For most move-up home buyers, the cost of the contents is incremental. Sure, we trade in the lawnmower for a snazzier model with an electric starter, upgrade a bedroom set or replace the fading fridge.
For first-time home buyers, however, fresh from their parents’ homes or apartments, the purchase of their “house stuff” may be their second largest purchase, after the house itself.
After all, buying a house and buying stuff go hand-in-hand, says comedian George Carlin in his “A Place for Your Stuff” routine.
“A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it,” he says.
And there is plenty of stuff that new homeowners need to operate a household. “Need” is the operative word here; most first-time buyers are too house-poor at first to splurge on luxuries, which include all that other stuff we buy to fill the empty rooms in our new homes.
Just how much does all the house stuff cost? To help us calculate, one Chicago-area builder, Ryland Homes in Schaumburg, recruited two of its recent, first-time buyers, Rick and Jennifer Sulzbach.
Married two years ago, the couple lived in an apartment until they closed on their new home in July. It’s a two-story, four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom home in Ryland’s Amber Fields subdivision in Aurora.
Like many newlyweds, they had a good stash of linens and dishes, thanks to wedding gifts. And, they had a small collection of furniture including a bed, assorted end tables and a couch.
As they shopped for homes, they spent $1,375 on a kitchen table with chairs, a bedroom dresser, two nightstands and an end table for their new living room.
Like most homes in its price range, the Sulzbachs’ new house came with some appliances (in this case, a range, dishwasher and garbage disposer), but the rest were extra. (The couple already owned a microwave oven.)
So their list of needed stuff began the day they signed on the dotted line, when they added to their contract a washer, dryer and refrigerator for a total of $2,330.
A refrigerator with some bells and whistles, said Rick Sulzbach, was one luxury they allowed themselves as they chose the house amenities. Ca-ching, ca-ching.
“We didn’t have much room in our apartment, so we only bought what would fit until we found a house,” he said. “We knew when we found the house we’d need to go out and buy lots of other things — garden hoses, a ladder, some lamps — our list keeps growing,” he said as their closing date approached.
Sulzbach said they figured they’d have to spend about $3,500 for the house stuff, not including furniture. So the Sulzbachs agreed to let us tag along on a shopping trip to a Home Depot store in Aurora, lists in hand.
As they shopped, we tallied. Our guide: assistant manager Mike Fountain.
The Sulzbachs started with their “outside” list. The waste hauler that serves their new neighborhood, they said, supplies recycling bins but requires homeowners to use 32-gallon garbage cans. They threw two into their cart.
To maintain their new yard, they needed a set of basic gardening tools. To the cart, they added a garden shovel with a wooden handle, leaf rake, two 50-foot garden hoses, two hose pistols, two 80-foot outdoor extension cords, a hand trowel, a rotating sprinkler and a pair of pruning shears.
Planning to spend a lot of time working on his new yard, Rick added what he considered a must — a gas-powered trimmer/edger.
To mow their new lawn, the Sulzbachs found a 21-inch lawnmower with bagger, plus a 2-gallon gas can (not including gas) and a quart of oil.
Rick Sulzbach checked out the ladder selection and decided on an 8-foot, aluminum stepladder. He added two wall-type hose holders, saying he wanted one in front and one in back.
Although they were out of season, Fountain tracked down a snow shovel for them to clear their new driveway.
Moving on to the plumbing aisle, the Sulzbachs weighed their immediate needs.
“We only need one shower curtain rod and curtain because the second shower has a glass door,” said Jennifer Sulzbach.
She picked out a chrome rod, set of plastic hooks and a basic, white curtain liner.
For the three bathrooms, she chose three chrome-and-nickel toilet-paper holders. For the full baths, she selected four matching towel bars. For her powder room, she chose a matching towel ring.
For the master bathroom, Jennifer Sulzbach chose a pair of matching robe hooks.
Their standard house package included medicine cabinets and over-the-vanity mirrors, she said, but no full-length mirror. So she found one for the back of her master bathroom door.
Next stop: the tool department, where Rick and Jennifer eyed the tools they’d need for home repairs.
Fountain priced out a basic set of tools, including a hammer, saw, sets of wrenches and pliers, electric drill, six indoor extension cords and two screwdrivers (one flat-head, one Phillips).
After that, they assembled a housecleaning “starter set” including a mop, 24-inch push broom, plastic bucket, plastic scrub brush and cleaning solutions for bathrooms, windows, toilet bowl and wood.
Rick and Jennifer headed to the lighting department while considering the number of fixtures that came with their house.
“The bedrooms don’t have ceiling lights,” said Rick Sulzbach. “So we’ll need some lamps there and would like a ceiling fan/light combination for the master bedroom.”
