I second the garage sale suggestion. You have to be patient, but we've gotten some good appliances at estate sales. Although, I don't remember seeing too many blenders at estate sales. DH knows to be on the look-out for one. He got a vintage Oster at one, but I don't like it. The little blade spins and spins, mixing what ever's in the bottom inch of the jar, and I have to stop it frequently, stick a spoon down in to stir, then have it spin and spin to mix the bottom inch. It does look really cool with the bee-hive style base, but I'd rather have a blender that works well. I don't know, maybe all blenders work that way. Nevertheless, Dh knows to be on the look-out for a newer or better blender, preferably a Vitamix, but I know that's a long shot. He picked up a Cuisinart food processor recently at an estate sale, which I've been very, very happy with. Sally Here is a link that might be useful: Ours looks like this

For a vacuum cleaner, get one of the Sears Kenmore "Progressive" vacuums. The most bang for the buck in a vacuum cleaner. I'll link one below, but there are several "Progressive" models. Note that online it's about $300, but if you go into a Sears store, and talk to a salesperson, they are willing to discount from that price, especially if you tell them you are ready to buy that day (i.e. not just browsing). Sears Kenmore Progressive Vacuum (but there are several others in the Progressive line) I don't know why you need a steam cleaner if you are on a budget, in your first home, and having to buy everything from scratch. I would put that item off to another day after you have equipped your home with the essentials, and you have saved more money. For your pots and pans, I do not recommend a set. You may be tempted cause you'll feel that you can get everything in one purchase. But a cookware set is not a good use of your money. The problem with sets is that they often do not contain the sizes you need, but do contain pots and pans that aren't that useful, and typically are smaller than what most cooks like. I would go to Ikea as already suggested and to JC Penney's for their "JC Penney Cooks line". The Penney's Cooks cookware has some items with Tri-ply construction which is what the expensive All-Clad construction is, so look for JC Penney's "Cooks Tri-ply" for a lot of bang for the buck. So look at Ikea and Penneys for a 4-qt. sauce pan, 10" fry pan, 12" fry pan, 6-7 qt. stockpot, and what's called a "baking pan" or "roaster" which will do double-duty for lasagna and casseroles as well as roasting chicken and meats, plus whatever miscellaneous cookware you think you need. That's a nice starter set. JC Penney's Cooks Line For knives, I also would not buy a set. Colorfast gave good advice to buy just 3, though I would add a 4th, which is a good boning knife (has many uses). I advise you to look at the Victorinox Forschner knives. They consistently win equipments tests against the really expensive Henckels, Wusthoff, etc. You can find them online at Amazon and many other websites. You will be amazed at the quality. Victorinox Boning Knife - 5-star reviews and what a price!

I bought a tall jar 5200 model from Costco six years ago. I've been using it mainly for juicing and and for pureeing soups and sauces. It gets used around four to five times a week. That model has been replaced at Costco with the 5300. The 5300 has the shorter, squatter jar (aka "low profile" jar. ) Being larger in diameter, the low profile jar has larger diameter blades than the 5200 does. Some friends bought a 5300 recently to replace a busted Ninja. Near as we have been able to tell, the 5200 and 5300 perform about the same and are equally noisy. Also, the 5300 has a pulse function in place of the high-low switch on the 5200. My friends like the pulse function on their blender. I'm indifferent to it on a blender, probably because I also have a food processor. YMMV. FWIW, Costco's regular price on the 5300 is $399 but there are intermittent coupon sales. IIRC, my friends got their 5300 for something closer to $300. Our local Costco also intermittently has Blendtecs. Last time I recall seeing them, the Blendtecs were also $399. IIRC, they came with an 8-year warranty, one year longer than Vitamix. You can save $40 over the regular Costco price by purchasing a "reconditioned" 5300 directly from Vitamix. Here is a link in case you are interested in checking it out further. Near as I can tell, the reconditioned models are "like new" except that the warranty is five years rather than seven. Also, the 5200 is still offered direct from Vitamix with reconditioned units going for $299.

As mentioned by John, if you keep your eyes open you can buy a used VitaMix. I bought mine for $8 and some change in an auction box, but it was missing the lid and tamper. $20 or so got me the test of the "parts" and it works fine. I've never used the tamper. (shrug) I do not drink smoothies or shakes, as I dislike that texture, but my grandkids love them. The VitaMix works just fine for that, for under $30.00, but I hate to clean it and the "put some soap and water in and turn it on" doesn't work well for things down under the blades. I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER pay what they want for a new one. Did I say NEVER. Yeah... I still have an old Osterizer on the porch, and Amanda does like smoothies, the green ones. (shudder) If she doesn't get a new blender for Mother's Day, I'll give her my old Osterizer, but I'm following this thread so I can give The Princess and her Brother a recommendation as to what they should buy if they decide to do that. Elba, I have a similar problem with the food processor. It makes awesome smooth hummus but I can't chop vegetables for salsa in it, some pieces are really large and some just become puree, there's no consistency in size no matter how I "pulse" or don't. Annie