitor's fees
Land registry and searches
Building survey
Valuation fees

It's 1% for stamp duty and then approximately another 1% for everything else combined.

Furnishing and other costs:
We listed every room in the house and all the items we thought we would need to buy for each of them and allocated a rough budget. For the likes of the kitchen, there was so much small stuff, it wasn't even about the budgeting, just a way of reminding ourselves of everything we needed!

The below totals about €21k. Ended up being not far off what we had budgeted. Forgot some stuff, decided we didn't need others, some cost more than expected, some less, etc. but it generally evened out. We also noted the items that weren't urgent and didn't buy those right away until we were sure we had the money; probably had everything on this list sorted within 6-9 months of moving in.

General
Arrange professional cleaning €250
Arrange moving in date and book van €150
Change door locks once keys received €300
Get chimney swept €70
Get smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm €50
Get boiler serviced and new timer fitted €150
Lawnmower €350
Ladder €100
Robovac €300

Master bedroom
King bed €300
Mattress €700
Duvet, pillows * 2 and mattress protector €120
Fitted king sheets * 2 €50
Sliding wardrobes €1,500
Chest of drawers €500
Bedside lockers * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Curtains * 2 €300
Repair walls and paint room €250
Light fitting €100

Master bedroom en-suite
Shelves/freestanding unit for storage €50
Bin €10
Towel rails (1 for hand towel; 1 for bath towel) €30

Bedroom 2
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Wardrobe and chest of drawers €400
Curtains * 2 €300

Bedroom 3 (downstairs)
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Light fitting €100

Bedroom 4 / fun room
Sliding wardrobes €2,200
Light fitting €75

Home office
Desk * 2 €300
Chair * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Monitor * 2 €240
Keyboard * 2 €30
Rug * 2 €100

Main bathroom (upstairs)
Hand towel rail €15
Bin €10

Hall (upstairs)
Repair walls and paint room €300

Bathroom (downstairs)
Bin €10

Utility room
Washer €350
Dryer €450
Hand towel rail €15

Kitchen/dining room
Table and 6 chairs €1,000
Curtains (dining room) €200
Blinds (kitchen & patio door) €200
Fridge freezer €850
Oven €600
Hob & extractor €500
Microwave €150
Kettle €40
Toaster €40
Dishwasher €200
Bins €20
Crockery set €100
Tea/coffee holders €18
Large bowls €20
Cutlery set €30
Mug tree and mugs €50
Glasses €50
Salt and pepper shaker €15
Sugar bowl €10
Chopping board €10
Spice rack €10
Kitchen roll holder €5
Baking set €50
Teapot €30
Utensil holder and tongs, spoons, ladle €15
Apron €11
Oven mitts €5
Silicon mat (for hot pots/pans) €10
Mat (inside patio doors) €15
Knife sharpener €10
Steamer €25
Dish drainer €10
Mop and bucket €10
Brush €7
Ironing board €50
Dining room console table €200

Living room
Large two seater sofa €700
Two seater sofa €600
TV €500
TV stand €100
Lamp €50
Side table * 2 €120
Rug €75
Cushion * 6 €60
Coal/turf storage €30
Fireplace accessories (including ashes bucket) €40
Curtains * 2 €300
Art commissioning €100
Repair walls and paint room €250

Hall (downstairs)
Table €100
Mirror €100
Welcome mat €20
Sideboard for under stairs €350
Repair walls and paint room €300

Great List thanks.

Side Note, Your Curtain supplier obviously had his curtains open, because he definitely saw you coming the prices listed above!

Creamy Goodness · 30-09-2020 5:42pm

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Side Note, Your Curtain supplier obviously had his curtains open, because he definitely saw you coming the prices listed above!

€300 for made to measure curtains of decent quality is quite reasonable (assuming they're made to measure).

SozBbz · 30-09-2020 6:31pm

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Great List thanks.

Side Note, Your Curtain supplier obviously had his curtains open, because he definitely saw you coming the prices listed above!

Seriously? €300 for made to measure curtains is cheap!

I do have a friend who was quoted something like €14k for curtains for her whole house (which obviously she did not go with) which is expensive, and a far cry from €300.

