Moving to a new home can be an exciting feeling, especially for your first time. The event signals that your independence, freedom, maturity, and responsibility. It will feel like starting a new chapter in life. However, you will find that the first attempt will not be your last.
You might be moving to a dorm room or an apartment near your university. At the start of your adult life, you might be renting out a home to move closer to work. You will be moving to multiple homes, but they will be temporary. If you know you are in a short-term living situation, it might not be wise to invest heavily in the life-changing event.
Fortunately, you can take advantage of these hacks to avoid financial commitments in your temporary home:
Rent Furniture
Pieces of furniture are essential to your home, regardless if it is a temporary or long-term living situation. Drawers, chairs, desks, and tables of different sizes will be necessary for a comfortable indoor lifestyle. Fortunately, you can categorize them as worthwhile investments because you can take them with you whenever you move to a more permanent living situation. However, there might be a chance when your pieces of furniture do not fit into your new home. Your designs and preferences will change, forcing you to consider buying new household items instead of reusing your existing inventory.
If you know that you are in a temporary living situation, you might want to hold off investing in pieces of furniture. Fortunately, you can find furniture rentals for your short-term home. The strategy prevents you from purchasing costly household items that you might not take with you when you decide to move to a long-term residential property. Try to go for companies that offer almost every type of furniture you need. You can even go for side tables for rentals to spice up your home decor.
Avoid Installed Household Items
Appliances will also be a critical part of your home besides furniture. You have to ensure that those electronic devices are present wherever you go. Kitchen essentials like refrigerators and ovens come into mind when thinking about a comfortable home. However, you will find that there are appliances that require installation as part of the household system. The air conditioner and furnace are some of the items you need in your home. You might have to hire professional contractors to install them, which is already a costly task. When you move to a more long-term home, you will have to hire people to take those appliances down.
It would be best to avoid built-in appliances to make moving to a new home more convenient. However, you will find that searching for a temporary house with those installed household items would be the better solution. Should you fail to rent that type of property, you can use purchase alternatives. Instead of a built-in air conditioner, you can opt for inverted or window-type models. Temporary storage spaces will be less costly and logistically convenient over an installed wardrobe. Those hacks will prevent you from worrying about professional fees for both the installation and the removal process.
Focus on Functionality for Decors
A home should reflect your lifestyle and personality, so you might want to make changes to your temporary home’s decor. Fortunately, most of those are not costly, allowing you to personalize your home. Wallpapers, decorative furniture, and artworks are available for your use. However, you have to keep in mind that you are in a temporary living situation. While those purchases might not be expensive, the list could grow to a point where your budget for them feels like you live there permanently.
Functionality should be your primary focus. Try to plan out the decorations that are essential to your everyday routine. Throw pillows, blankets, and a few portraits can go on any space. Laminating the floor might be part of your preferences, but you cannot take it with you when you move out. You can seek decors that make you feel comfortable in a temporary home but not to the point where it is inconvenient to remove them once you move away.
DIY Maintenance and Repairs
Maintenance and repairs will be necessary for every home. However, you will find that most of them require costly replacements and professional fees. It will not be wise to invest in them, especially when you find out that you have to replace the entire thing. Maintenance and repairs often lead to improvements or renovations that you might not want to add to your growing list of expenses.
Fortunately, you can DIY them. You will be moving away, so you might not have to be responsible for those things. If you live in an apartment, a superintendent might even do it for free.
You will live in multiple short-term homes before you finally settle for your ideal residential property. To avoid costly expenses you might not benefit from, try to stick with these hacks.
Bonnie is always on the road with some amazing adventures ahead. Her favorite continent is South America and she’s passionate about culture-focused traveling and ethical and sustainable tourism. During her time in university as a research assistant for a sociology professor, she realized she can’t fully understand cultures from a safe distance. She quit her job to become a full-time “voluntourist,” which brings her to places where she can immerse in local communities and support their causes. On top of writing, one of Bonnie’s priorities is offering women advice on how to stay safe while solo backpacking.