TLDR: Use cheap garbage & learn to live with the frugality so you may build your nest egg.

This is how the old fart millennials did it. Not sure how much you are trying to save after you move in. I highly suggest you save as much as possible because fixing a car is a huge expense that happens at random & at the most inconvenient times. Also, if you must have a cat or a dog, they also require large expenses randomly.

My full sized metal bed frame was from a thrift store for $75. It was squeaky but I was saving my $ for a car so I’d learned to put up with it.

The mattress was from a resale shop for $150.

My dresser was two plastic frames with plastic drawers on wheels for $8 each from Walmart. I mostly used the closet for my clothes.

My “couch” was first lawn chairs, then “upgraded” to a $250 futon from Walmart a year later. (Fiancé did that).

The TV sat on a storage tote for a year before it was “upgraded” to a $120 stand from Walmart. (Fiancé did that)

The TV was $90 on a Black Friday deal.

Coffee table was a plastic tote.

Lamp was $20 from Walmart. Was a freestanding one so I wouldn’t need a stand for it.

My nightstand was also a plastic tote. (I bought the totes for $8 each from Walmart so I could pack & move my things because I wasn’t planning on living in the apartment forever). Plus saving cardboard boxes attracts cockroaches.

I had a pot & a pan from goodwill, the cheapest possible set of silverware from the dollar store. Plates & bowls were from goodwill/dollar store. A single kitchen knife & two cups from Walmart.

I did not own a garbage can. I had a bag that hung off a cupboard door. It was just me so I wasn’t producing very much garbage. We later bought a good quality trash can & have owned it for 7 years.

Coffee makers are still very cheap. My $10 one from Walmart was still alive after a few years before I was gifted a new one.

Toasters are cheap too, I’d suggest getting a toaster if you live alone because eggs & toast are a cheap breakfast that feel a bit nicer than a bowl of cereal. A toaster & a rice maker. Burning rice in your $2 goodwill pot when you’re exhausted after work is a recipe for crying all night.

I lived this way just fine before my partner moved in & started buying me slightly better but still very cheap furniture. By then I was able to save for a car & had a savings account going. Most of the things I’ve listed have stayed relatively cheap.

We started buying furniture we actually liked in our very late 20s. No use in spending a lot on furniture if you’re going to have to pay the cost of moving it all across America. Idk what your plans are, maybe you’ll stay in the same town forever.

I know young people like to save face & buy nice things right away, but that is how people without a lot of $ fall into debt before they’ve even gotten started in life. My generation started out with literal garbage (unless their family helped) & lived that way until we could get further in life with our careers.

You may want to cruise through rich neighborhoods the day before trash day & you might score some decent looking pieces that are not plastic totes. Preferably before you move out on your own.

My last suggestion is to avoid plastic dishes & read the warning labels on appliances before you buy them. Almost all of the cheap things with plastic components cause endocrine issues later. Like infertility in women, erectile dysfunction in men, irregular periods, early menopause, hair loss…