As they shopped, they realized they also wanted a floor lamp for the family room, where overhead lighting wouldn’t suffice. They tallied up the number of replacement light bulbs they’d need for their new house: 29 60-watt bulbs for ceiling fixtures and lamps, four fluorescent bulbs for a kitchen fixture, 16 chandelier bulbs for hall fixtures and 14 vanity bulbs for bathroom wall lights.
From there, they scouted the store’s selection of window treatments, where they found an inexpensive solution to this costly problem — temporary, cut-to-fit shades.
They figured 15 of these would provide privacy until they could afford to buy draperies, curtains and fixed shades.
The Sulzbachs weren’t sure they were going to buy a water softener just yet, but priced them out in the meantime. A house the size of theirs, said Fountain, would require a 27,000-grain unit, plus bags of salt, of course.
That led them to furnace filters, which they knew they needed to buy by their closing. They surveyed the sizes and found their size — 20-by-20-inches.
To the end of their shopping list, the Sulzbachs added the inevitable, miscellaneous items that defied categorization — two telephones and five plastic wastebaskets.
The grand total of the Sulzbachs’ house stuff, including furniture and appliances, but excluding taxes and installation costs, was $5,403.02. Add items that the builder provided or the Sulzbachs already owned and the total was $6,111.51.
“Wow!” said Rick Sulzbach. “We were so focused on the down payment for the house and how much the monthly payments would be, that we didn’t put much thought into how much the other stuff would cost.”
Asked if the experience will change their new-house spending, he replied: “Yes, we’re rethinking our purchases now. Some things will have to wait, like the hutch we want for the dining room. The extra bedrooms will have to be empty for awhile. And, the second car we have to buy may not be a new one like we had planned.”
On the other hand, the couple consider themselves one step ahead of many their age.
“We already have some nice furniture, while many of our friends still have their things from college,” he said. And, he said, by house-shopping extensively before buying, they were able to find a builder that counted many items as standard that other builders excluded, like a garbage disposer and a mailbox.
“The little things all add up, like those splashblocks you put under the gutter downspouts,” said Rick. “They were on our list to buy, but were glad to see they were included when we did the [house] walk-through.”
Overall, said the Sulzbachs, the exercise was a lesson in needs versus luxuries. In time, said Rick, they’ll pay the bills for the needs and move on to the luxuries, one by one.
Then, the Sulzbachs can indulge in what Carlin cites as one of America’s favorite pastimes — buying even more stuff.
“Cause that’s what this country is all about…,” he says. “Gotta keep on getting’ more stuff.”
Costs for home necessities and extras:
Options from the builder:
Washer $550
Dryer $480
Refrigerator $1,300
Purchases made for yard and home exterior:
Two 32-gallon garbage cans $17.94
Garden shovel $7.96
Leaf rake $6.97
Two 50-foot garden hoses $45.54
Two hose pistols $11.94
Two 80-foot outdoor extension cords $25.98
Hand trowel $3.97
Rotating sprinkler $8.97
Gas-powered trimmer/edger $79
Pruning shears $6.98
Eight-foot, aluminum stepladder $79
21-inch lawnmower with bagger $199
Two-gallon gas can for mower $4.88
One quart oil for mower $1.69
Two hose holders $19.88
Snow shovel $8.96
Items for inside the home:
Chrome shower rod $13.98
Shower curtain liner $3.88
Plastic curtain hooks $2.97
Four towel bars $75.68
Towel ring $20
Three toilet-paper holders $41.76
Two robe hooks $19.84
Full-length mirror $19.97
Hammer with wooden handle $5.97
Five-piece wrench set $17.97
20-inch handsaw $8.93
Three-piece pliers set $9.97
Electric drill with cord $37.97
Flat-head screwdriver $6.58
Phillips-head screwdriver $4.49
Six 15-foot indoor extension cords $7.74
Cotton mop $8.97
24-inch push broom $25
11-quart plastic bucket $3.96
Plastic scrub brush $3.97
Bathroom cleaner $1.98
Window cleaner $2.97
Toilet bowl cleaner $2.48
Wood cleaner $4.96
Four table lamps $99.88
Floor lamp $45
Ceiling fan/light $59.97
29 60-watt light bulbs $8.41
Four fluorescent bulbs $16.36
16 chandelier bulbs $7.84
14 vanity bulbs $26.04
15 temporary window shades $74.55
Water softener $399
Four 40-pound bags of salt $14.72
20-by-20 furnace filter $6.97
Two telephones $29.98
Five plastic wastebaskets $28.65
Other items:
Mailbox (galvanized steel) and post, not including installation $19.96
Electric garage-door opener, 1/2-horsepower with two remotes, not including installation $159.97
Upright vacuum cleaner $149
Two medicine cabinets with mirrors $58
Two plastic laundry baskets $8.98
Small fireplace grate $13.79
Basic set of fireplace tools $39.97
Fireplace screen $150
Six plastic splashblocks for gutter downspouts $29.82 Garbage disposer, not including installation $79
Furniture $1,375
— Leslie Mann