By all means do list the suppliers who do made to measure for less than €300!

bobbyy gee · 30-09-2020 6:33pm

I spent 100k on mine

L1011 · 30-09-2020 6:36pm

bobbyy gee wrote: »

I spent 100k on mine

On?

jlm29 · 30-09-2020 7:03pm

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Great List thanks.

Side Note, Your Curtain supplier obviously had his curtains open, because he definitely saw you coming the prices listed above!

I wouldn’t think it’s dear at all, and since they don’t mention poles I’d say it could be supply and fit, so it’s actually quite cheap.

givyjoe · 30-09-2020 7:36pm

L1011 wrote: »

On?

Another house!

into_the_wild · 30-09-2020 10:47pm

Any particular brands recommended for kitchen appliances?
I've heard Miele is pretty good but a bit on the expensive side.

Spanish Eyes · 30-09-2020 11:04pm

Ah just buy the basics for now. We all did that back in the day.

I lived on a spongy sofa thing with a discarded bamboo three piece on the side for a year or so donated by my family who wanted to get rid. And then my aunt won a gangload of peat briquettes through some milk delivery promotion and donated them to me. They had to go into the tiny front room. The only peat storage with a carpet LOL. But saved me a mint as I had a solid fuel (think open fire) back boiler back then.

I survived with second hand this and that, and interest free credit for the bigger ticket items like electrical.

I don't think things have improved much now, joking, course they have but am still of the view that you buy what you can afford NOW and luxury is muck to other people.

Gael23 · 30-09-2020 11:04pm

into_the_wild wrote: »

Any particular brands recommended for kitchen appliances?
I've heard Miele is pretty good but a bit on the expensive side.

Miele is the top of the range which is fine if you are willing and able to spend that sort of money.
For a washing machine and dryer I’d go with Bosch or Samsung if you want middle of the road.
Dishwashers you can’t go too far wrong. Go Miele or Neff if you want high quality, other than that I’d look at Bosh/Siemens or maybe Whirlpool
Cooker depends what type you have. Belling used to be the top pick but not so any longer apparently. I’d look maybe Electrolux or Zanussi
Fridge Freezer, again you can’t go too far wrong depending on your budget. I’d stay away from the like of Beko and that but otherwise whatever you can afford

Padkir · 30-09-2020 11:04pm

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Great List thanks.

Side Note, Your Curtain supplier obviously had his curtains open, because he definitely saw you coming the prices listed above!

I think for most rooms we got them a lot cheaper (we had no idea of the cost of them having never bought curtains before then). But then one or two rooms where we got thermal blackout curtains they were a bit dearer so it all evened out in the end.

01-10-2020 2:07pm

Sleepy wrote: »

If your new property has a utility / laundry room remember that no-one is likely to be looking at your washing machine / dryer. You can pick up refurbished units on adverts for €100 or so that you'll get a few years out of. When we bought, I picked up a washer dryer for €50 from a chap moving out of a nearby apartment that lasted us over 3 years - pretty much the life expectancy of any of the budget priced electrical stuff you'd get from the major stores. Aside from a few notable exceptions (which you can discern from the price-tag on them e.g. Miele) most branding on electrical goods is meaningless: a lot of the "quality" brands you remember from your childhood have been bought and sold multiple times and often it's literally only the brand-name itself that's been bought, the vast majority of this stuff is made as cheaply as possible in order to be sold as cheaply as possible and designed to only last 3 to 5 years (just beyond the warranty basically). The days of a fridge or a washing machine lasting 25 years are long gone unless you're spending really top money.

This can be a false economy, even buying new budget brands they can use significantly more energy than the higher end appliances. For something like a dryer if its running every day or a few time a week minimum you could be using a lot more electricity. It can easily be calculated if (if you have details on the energy rating on something second hand)

Personally buying this type of stuff second hand would not be a route I would even consider.

Canyon86 · 01-10-2020 2:16pm

Padkir wrote: »

I'd be pretty organised on stuff like this, and I like excel, so I kept a pretty detailed tracker when we were buying a couple of years ago. Not sure how the formatting will copy since I'm copying from excel, so apologies if it's all over the place!

Legal fees:
Stamp duty
Solicitor's fees
Land registry and searches
Building survey
Valuation fees

It's 1% for stamp duty and then approximately another 1% for everything else combined.

