The Cost of Free Furniture…

I’ve been lamenting to my husband about our need for new couches. I tell him we need new, bigger, couches for seating space but really it’s because…

I hate our couches and I think they are ugly.

This week, my husband did what good husbands do – he attempted to solve my dilemma of ‘seating space’. He came home with a behemoth of a recliner and said, ‘Look honey! More seats!! Can you believe someone was going to throw this away?!’

I bit my tongue before a ‘Yes’ slipped out. Instead, I said ‘Wow hon, it’s… wow.’

‘And they have TWO! I’m picking the other one up tomorrow. How awesome is that?! Seats!!’

He happily jumped in the chair and reclined, a big grin spreading across his face.

How could I be mad or ungrateful? He solved my ‘seating dilemma’. Sure I have an ugly blue giant in my living room (err… soon to be two), but I’ve learned to take his efforts for what they are. That ugly chair is a monument to the fact that my husband listens to me and he’s doing his best to make my life easier… without spending a dime.

I’m going to stop whining about the sofas for a while. Who cares about sofas when I have a man like that?

Posted by Beks on May 22, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Free Stuff, General Personal Finance, Home Ownership, Keeping Motivated, Life Experiences, Living Frugal, Money & Relationships, Saving Money | 15 Comments »
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  1. Rae responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 6:49 am

    Who cares about sofas when you’re in debt?

  2. brooklynchick responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 7:40 am

    That is SO sweet. He sounds like a peach.

  3. Julie responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 8:17 am

    awww, Very sweet. I thought you were going to talk about something I learned the costly way, too! Smokers!

    My FIL is a heavy smoker, but he was getting rid of his expensive living room set which was only 2 years old. My husband, being Mr. Frugal, decided to rent a truck to take those babies back to our house.

    Total costs:

    $150: Truck rental
    $250: steam cleaning
    $50: febreeze, de-stenchers, etc.
    Priceless: Getting someone to pick up stinky couches that even charities wouldn’t take.

    They stank up our entire house! :(

  4. Jim ~ mydebtblog.com responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 am

    I should do this next time my wife complains about ________. (fill in the blank)

    Sounds like he put a noble effort to solving the problem.

  5. Michelle responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am

    Slipcovers, Beks. Try to find some inexpensive slipcovers if you think your couches are ugly.

    Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

  6. SmileyGirl responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 am

    This must be a man trait because mine has done the same thing – only he did it with his parents couches – the ones they were getting rid of cuz they had found “new” ones at the latest garage sale. Luckily for me they went in our basement but it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. But you are right – how do you look at them after you’ve been complaining and say what they did for you is wrong. Ugh – its hard to bite the tongue that hard isn’t it! I know it was for me.

  7. Nicole responded:
    Posted: May 22nd, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    Awwwww, that is so sweet:) Here’s a website for inexpensive slipcovers: http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Slipcovers/Chair,/cover-for,/1457/cat.html

  8. emmi responded:
    Posted: May 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    I’ll second Rae. If you have anything to sit on at all. You need to be happy until you are ahead of the financial game.

    Slippery slope attitude issue starting here.

  9. Julie responded:
    Posted: May 23rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    Unrelated to the couch issue: now that Trish is done paying off her debt will you post your debt amount and track it?

  10. Beks responded:
    Posted: May 23rd, 2009 at 5:29 pm

    Emmi & Rae – Sorry, my mistake for not clarifying, I have no intention of buying couches until we’re debt free. I’m a woman… and I like to complain. ; )

    Julie – I’ve posted it before. I started with $39,000 and I’m down to $29,000. I’ll look into putting it up for all to see on the side of the blog though. Thanks for the suggestion!

  11. Shoshana responded:
    Posted: May 23rd, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    I have two scary words for you: “bed bugs.” It is an epidemic these days so be alert if you start itching all over. Used furniture can be a risk even though it does save a lot of money. Sorry to be a downer (you’re husband is definitely awesome!), but some friends of ours lost nearly all of their stuff to infestation after battling bed bugs last year.

  12. Belinda responded:
    Posted: May 24th, 2009 at 10:29 am

    Im so proud of you! You took Lemons and made wonderful Lemonade! & Learned a Huge lesson that not too many would have seen…you were greatful!

  13. mikey responded:
    Posted: May 24th, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    he comes by that honestly too … but you knew that – you’ve seen OUR furniture

  14. Abigail responded:
    Posted: May 25th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    I understand the lust for new furniture etc, all while mired in debt. Not quite the same, but i would *love* a bigger, nicer TV. This one will definitely work, don’t get me wrong. It’s a respectable 20″ but I figure by the time we can actually afford a new TV, the LCDs may be something approaching a reasonable price!

    For the most part, Freecycle/CL free section couches are ugly, but you should peruse those every time you start to curse your couches. You might find something that is nicer than what you have. Then you would also have a reasonable excuse for getting rid of the chairs!

  15. Slinky responded:
    Posted: May 27th, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    And this is why you should say what you mean instead of dancing around the subject. If you had said, “I hate the fabric on this couch” maybe he’d have found you slipcovers or even a used couch.

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