8 First Apartment Tips You NEED To Know Before Moving Into Your Apartment

Learn all about the first apartment tips that you should know about before moving into your apartment.

Moving into your first apartment comes with a lot of excitement and a lot of unknowns. Even with all the research I did before moving into my first apartment, there was so much that I didn't know about.

To help anyone else that is moving into an apartment, I am telling you the first apartment tips I've learned and everything I wish I would have known before moving in.

I am going to cover everything from decor, to money, to where to shop for the best deals, to the different essentials I forgot to buy, and more. 

I'm basically trying to cover anything and everything that I would have found really helpful and know would be really helpful for you before moving into your own apartment.

This post is all about the first apartment tips you should know before moving into your apartment.

First Apartment Tips:

1. Plan MAJORLY ahead. It will save you a lot of money!

This sounds really basic but seriously, it will save you SO much money!! I’m insane so I planned for my apartment for about a year before I moved in. Really, that was just because I was so excited, but this allowed me to be able to shop all the sales and make sure I loved everything that I was buying for my first apartment. 

To help me plan, I created a notes in my phone and just labeled it “First Apartment Furniture”. I went through and picked out everything I wanted for my apartment and would put the link in there. 

Anytime I purchased anything, I would write “purchased” next to the link to remember that I bought it. 

Not only did this keep me really organized, but it also allowed me to easily shop sales. On Black Friday and any other big sales day, I would simply go through the list and click on the different links. I would easily be able to see where there were sales on things I loved instead of spending hours searching websites.

This list also came in handy for Christmas and my birthday because I added my mom and dad to it so they could get me the exact apartment products I wanted. I was extra and would put (Christmas) next to anything I wanted for Christmas. HAH!

{RELATED POST: Everything I Bought For My First Apartment}

2. Use a budget sheet to easily add up how much all the first apartment furniture will costs.

Knowing how to budget for your first apartment is huge.

First apartments are EXPENSIVE. Like, so expensive that I would lose sleep over it haha. Obviously, the actual rent and utilities are really expensive but buying all of the furniture, kitchen products, mattresses, etc adds up extremely quick. I was shocked at how fast it all added up.

I had my boyfriend make me an Excel sheet that allowed me to budget and find out exactly how much I need to save up for apartment furniture and products. He's an accountant so he got weirdly excited when I asked him to do it. He even made the background pink so that it went with my ~aesthetic~ haha.

With this first apartment budget sheet all set up, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into.

I actually was able to set it up so that you can download the exact excel sheet I used for your own budget. Obviously you have to have excel, but it really does make everything SO easy!

You can click here to download this First Apartment Budget Template for free here. 

Want to see these First Apartment Tips as a video?!

3. Put aside rent months before you move in so you have a buffer.

I was really stressed out about making sure that I could actually afford to live on my own so to make sure that I was completely fine, I started putting away the exact amount I needed into a seperate checking account. I did this for five months before I moved in.

Not only did this allow me to realize that I could actually afford to move out, but it gave me a 5 month buffer if anything was to happen and I couldn’t afford rent for five months. 

I learned to do this from Dave Ramsey which I know, a lot of people don’t agree with what he teaches, but I didn’t necessarily feel like my parents taught me everything I needed to know about money and his book/products really helped me learn a lot. I highly recommend reading this book from Dave Ramsey.

4. Know where to shop for the best inexpensive but cute apartment decor. 

If you can’t already tell, I overplan EVERYTHING. So when I say I researched every single thing in my apartment to make sure it was the best of the best, I am being completely serious. There were 5 stores that I religiously shopped at for all my first apartment decor...some are more obvious than others.

So, I’ll start with the ones that you are going to assume. Amazon, Target, HomeGoods (duh). 

I love buying from Amazon (check out my first apartment amazon list here) strictly because the reviews are so detailed and I can almost always trust them. Especially if they have pictures. I got basically all of my bedding from Amazon.

Target, the love of my life, just has so many cute things that look more expensive than they are. Also, Target has by far the priced bar stools on the market. HomeGoods, I don’t even need to explain...they are just good. I didn’t really get anything important here...more just decor items.

The stores that surprised me more were Walmart, Wayfair, and World Market. The three W’s. 

If I’m being honest, I used to judge people that shopped at walmart and now I am 100% one of them haha. They just have SUCH GOOD DEALS. I bought the bed in my second bedroom from there for like $150. I also bought my nightstands in my bedroom from there. They are actually baby changing tables but I thought they were cute and were in my budget so I’m using them here. 

Wayfair, I got the cutest set of utensils and other random things from there!! They have such a good selection you could scroll through it alll day.

WorldMarket is somewhere that is in the midwest and online but I’m not sure if they have stores in other parts of the country. Some of their stuff is too boho for my style, but they have really good accessories. I got these oil dispensers, my gold sponge holder, my desk from there, and more.

{RELATED POST: First Apartment Grocery List | THE ULTIMATE LIST OF KITCHEN ESSENTIALS YOU NEED FOR YOUR FIRST APARTMENT}

5. Make yourself a first apartment checklist.

Having an apartment checklist can make sure you don’t forget anything. It made life SO much easier when planning everything.

I created a first Apartment Checklist that you can download above.

6. It can be really easy to forget random things...this is what I personally forgot. 

Even with a first apartment checklist, it can be really easy to forget how many things you need to buy.

The two things I personally forgot I needed to buy was a strainer and TV brackets for my wall. The strainer was no big deal, but with everything I was buying that first weekend, the last thing I wanted to do was drop $70 on a tv bracket.

7. Remember to change your address before you move and get all mail sent to your new place.

I completely forgot that I had to do this until my dad reminded me. I thought it was going to be a long process but it could not be easier. 

They have it all online and I had my address transferred in less than 5 minutes!

8. Make sure to get everything that needs to be set up before you get moved in is scheduled.

Don’t forget to contact the internet person and get your gas/electric/water set up. These usually take about a week to do ahead of time so just remember to prepare for that!

That wraps up all the first apartment tips I think are really helpful to know before moving out. 

Obviously, a lot of these were common sense, but just keeping them in the back of your mind can help make your move SO much easier. And it can also make your apartment feel like a home faster.

If you have any other questions about moving into an apartment, please post below in the comments. I would love to answer them!

This post was all about the best first apartment tips.