Furnishing and other costs:
We listed every room in the house and all the items we thought we would need to buy for each of them and allocated a rough budget. For the likes of the kitchen, there was so much small stuff, it wasn't even about the budgeting, just a way of reminding ourselves of everything we needed!

The below totals about €21k. Ended up being not far off what we had budgeted. Forgot some stuff, decided we didn't need others, some cost more than expected, some less, etc. but it generally evened out. We also noted the items that weren't urgent and didn't buy those right away until we were sure we had the money; probably had everything on this list sorted within 6-9 months of moving in.

General
Arrange professional cleaning €250
Arrange moving in date and book van €150
Change door locks once keys received €300
Get chimney swept €70
Get smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm €50
Get boiler serviced and new timer fitted €150
Lawnmower €350
Ladder €100
Robovac €300

Master bedroom
King bed €300
Mattress €700
Duvet, pillows * 2 and mattress protector €120
Fitted king sheets * 2 €50
Sliding wardrobes €1,500
Chest of drawers €500
Bedside lockers * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Curtains * 2 €300
Repair walls and paint room €250
Light fitting €100

Master bedroom en-suite
Shelves/freestanding unit for storage €50
Bin €10
Towel rails (1 for hand towel; 1 for bath towel) €30

Bedroom 2
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Wardrobe and chest of drawers €400
Curtains * 2 €300

Bedroom 3 (downstairs)
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Light fitting €100

Bedroom 4 / fun room
Sliding wardrobes €2,200
Light fitting €75

Home office
Desk * 2 €300
Chair * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Monitor * 2 €240
Keyboard * 2 €30
Rug * 2 €100

Main bathroom (upstairs)
Hand towel rail €15
Bin €10

Hall (upstairs)
Repair walls and paint room €300

Bathroom (downstairs)
Bin €10

Utility room
Washer €350
Dryer €450
Hand towel rail €15

Kitchen/dining room
Table and 6 chairs €1,000
Curtains (dining room) €200
Blinds (kitchen & patio door) €200
Fridge freezer €850
Oven €600
Hob & extractor €500
Microwave €150
Kettle €40
Toaster €40
Dishwasher €200
Bins €20
Crockery set €100
Tea/coffee holders €18
Large bowls €20
Cutlery set €30
Mug tree and mugs €50
Glasses €50
Salt and pepper shaker €15
Sugar bowl €10
Chopping board €10
Spice rack €10
Kitchen roll holder €5
Baking set €50
Teapot €30
Utensil holder and tongs, spoons, ladle €15
Apron €11
Oven mitts €5
Silicon mat (for hot pots/pans) €10
Mat (inside patio doors) €15
Knife sharpener €10
Steamer €25
Dish drainer €10
Mop and bucket €10
Brush €7
Ironing board €50
Dining room console table €200

Living room
Large two seater sofa €700
Two seater sofa €600
TV €500
TV stand €100
Lamp €50
Side table * 2 €120
Rug €75
Cushion * 6 €60
Coal/turf storage €30
Fireplace accessories (including ashes bucket) €40
Curtains * 2 €300
Art commissioning €100
Repair walls and paint room €250

Hall (downstairs)
Table €100
Mirror €100
Welcome mat €20
Sideboard for under stairs €350
Repair walls and paint room €300

Thank you for this detailed list!

brisan · 01-10-2020 6:08pm

Padkir wrote: »

I'd be pretty organised on stuff like this, and I like excel, so I kept a pretty detailed tracker when we were buying a couple of years ago. Not sure how the formatting will copy since I'm copying from excel, so apologies if it's all over the place!

Legal fees:
Stamp duty
Solicitor's fees
Land registry and searches
Building survey
Valuation fees

It's 1% for stamp duty and then approximately another 1% for everything else combined.

Furnishing and other costs:
We listed every room in the house and all the items we thought we would need to buy for each of them and allocated a rough budget. For the likes of the kitchen, there was so much small stuff, it wasn't even about the budgeting, just a way of reminding ourselves of everything we needed!

The below totals about €21k. Ended up being not far off what we had budgeted. Forgot some stuff, decided we didn't need others, some cost more than expected, some less, etc. but it generally evened out. We also noted the items that weren't urgent and didn't buy those right away until we were sure we had the money; probably had everything on this list sorted within 6-9 months of moving in.

