If you’ve been following along then you already know that last year Matt & I moved into our first apartment and my thought process on furniture, which use to be an afterthought, drastically changed. & if you’re a new reader you can read about our move here & a little peek inside of our apartment here). 

Once we found out we were moving, we were left with the daunting task of furnishing our little apartment, mind you on a post-college budget.  At first, I was REALLY excited. I dragged my youngest sister, Tessie to all these furniture stores, ready to pick out items that were up to ‘TCC standard’, as Tessie says, and instantly was handed a reality check. 

FURNITURE IS REALLY EXPENSIVE, no matter how you roll the dice. 

Whether you’re shopping at Ikea, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Target etc, it’s all still expensive.

It was shocking for both Matt & I to hear quotes like: $1,500 for a couch, $600 for a kitchen table and an additional $150 for metal chairs to sit on while eating. Oh boy, I was one quote away from a financial panic attack, has anyone else been there?

Anyway, I was honestly, so shocked because no one really talks about the COST of furniture shopping. Everyone is so fixed on moving out, purchasing a home or apartment, that no one takes a second to break down the nitty gritty stuff. 

Instantly I thought about just buying all of our furniture from Ikea but after purchasing basic nightstands, made from plywood, that cost us over $300, I knew it was time to think of furniture as an investment. 

To put it simply guys, I knew I was going to have to make a game plan, so here it is: 

Here are 3 ways to save when it comes to furnishing your post-college pad, with high-quality and timeless furniture pieces. 

First on my list of furniture to-do’s was this bed from Anthropologie it’s been on my dream list since, well high school when I worked at Anthropologie as a sales associate. 

So I decided early on, instead of buying a $400 Ikea bed, that to be honest, I’d probably replace within five years, that I would just buy my dream bed from the start. 

I cut the cost of my dream Anthropologie bed in HALF, by doing three easy steps:

#1: Raise :: Buy discounted gift cards and save on every purchase. 

This website has single handily saved me the most money, when it comes to furnishing my apartment. I saved over $400.00 from simply buying discounted gift cards. 

Yup, it’s as simple as that! 

Now if you are anything like Matt, you’re throwing red flags left and right at me, but I’m here to say it’s NOT a joke. 

All you do is log onto the Raise market place and purchase gift cards from people, who are looking to get those specific cards off their hands.

I personally purchased three gift cards, all had the exact balance on them as advertised and all were accepted by Anthropologie. Just to give you an example, one card had an Anthropologie credit of $616.79 and I only paid $502.68 saving me $114.11! 

& all I did was buy a gift card. Simple. 

To any readers that might be hesitant about this platform, after I purchased over $1,753 in e-gift cards (all between 13%-23% off) I got a call from Raise within 5 minutes, personally asking me to answer my security questions and verify that I was indeed making these purchases. 

& if you are still hesitant…

They even offer a one-year money back guarantee, which you can read more about here. & guys they even have gift cards for West Elm, Pottery Barn and my favorite place, The Container Store!

Anyway, thanks to Raise’s easy and secure platform I saved over $400.00 on this project, and a total of $901.95 THIS YEAR! 

P.S: The Raise Team was kind enough to send over a coupon code for your use. Use CODE: COASTAL to get $5 off $50 for new Raise customers! FYI, this code expries in 2018, so use it while you can! 

#2: Signing up for emails/reward programs to receive coupons:

I became an Anthro Member, and after already purchasing gift cards from Raise, I just waited, like a cat stocking a mouse, for Anthropologie to send out a discount code, which I will admit is pretty rare. 

However one Thursday morning I woke up to a discount code for 20% off all furniture for Anthro Members. 

It was a limited time coupon, so I knew it was now or never to pull the trigger. 

By being an Anthro Member, I was able to save, $380 off my dream bed. 

Giving us a total saving of $780! 

#3: use cash back services:

Whether it’s a Discover card, ebates or rewardStyle (if you’re a blogger) using affiliated brands that offer cash back is another easy and really effortless way to save in the long run. 

I used an affiliate link to purchase my bed saving me 10% or any additional $190, off! Woot Woot. 

Giving us a total saving of $970! 

Overall I took my $1,900 dream bed used my three simple steps, to get the bed just slightly under $1,000. Matt & I then split the cost, leaving us both paying a little under $500 for a timeless and investment piece. 

I really want you guys to take a few things away from this post, the first one is, don’t pass by simple savings options like Raise, especially when you know you’ll be spending a good amount of money. Also be patient, Matt and I have lived in Dallas for almost a year now, and just purchased the bed a few weeks ago. 

Don’t be an impulse spender, be patient, wait for the perfect coupon and when it arrives in your inbox; go for it.

xx Aubrey 

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