by Joan Huston

Created on: August 07, 2009   Last Updated: January 24, 2011

Your dorm room is where you will spend the majority of your college career when not in class or off studying at the library. You owe it to yourself to make it a comfortable place to hang out and relax. Finding the furniture to achieve this effect does not have to empty your wallet if you follow the following rules for finding inexpensive dorm room furniture.

Let's be honest, most dorm room furniture is not showroom new and with the amount of abuse it takes, it doesn't make sense to spend much money on it. The cheapest way to furnish your dorm room is to get your furniture for free. Sounds simple, but many people overlook the many opportunities around them for free furnishings. When getting ready to move into your dorm room, make it known to friends and family that you are looking for furniture to take with you to college. Most people will jump at the chance to offload an old couch, table, or set of chairs. Graduating seniors are also usually all too happy to give you some of their old furniture so they don't have to find something to do with it themselves.

Thrift stores are an old standby for almost all college students. If you plan on buying furniture at a local resale shop, it is best to get there before the semester begins to beat the hoards of other like-minded students. Yard sales are also a great place to buy used furniture. Many people who host yard sales have no intention of carrying that hide-a-bed couch back into their house. Translation: be sure to haggle if you don't want to pay their asking price. It is important to remember that tables can be painted and couches can have sheets or slipcovers put over them. Check out the price first and then worry about aesthetics.

Be unconventional when looking for cheap furnishings. Buying furniture that has multiple uses is a great way to save dough. If you buy an old chest, you are not only getting storage space, you are also getting a new coffee table and a footrest. Milk crates will eternally have a place in dorm rooms as shelves, TV stands, and places to store random odds and ends. Driving around the night before or the morning of trash day is also a great way to find free furniture. Some towns had dedicated days for large items-consider this day a jackpot if you are on the hunt for furniture.

In conclusion, if you want to furnish your dorm room as inexpensively as possible, be sure to let everyone know you are in the market for furniture. Don't pass up thrift stores, yards sales, or things on the side of the street. Dumpster diving may seem a bit extreme to many, but it will probably be one of the more mild things you will end up doing throughout your college career.

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