General
Arrange professional cleaning €250
Arrange moving in date and book van €150
Change door locks once keys received €300
Get chimney swept €70
Get smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm €50
Get boiler serviced and new timer fitted €150
Lawnmower €350
Ladder €100
Robovac €300

Master bedroom
King bed €300
Mattress €700
Duvet, pillows * 2 and mattress protector €120
Fitted king sheets * 2 €50
Sliding wardrobes €1,500
Chest of drawers €500
Bedside lockers * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Curtains * 2 €300
Repair walls and paint room €250
Light fitting €100

Master bedroom en-suite
Shelves/freestanding unit for storage €50
Bin €10
Towel rails (1 for hand towel; 1 for bath towel) €30

Bedroom 2
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Wardrobe and chest of drawers €400
Curtains * 2 €300

Bedroom 3 (downstairs)
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Light fitting €100

Bedroom 4 / fun room
Sliding wardrobes €2,200
Light fitting €75

Home office
Desk * 2 €300
Chair * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Monitor * 2 €240
Keyboard * 2 €30
Rug * 2 €100

Main bathroom (upstairs)
Hand towel rail €15
Bin €10

Hall (upstairs)
Repair walls and paint room €300

Bathroom (downstairs)
Bin €10

Utility room
Washer €350
Dryer €450
Hand towel rail €15

Kitchen/dining room
Table and 6 chairs €1,000
Curtains (dining room) €200
Blinds (kitchen & patio door) €200
Fridge freezer €850
Oven €600
Hob & extractor €500
Microwave €150
Kettle €40
Toaster €40
Dishwasher €200
Bins €20
Crockery set €100
Tea/coffee holders €18
Large bowls €20
Cutlery set €30
Mug tree and mugs €50
Glasses €50
Salt and pepper shaker €15
Sugar bowl €10
Chopping board €10
Spice rack €10
Kitchen roll holder €5
Baking set €50
Teapot €30
Utensil holder and tongs, spoons, ladle €15
Apron €11
Oven mitts €5
Silicon mat (for hot pots/pans) €10
Mat (inside patio doors) €15
Knife sharpener €10
Steamer €25
Dish drainer €10
Mop and bucket €10
Brush €7
Ironing board €50
Dining room console table €200

Living room
Large two seater sofa €700
Two seater sofa €600
TV €500
TV stand €100
Lamp €50
Side table * 2 €120
Rug €75
Cushion * 6 €60
Coal/turf storage €30
Fireplace accessories (including ashes bucket) €40
Curtains * 2 €300
Art commissioning €100
Repair walls and paint room €250

Hall (downstairs)
Table €100
Mirror €100
Welcome mat €20
Sideboard for under stairs €350
Repair walls and paint room €300

Each to their own and that's a fairly detailed list
Can I ask one question out of genuine interest
You spent 1000 euro on your main bed and mattress
Yet you spent the same on a dining room set and 1300 euro on 2 sofas
Was there any reason for this as I would have spent more than double that on the bed and got by with a cheap dining room table and chairs and sofa

Padkir · 01-10-2020 7:08pm

brisan wrote: »

Each to their own and that's a fairly detailed list
Can I ask one question out of genuine interest
You spent 1000 euro on your main bed and mattress
Yet you spent the same on a dining room set and 1300 euro on 2 sofas
Was there any reason for this as I would have spent more than double that on the bed and got by with a cheap dining room table and chairs and sofa

We spent 750 on a fancy foam mattress (sleepeve), which is fantastic quality. The frame was a pretty cheap one (about 250) which we thought would be fine given the mattress was the key part. That actually turned out to be a false economy as we had to change the frame after 2 years because it was so creaky and not solid enough. So in hindsight we should have spent another 150 or 200 on a better frame, but would buy the same mattress again in the morning.

Our table and chairs set was a bit of a splurge (we actually spent about 1300 quid) but it's a fantastic quality solid oak set from EZ Living which honestly is going to last a very long time if we look after it, plus it's gorgeous to look at so happy to have spent the money.

Same with the sofas, they ended up costing about 1600 in total I think, but again they are good quality fabric recliners and are still like new.

