Newly Wed.

We did not have much when we married, I was 20 and I had only worked for about 1 year and a half, I have not put a lot in my Bank account. My husband was 25 and he started to work when he was only 17, he went to school in the evening. We rented an apartment near our office, we only had a few furniture, but it was enough for us. At least we had central heating and hot water.

Yes,Mike had a Victorian apt.It was great.Nicely furnished by hime.We only had three rooms.I loved it. Then later we bought the school house.

I was married in Singapore, no relatives or friends there - so no wedding presents either. We rented something like a bed sitter for the first few months and if we had visitors we borrowed plates from a local Chinese restaurant. When a married quarter became available (my husband was a sailor) we moved into that. When we came home we had to start from scratch but a dear aunt helped us with a deposit and eventually we had a small semi of our own.

Funny how we start with so little yet are so blissfully happy. You talk about your dining room table that you bought second hand, we didn't have that. My husband made us a beautiful oak buffet, something to hold the many place settings of fine china that I had received for bridal shower gifts, and we had no table. And we didn't have the means to buy what we wanted either. So, we received a card table with folding chairs as a wedding gift and we used that for our only table in our home. A few months before our first anniversary I spied a good sale at a fine furniture shop and we went in and fell in love with an oak table and chairs. We wanted to buy it on the spot, but what they did was take your deposit (which was half of the sale cost) and basically they ordered it and called you when it was in. We had to wait a couple of months for that call. And when we did, I remember the first meal that I served us on that table. I had been using table cloths on the card table (sort of to hide it) and then this time I could use it to enhance the setting. I got out our Royal Dalton dishes and our finest crystal and silverware and we were so proud of ourselves for doing without and saving to finally have that table set. It still is used for all of our meals in our kitchen-a lot of memories surround that 1 piece of furniture, a lot of which I haven't even thought of in years, thanks for posting this, it reminded me of a lot.

For about 18 months, my husband and I lived at his parent\s house in the second floor flat. This was in Toronto, Canada. We both had good paying jobs and we were on the same page, we started to save like crazy to buy our first house and we did. Wonderful memories.

My parents lived in a caravan when they were first married. I think it wasn't so unusual in those days.

Interesting to read about your first place.

i recall those days quite fondly myself - lots 'f dumpster divin' lookin' fer tossed out pieces that could be reclaimed :) when the current hubs'n myself got hitched, i'd a place already though sparsely furnished (i'd 2 saddles'n stands'n the livin' room fer folks to sit, lol). he managed to o'erfill the house with his 'schtuff' quite quickly with all he owned. there's furniture from corner to corner, 'n not a barren wall anyplace :( that bein' said, the only furniture we've bought 's been a new mattress/box springs 'n then there's his tv's throughout the years. all else's been hand-me-o'ers 'r dumpster finds.

@jaboUK - Ms Janet - Had to smile at your early adventures. One of the first homes we had was out on "the farm" along with the many critters and the big oil stove in one room for heating. I guess that a posting about those days might be of interest to some here. I enjoyed your discussion. Mostly, it proves that newlyweds can have everything be difficult, but it makes little or no difference to them. -Gus-

A far cry from the 'have to have it all whether we can afford it or not' attitude that many young couples seem to have today. By the time we got married we had pretty much everything having lived together for a few years. But when we first moved in together we had very little. We rented a flat above a shop, had to make do with my sister-in-law's old sofa and bed and my parents gave us their old washing machine and fridge-freezer. I'd like to say we were happy but we were so desperate to get out of the place we were saving as much money as possible so didn't really have any money to enjoy ourselves like a young couple should. We are extremely happy now though so it's all worked out in the end.

You had the necessities, as you say and good things grew from there. We got married late in life and had too many things for one household, so had to pare things down.

2 1/2 rooms, but we had central heat and air conditioning (it was an apartment). We were both working, still in college and very busy, so we didn't mind not having much.

Love is the most vital ingredient, the rest are peripherals. However, times have changed with more luxuries becoming necessities. We stayed in rental places for years and were sort of nomads but we did not really miss anything in life! It was the experiences that counted and even the negatives proved positives in the end - siva

By the time, I was born they already had a house (but they weren't living there) with all the necessities beside a washing machine! I remember the time when they bought a bike (and recently got another car). Grandfather was an Ex-Army so he could buy things at discount fro the Army canteen. Dad bought refrigerator, television, mixer grinder, stuff like that from there. We didn't live with our parents in early years of childhood but the made sure our every need was met without delay! They themselves were living in the tiniest of room I have ever seen (on a rent) while they were working and making ends meet.

not married yet - too fond of my independence though still quite limited on heating in my flat

We had a two bedroom two bath apartment when we got married. We bought a bedroom set before we got married and had it delivered after and we paid for it before. We then bought a full living room set and my mother-in-law bought us the kitchen table. The appliances came with our apartment and I had a hope chest for the year and a half we were engaged and I filled it with everything we would need. Plus we had our wedding money to buy a few things. We bought a pole lamp I remember.

We rented for a while, buying a house with a mortgage the year our first child was due... Now the prospect of the first leaving for college looms, and things have changed so much! Just imagine all those young'uns that make it into 3rd level education in England... They'll have 30K of debt to deal with after graduation, never mind marriage - owning a house will seem like a lifetime's slog! And the prospects reduce further with the threat of Brexit over the UK, cutting off any avenue for study outside the UK... Something is drastically wrong somewhere.

My wedding time was a whirlwind of activity! All in one week, we got married, bought a house, bought two cars, bought all new furniture, and took a week-long honeymoon cruise. Oh, and I started a new job when I returned from the honeymoon! I don't know what the heck we were thinking doing all that stuff all at once. It was crazy! But we somehow manage!

That experience make you bolder . I am luckiest to be a house built my parents . I have added some home appliances and maintenance. My Parents have suffered the same .

my parents did struggle in a similar way when they were newlyweds.