Tomorrow, we hope ds signs a lease for his first real apartment, post-graduation. I’m curious about how much y’all spent on it and/or how you did it? There’s an IKEA just down the road from his place, so that might hold all the answers. 
In my day, it was all about classifieds and driving all over town looking for used stuff.
Lots depends on whether the place is furnished fully/partly/not at all and how much stuff is still usable from college. S was independent and had a job, so was paying for everything bybthe time he moved into a partly furnished place on the East Coast–far from us and his college. His employer gave him moving expenses, so he moved what he wanted and then bought from Craigslist and IKEA. D has just rented a room in a house and will be moving into a new place soon. We will see what she wants/needs.
He only needs a bed, a dresser and a table that can be used for dining and as a desk. You should be able to get basic kitchen items for about $100. It’s his journey; part of growing up. I can see buying him one item as a gift (bed?) and perhaps helping him with transport if you have a large SUV or truck but no need for the “nesting” behavior.
It depends on what your S is bringing with him. I easily spent less than $1k on furnishing my first apartment when I moved in but I had pretty bare bones furniture and brought more than one thing from my own house (ie- mattress!)
D1 got Ikea bedroom furniture for her first apartment in NYC. Fast forward 5 years and she is about to buy her first place in Manhattwn ( hopefully, that being another thread). She wants to get rid of her Ikea bedroom furniture. She says no one wants it or will even take it for free. So many people are trying to get rid of their cheap heavy particle board Ikea furniture.
My son literally bought everything from one guy on Craigslist, except for his dishes, pots and pans. He went to buy the futon, but the guy also had a dresser, lamp, etc. He took some of our old towels and his own blankets, but did end up buying new sheets. My D bought all of her own things over time, first for a room in a shared apt. and then in her own. Her dad bought her a new bed as a gift, but she hadn’t asked for it. I gave her some kitchen things she needed.
For my own first, I shopped at the Mom and Dad Basement Clearance Sale.
The IKEA mattresses are really not suitable for long term use either. Both my kids opted for better quality mattresses after graduating from college.
I think mine spent $500 that my sister gave her for graduation. She didn’t have a lot of money. I helped consign the lease.
I have no idea, we didnt really help either kid, but as both were sharing, they didn’t need to be completely outfitted upon move in. After all, they had accumulated quite a bit of necessities in college!
He has nothing from college. He attended 1,000 miles away, and it wasn’t worth bringing home most of it. Pots and pans and stuff he’ll take from us, but he’s on his own for couches and tables and a bed … all the big things.
Although our S had the basics from living off campus, we had a really fun trip to Walmart with him, outfitting the place with little things - a couple of lamps for the living room, bathroom mat and towels, soap dish, etc. He paid but we shopped together. (I did insist on stocking his kitchen with food for the first week, and it made me happy.)
FWIW, I recently bought this bed frame from Ikea and it has been wonderful. I could EASILY do without a dresser with the amount of storage space is under the bed.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19099242/?icid=us|iba|20150720|01b
I looked at that one, romani. I’ve never been to IKEA, but a visit is in my future.
D’s did craigs list and what is outside on moving day in the neighborhood… ikea for the mattress and bed… not bad romani - target for the bedding…I think the mattress was the big cost a couple hundred. only need a table for dining and seconds as a desk…and two chairs. and a couch one got on craigs list the other ikea.
I’ll just put in a general plug for Ikea. I know a lot of people think it’s not great furniture but I’ve had several pieces of furniture from Ikea since middle school (so 10+ years). I think it’s definitely durable enough. Will it last forever? No, but I think it’s a great choice.
Also, their mattresses have gotten a lot better over the years. If you do go there, remember to get the wood slates (?) that go under the bed. I completely forgot!
My son was paid a signing bonus plus relocation expenses his first job after college. We were able to buy bedroom, living room furniture at Macy’s, some hand-me-downs from home and the movers moved them into his first apartment.
Ditto with his second job; he was able to shed the hand-me-downs and added some new things.
DS is moving into a new apartment to start grad school. Prob will move after a year so want to keep it as little as possible to move easily in the future. Will be using craigslist as big college town/area.
Even though each item at IKEA is relatively inexpensive, it still adds up if you get new stuff. I think craigslist is the way to go.
Sons can be very different than daughters- just look at the differences while walking down the hall with open dorm rooms.
If your son is like mine he doesn’t need much furniture- it won’t get used. Ours has a high paying job and downsized to a studio apt. His eclectic furniture includes a large couch he acquired from us (we had it for our vacation condo- great for sleeping on), some cheap living room tables (again- saved from condo when we sold it and used for college apt) plus he took old end tables we were abandoning with our downsizing.
Of course his computer type electronics is state of the art. We also told him to buy a good queen sized mattress for its length and he has so far skipped any bedframe. Frugal kid doesn’t care about those things very much. I noticed he acquired some cooking items such as a rice cooker and type of coffee maker. He also found a desk that suits him at some point.
Instead of being sure he has a nicely/completely furnished apartment I would be sure he has some basics (his definition, not yours or mine) but let him add to them as he figures out what he likes. A few years later he may dislike what he starts with and not feel he can get rid of it even if it isn’t high quality (eg IKEA) because it is so new.
My son is not a shopper but it is better that he decides than we outfit his space. Once he settles into his job and city he may find better furniture at store further away- and they do deliver, apartment management does take care of deliveries while people are at work.
One suggestion- try to foist some of your stuff on him if you would like new kitchen gadgets, cookware, dishes et al. Have him look around your house, especially your kitchen to see what things he would use. It’s a good excuse to update/upgrade YOUR stuff. Instead of paying for a new set of Corelle ware dishes I gave son almost 1/2 of my many since we were becoming empty nesters and no longer need so many. I got a new set of cookware- had two sets and gave son one. He got a new inexpensive silverware set that I took the extra 8 teaspoons from (makes up for those he lost in the trash while growing up- learned to discard yogurt containers himself before learning to not throw away the spoon).
I still have my first big furniture purchase from when I was finally done with schooling- a now over 30 year old Laz-Y-Boy recliner (they don’t make them like they used to, btw). It’s showing its age by now.
D is moving into her first post-college solo apartment on Aug 1. She needs everything. We have agreed to buy her a bed for her birthday present (probably around $500) and she has budgeted $1500 for the rest. I think most of that will go towards a sofa and kitchen items. I’m sure she will slowly add things. I’ve taught her that it’s better to buy fewer high quality items that will last, than to buy cheap disposable stuff. Of course, she’s not planning on moving around much.
D1 took a lot of our stuff when we downsized. The biggest spend was the mattress. We spent $1500 for her bed, which she will have for a long time. Both of niece and nephew just set up their first apartment after graduation. I think I heard $3-$5K.