Things like that which we are using all the time are worth getting good quality - we made this back cheaping out on stuff that doesn't matter as much.

into_the_wild · 01-10-2020 9:15pm

Guys I'm a bit undecided on mattresses. So basically there are these pocket spring types (king koil, silent night etc) and then there are these memory foam ones. Any idea which one's better. King koils are more expensive but I always thought that life of a coil mattress would be lesser than a memory foam one. Am I wrong?

L1011 · 01-10-2020 9:28pm

Some people (OK, it may just be me!) find memory foam intolerable to sleep on. They also stink like hell for the first while, even if you do all the off-gassing procedures recommended.

They have similar lifespans if not slightly shorter for memory foam, as the foam eventually breaks down

As for springs, there are two main types - box spring and pocket spring - but there are better engineered box spring units available that claim to have the resilience of pocket sping.... which is impossible for an end user to verify of course.

Beds and sofas are both hideously overpriced and also absolute cases of buy cheap buy twice. Avoid "PU Leather/Bonded Leather" on everything including bed headboards, it'll fail and crack and fall off the fabric backing. This is sold as real leather, and it is true that it has some cow in it, but its basically plastic and fabric.

wench · 01-10-2020 9:29pm

L1011 wrote: »

Some people (OK, it may just be me!) find memory foam intolerable to sleep on.

Not just you!
I can't stand them, too warm and feels like sleeping on marshmallow.

Gael23 · 01-10-2020 9:45pm

wench wrote: »

Not just you!
I can't stand them, too warm and feels like sleeping on marshmallow.

Yes not in a mattress. Memory foam pillows are nice though

Darc19 · 01-10-2020 10:34pm

Most important rule

Never ever believe "half price" sales or worse still, "after event" price.

Avoid shops that advertise very heavily on TV - YOU are paying for those adverts.

Ikea are decent for basic furniture, also decent mattresses.

Crap sheets and duvet covers though.

Michael Murphy and ez living are decent for furniture.

Also there are several places that sell slightly damaged / shop soiled goods.

Dfs are best avoided as are Currys for electricals (appalling service records)

brisan · 02-10-2020 7:44am

into_the_wild wrote: »

Guys I'm a bit undecided on mattresses. So basically there are these pocket spring types (king koil, silent night etc) and then there are these memory foam ones. Any idea which one's better. King koils are more expensive but I always thought that life of a coil mattress would be lesser than a memory foam one. Am I wrong?

I am 60 and married for 38 years ,and one thing I have learned is to spend good money on shoes and a mattress
You spend 16 hrs in one and 8 in the other
Spending cheap on a mattress is false economy
The benefits of a good nights sleep on every aspect of your life from work to social to sex your general mood cannot be underestimated
I would recommend spending at least 2k (RRP ) on a mattress and 800-1000 min on a frame
There are regular sales in all the major stores
King Coil and Silentnight are good brands ,and I would avoid those roll up mattresses
You will regret spending cheap on a good nights sleep

Maz2016 · 03-10-2020 7:58pm

Padkir wrote: »

I'd be pretty organised on stuff like this, and I like excel, so I kept a pretty detailed tracker when we were buying a couple of years ago. Not sure how the formatting will copy since I'm copying from excel, so apologies if it's all over the place!

Legal fees:
Stamp duty
Solicitor's fees
Land registry and searches
Building survey
Valuation fees

It's 1% for stamp duty and then approximately another 1% for everything else combined.

Furnishing and other costs:
We listed every room in the house and all the items we thought we would need to buy for each of them and allocated a rough budget. For the likes of the kitchen, there was so much small stuff, it wasn't even about the budgeting, just a way of reminding ourselves of everything we needed!

The below totals about €21k. Ended up being not far off what we had budgeted. Forgot some stuff, decided we didn't need others, some cost more than expected, some less, etc. but it generally evened out. We also noted the items that weren't urgent and didn't buy those right away until we were sure we had the money; probably had everything on this list sorted within 6-9 months of moving in.

