How much, and when, do you invest in a new place?
Posted by Rude_Confection_3065@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 3 comments
Recently moved from Australia to UAE - 25M. 12 month contract, expect it will be renewed or could find a new job in the UAE if not. I earn decent cash.
I’m currently living in an average apartment close to the office for the pure sake of convenience, and have bought as little furniture (all ikea) as possible. Back in Australia, I had nice furniture, a big tv, Herman miller desk chair etc. Now that I have the lay of the land, I know where nice spots to live are.
I feel like, if you have lots of sentimental and expensive bits, it makes sense to ship stuff across to your new home. But I don’t have enough nice/sentimental stuff to justify it. I also don’t know how long I’ll live in the UAE. Maybe I’ll move to Japan, or Europe, or some other place in a few years.
To those who jumped around a bit in their 20s and 30s, how did you balance buying nice things you enjoy/appreciate, while not wasting money?
ArtUnable2331@reddit
Went through basically this same thing. The IKEA spiral is so real!!!! You start with the basics and before you know it there's a sofa you can't bring yourself to leave behind.
The thing that changed it for me was moving into a furnished place instead. When the good stuff is already there you stop feeling the pull to buy things and the whole staying light thing actually becomes easy rather than a constant guilt trip. Do you have a sense yet of whether the contract renewal is likely?
Rude_Confection_3065@reddit (OP)
Yeah exactly lol. I actually moved into a semi furnished place, but the couch and bedroom etc are literally shithouse, like, 10x worse than ikea. I think developers in the UAE typically furnish all apartments with the same rubbish, and owners don’t upgrade the furniture when renting it out. I suppose it must be possible to find an apartment which has had upgraded furnishings.
90% sure the contract will be renewed. I’m hoping I could get it renewed for 2-3 years instead of just 12 months at a time. Kind of hard with the war in the Middle East rn because you never know exactly what financial position your employer is in
SkittyLover93@reddit
I've moved a few times. What I've done is buy stuff secondhand, and then resell if I move. I still lost some money, but not as much as buying new. I don't bother with nice furniture though, I'd only get some if I bought a place and intended to live there permanently.