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Furnishing your first apartment can be rough. You have the least amount of money you’ll ever have in your life (fingers crossed, right?) but you need to buy, well, everything.

That’s where Craigslist comes in.

Go ahead and make your pilgrimage to Ikea. Repurpose your shower caddy and shoe organizer. And rob your parents of their frying pans and coffee mugs. But also dip your toes in the wonder that is Craigslist...

To be fair, I didn’t make my first big Craigslist buy until three years after college (and I made my boyfriend pick it up for me). But now that I’m (technically) no longer a Craigslist virgin (which sounds like some whole other weird thing), I come bearing advice:

Search brand names. There’s a lot of good stuff on Craigslist... and a lot of crap. So filter out the crap by searching your favorite stores and brand names (i.e. Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, etc). You never know if the nightstand of your dreams is actually listed as a “side table,” “end table,” or “folding tray,” so searching by brand may actually be a better way to find something you’ll like.

Haggle the price. Even if there’s no “OBO” (”or best offer”) after the price of the item you want, there’s a good chance you can get at least $20 off. Most people selling their furniture on Craigslist just want someone to come get it so they don’t have to drag it to Goodwill themselves -- getting money is just a bonus.

Know your limits. You might find a steal on an antique bookshelf... but that’s because it weighs, like, a thousand pounds and is impossible to move. So honestly ask yourself: What can fit in my car? What can I carry? What will fit in my apartment elevator/staircase/hallway? If you live in a third-floor apartment, an Ikea bookshelf you can assemble inside the apartment may actually be a smarter buy.

Consider the alternatives. If you live in a city, you may have access to a site like MoveLoot, which sells used furniture that you can purchase online and have shipped to you. Craigslist might ultimately be cheaper, but if communicating with people and arranging transportation is going to cause you stress, this may be a worthwhile alternative.

Some parts of Craigslist are definitely creepy. But in my (limited) experience, the people selling furniture are very nice and accommodating, and are just hoping to get some reasonable compensation for something they would have donated to Goodwill, anyway. So, give it a shot!