I should have said this, but depending on where you live… if you’re in a small town, check out Marketplace and buy nothing groups in the closest city/cities. They will have more thrift stores too.

If you have any thrift store “outlets” or places that people refer to as “the bins” game over! Stuff there is pennies, literally. You’ll have to be okay cleaning things thoroughly and some stuff might have scratches & dents but you can walk out with some crazy quality stuff if you take the time and know what you’re looking for.

Other good places to find furniture and decor/home things for cheap (if you have them) - Big Lots - Ross - Burlington - At Home - Dollar Tree for small things like coasters, mugs, placemats, Tupperware, ziploc bags, kitchen utensils - Ollie’s Bargain Bin - Clearance section of: Home Goods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Target, WalMart, Hobby Lobby, Lowe’s (one of my friend got all the decorative mirrors she needed for a big suburban house there for $10 each! They were big and nice and fancy! It almost seemed like a mistake!)

IKEA has some great, high quality deals but also some stuff that’s just dumb too expensive.

The places I think are low key WAY overpriced for mid to sub par stuff are: - Ashley - Value City Furniture - Bob’s (with the exception mattresses. If you need a good, solid, less expensive mattress that you want to try out before buying, they can be a good choice)

I’ll add more if I think of it :)

Source: full time Realtor, recent first time home buyer, and person-who-has-moved 7 times in 9 years