Good Stores for Online Shopping for Basics

We'll be moving into our house on October 31st.  The house is furnished and comes with a lot of essentials like a kettle, toaster, etc.  My hubby has already bought a few other things (silverware).  I'm wondering if you guys can give me some good stores to find fairly cheap essentials that I can shop online and have delivered or pickup at the store?  I've looked at ASDA and Tesco and not seen much that strikes my fancy (did find a few things though).  I also found a lot of things at Argos.  I'm trying to price compare as well as find more variety of things to choose from.  I'm basically looking for things like pots, pans, bathroom accessories, knife sets, dishes/cups, maybe a few decorations for the house, etc.  We are working with a limited budget here so I'm basically just trying to find things that we need that will hold us of for a few months (but I don't want total crap items) until we can get some better quality stuff (yay Christmas prezzies!!).

I moved into my flat 2 years ago and was in the same situation (thank god for the wedding in 4 months so we can upgrade!)

Dishes and cups i got from marks and spencer, they are really nice, about £3 each item and were 3 for 2 or something like that.

Other stuff i got from debenhams (my knife set) they're not always the cheapest but for kitchen stuff they have great offers sometimes (my knife set was 70% off)

Also see if you have a Dunelm Mill near to you, they are fab for all types of household stuff!!!

Sainsburys too!

I'll second that M&S has some nice housewares. I got a lot of stuff from Debenham's because that's where we were registered and we had a gift card. They do have some really good sales.

For online shopping or price comparison for home stuff, I mainly use Argos & Dunelm Mill websites.  I use Argos in particular a lot for pricing things, mostly because it's so easy and they have at least some stock of basically everything.

But if you're really on a budget, the best prices are probably to be found in the stores themselves- discount stores in particular (£-stretcher and the like) can have some surprisingly decent quality stuff at budget prices (ours has a ton of ex-Woolworth's stock!)

I shop at Ikea and i found this site helpful  http://www.hotukdeals.com/all/all/hot.

TK Maxx aren't bad for pots and pans, also try Wilkinson's.

They are both in the Alhambra centre in Barnsley.

DW loves Wilkinson's!

TK Maxx aren't bad for pots and pans, also try Wilkinson's.

They are both in the Alhambra centre in Barnsley.

DW loves Wilkinson's!

I was going to suggest Wilkinson's. I don't know if you can shop online, but you will save LOADS of money going there for little things for the kitchen and other household goods.

Argos will have everything you need, pretty cheap, as will Tesco

Wilkinson's is good too, but not necessarily of the greatest quality.

TK Maxx, but you take pot luck on what they have in.

Wilkinson's is good too, but not necessarily of the greatest quality.

True. But some of the stuff there can get you started until you can buy better replacements later on. Things like tea towels, oven mitts, pizza cutters, cutting boards, and other little household goods are pretty worthwhile, and I've picked up some Pyrex dishes there really cheap, which always last forever. I think we got a can opener from there that was utter crap, though, so be forewarned. 

I've bought some great kitchenware at Wilko but you do have to pick and chose with them. But definitely a good place to go to stock up if you're setting up house.

We moved over a few months ago. I sincerely regret that I was intimidated by Argos (large catalog, reminiscent of old JC Penny or Sears catalog ordering stores--remember those? in the US) and did not check out their very good online features. In particular, they have reviews of the items they carry and that is helpful when buying electronics--which is the scary stuff you pretty much have no choice but to buy again.

So, I did the Wilkinson/TK Maxx route, but if I did it all over again, I'd go with Argos.co.uk and feel more confident as I think the reviews on Argos are helpful. In particular, I would look at TVs there first and stuff like clock radios... TK Maxx is (like the US TJ Maxx) where department store-rejects go to finally sell. It's pretty good, but, I think a few items we obtained from there were lower quality than they should have been--ie: the pillows we bought are becoming clumpy, and the non-stick pan has the non-stick material coming up. Looking back, I should have just paid £5 more at argos for such items. Wilkinsons is probably best compared to the U.S. Walgreens (which went out of business here recently). This is a place you pop into for the random-need-it-now purchase, like brillo pads, light bulbs, and school supplies. They do have a few home-decor items. But, they are of varying qualities and not wholly dependable.
 
I emphasize the dependability factor, because if you are moving here for the long haul,like we did, then you need to have a different perspective in your purchasing than the buy-it-and-don't-care-if it-is-in-the-trash-in-6 months attitude. I also say this becuase I was totally stupid and now own a number of truly crappy items. And, whern you have a whole lot of items that are falling apart--you don't feel like you're at home.

Otherwise, because the economy sucks, a LOT of stores are going out of business--particularly home decor shops. So, lamps, curtains, and the like are worth hitting the pavement for--because there are bargains to be had in that area.

I also found that A LOT of women are selling their rarely/unused household goods through the netmums website. I find that amidst the resale of baby/child goods it is also a haven for wedding-present-resale items. I got a nearly new blender and a crock pot for about £5 each through that. I scan ther info regularly.

Best of luck!

I like TJ Hughes.

http://www.tjhughes.co.uk/pws/Home.ice

Also I found a shop called InStore. It had a bunch of nice things as far as decorations and simple everyday items like Laundry baskets, candle holders, dish towels, pillows and that sort of stuff for super cheap. They don't have an on line shop so you would have to go in if they have one near you. It's not designer brands but not complete crap either.

True. But some of the stuff there can get you started until you can buy better replacements later on. Things like tea towels, oven mitts, pizza cutters, cutting boards, and other little household goods are pretty worthwhile, and I've picked up some Pyrex dishes there really cheap, which always last forever. I think we got a can opener from there that was utter crap, though, so be forewarned. 

Definitely. If you need to kit out a whole house, then Wilkinson's would be great for that.