General
Arrange professional cleaning €250
Arrange moving in date and book van €150
Change door locks once keys received €300
Get chimney swept €70
Get smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm €50
Get boiler serviced and new timer fitted €150
Lawnmower €350
Ladder €100
Robovac €300

Master bedroom
King bed €300
Mattress €700
Duvet, pillows * 2 and mattress protector €120
Fitted king sheets * 2 €50
Sliding wardrobes €1,500
Chest of drawers €500
Bedside lockers * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Curtains * 2 €300
Repair walls and paint room €250
Light fitting €100

Master bedroom en-suite
Shelves/freestanding unit for storage €50
Bin €10
Towel rails (1 for hand towel; 1 for bath towel) €30

Bedroom 2
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Wardrobe and chest of drawers €400
Curtains * 2 €300

Bedroom 3 (downstairs)
Double bed €250
Mattress €250
Bedside lockers * 2 €200
Lamp €25
Light fitting €100

Bedroom 4 / fun room
Sliding wardrobes €2,200
Light fitting €75

Home office
Desk * 2 €300
Chair * 2 €300
Lamp * 2 €50
Monitor * 2 €240
Keyboard * 2 €30
Rug * 2 €100

Main bathroom (upstairs)
Hand towel rail €15
Bin €10

Hall (upstairs)
Repair walls and paint room €300

Bathroom (downstairs)
Bin €10

Utility room
Washer €350
Dryer €450
Hand towel rail €15

Kitchen/dining room
Table and 6 chairs €1,000
Curtains (dining room) €200
Blinds (kitchen & patio door) €200
Fridge freezer €850
Oven €600
Hob & extractor €500
Microwave €150
Kettle €40
Toaster €40
Dishwasher €200
Bins €20
Crockery set €100
Tea/coffee holders €18
Large bowls €20
Cutlery set €30
Mug tree and mugs €50
Glasses €50
Salt and pepper shaker €15
Sugar bowl €10
Chopping board €10
Spice rack €10
Kitchen roll holder €5
Baking set €50
Teapot €30
Utensil holder and tongs, spoons, ladle €15
Apron €11
Oven mitts €5
Silicon mat (for hot pots/pans) €10
Mat (inside patio doors) €15
Knife sharpener €10
Steamer €25
Dish drainer €10
Mop and bucket €10
Brush €7
Ironing board €50
Dining room console table €200

Living room
Large two seater sofa €700
Two seater sofa €600
TV €500
TV stand €100
Lamp €50
Side table * 2 €120
Rug €75
Cushion * 6 €60
Coal/turf storage €30
Fireplace accessories (including ashes bucket) €40
Curtains * 2 €300
Art commissioning €100
Repair walls and paint room €250

Hall (downstairs)
Table €100
Mirror €100
Welcome mat €20
Sideboard for under stairs €350
Repair walls and paint room €300

This is absolutely brilliant, thank you

Newhomebuyer · 28-10-2020 9:30am

krissovo wrote: »

It might sound crazy but I found by hiring a interior designer I saved a small fortune in the overall costs of kitting out the home and it looked awesome after it was finished. Our's got deals on almost everything and easily paid her fee twice over with the savings.

My daughter when moving into her first flat a couple of years ago used a junior designer and did it on a very tight budget.

Hi can you recommend a name who did your interiors

Maz2016 · 28-10-2020 4:01pm

krissovo wrote: »

It might sound crazy but I found by hiring a interior designer I saved a small fortune in the overall costs of kitting out the home and it looked awesome after it was finished. Our's got deals on almost everything and easily paid her fee twice over with the savings.

My daughter when moving into her first flat a couple of years ago used a junior designer and did it on a very tight budget.

This is great advice. I only saw it a few weeks ago. Friends of mine built a house. They hired a junior designer and she made so many changes / suggestions to what they weee going to do. They said hiring her was the best thing they did.

SantaClaw · 28-10-2020 5:07pm

brisan wrote: »

I would recommend spending at least 2k (RRP ) on a mattress and 800-1000 min on a frame

You will regret spending cheap on a good nights sleep

I think that is a case of it depends

I have a sturdy metal frame that was about 150 and a decent memory foam mattress that was about 250 and I have never slept better before.

Sleep is something very personal and for one person spending 3k might be totally worth it but someone else might have slept as well spending a fraction of that.

sparkle109 · 29-10-2020 7:30pm

Do you have any recommendations?

Maz2016 wrote: »

This is great advice. I only saw it a few weeks ago. Friends of mine built a house. They hired a junior designer and she made so many changes / suggestions to what they weee going to do. They said hiring her was the best thing they did.

Costs involved with setting up your first home after you purchase the home

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