Originally Posted by rickycrx

When we bought our first house, money was really tight (it always is after putting down that huge down payment), but I also wasn't in a hurry to go into debt to "fill up the house" with furniture. We made-do with the little breakfast table and 4 chairs I had in my previous apartment as a dining table for a while (that whole set cost me less than $200 back in the day), and kept our older leather couch that I also found for a bargain way back when. You can also shop Craigslist for very lightly used furniture from people that are in a hurry to relocate and don't want to move their furniture. There are lots of very inexpensive options if you're willing to take your time and can live with having something that's not exactly "brand new."

Furniture is something that I would never consider going into debt for. I worked with a guy one time that had over $80k in credit card debt (this was back in 2001), and I asked him how the heck he managed to do that. He said he went out and bought all new oak furniture and such for his new house and other things to get settled in. Back in 2001, he was making nearly $40/hr on a contract we worked (~$83k/yr), plus his wife worked, he only had his vehicle and his wife's vehicle and their new house, and they were barely making ends meet. Obviously his is an extreme case, but it drives home that point -- it's okay to live in a semi-empty house for a while to not struggle later :-)