When I moved, we did use UHaul. We reserved for an 8 hour period since it was just across town and almost everything was already packed. When we showed up, the truck wasn’t yet back from the previous users yet, but they pulled in 20 minutes later. It took 20 minutes just to get all of the paperwork done for the couple in front of us in line! So, we got our $50 discount. Then, the person at the desk quoted us the price for a trailer… something like a $19.99 flat fee, and input that into the system, and also input that there was 1/4 tank of gas instead of the 1/2 tank it had. In the end, it was free for us to move because of UHaul’s errors. I don’t know how it all worked out like that, but it was nice.

Almost all of my furniture is from other people or found on the side of the road except for a ton of my bookshelves. I have a large cabinet that sits just inside my front door. The top two large shelves function as my pantry, and the rest has all of our winter wear and random clutter, as well as a bank where we dump any loose change when we come in the door. We have three TVs which were all free. One was from my mother, one was from my husband’s parents, and the third was a wedding present from two friends. I ask for kitchen gadgets as gifts (which is the only reason I own a rotisserie/convection oven, a deep fryer, a George Foreman grill, a griddle, etc.) because I am such a foodie and love to cook. Next on the list? Another immersion blender! My last one broke, and nothing is better than only dirtying one dish to make a tomato sauce or pureed soup or something. My living room coffee table used to be a desk. We knocked the legs off and repurposed it. It’s the perfect height, has two cabinets in it, and several little shelves for holding remotes/magazines/etc. My sewing desk I found sitting in a parking lot near a dumpster. (I live in a college town, so it’s not so unusual.) I repainted it with some paint leftover from another project, and it’s perfect. We got a couch from some friends who were moving and didn’t have room in their UHaul for it (they kept the matching loveseat) and when we got an armchair from the hubby’s parents, they also gave us furniture covers which make the two match our household interior.

I haven’t been couponing long, but I’ve already saved a ton of money. I’ve stocked up enough that my grocery bill for two weeks this time was barely over $30. I’ll need to pick up a few more things before we go camping next week, but I have almost everything, so that won’t take too much. There is a certain feeling you get when you save that is nice to savor.

Lighting-wise, you have the benefit of being near Ikea, why don’t you just go browse the options there? Maybe not to buy immediately (you may spend more than you mean to that way) but just to help you get ideas. They have a selection of plug-in children’s lights that are made to hang on the walls (stars, moons, flowers, bugs) which could be very cute without needing to do any special wiring – and you can get small cfls for those sorts of lights too.

They also have a lot of other lighting options, as I said it might be good just to go look and gather some ideas.

I work at a convenience store and put away those groceries. We get easily forty boxes (or more) a week and after a whole day of logging, putting away, and doing paperwork for the grocery order, I get sick of lugging the broken down boxes to the dumpster.

We usually throw ours out. Unless someone reserves them. Then it’s a great day. You get free boxes, and I don’t have to lug the heavy box full of broken down boxes to the dumpster…

Oh and it saves a lot of space. And recycling is always a good thing. :D