by Hope
For the first time since the move to the camper in April, 2016 we have a living room we can all gather in. Yippee!!
Sometime in the past, I mentioned that one of my savings goals was to get us a couch for our living room. It’s been empty since we moved in April, 2017 except for the bookshelves full of school books and supplies.
This summer my goal was to furnish it from the thrift store. Both Princess and Gymnast and I have visited the local Salvation Army thrift store on numerous occasions to see if there was anything that would work. No luck!
Free Couch, Free Delivery
But last Saturday night, just after Gymnast returned from Texas there was a post on Facebook. “Anyone want a green leather couch, must be delivered tonight.” I jumped on it!
Three hours later a young couple who recently finished college nearby and were moving to California pulled up with their final item in their moving truck and carried it into the house for us. We now have a living room where we can all sit! (Not seen is a recliner my grandmother gave us.)
For the last year, we’ve all spent the abundance of our down time in our own separate rooms with no where to sit other than the kitchen table. But now…we are once again able to sit comfortably together. Love!
It’s definitely well-loved couch. It’s squishy and the leather is faded in many places. But this mama couldn’t be more grateful for the gift.
And finding the kids out in the living room instead of hidden behind their doors, isolated. Well, that’s priceless to me right now!
Princess and Cali enjoying our new to us couch!
We love thrift shopping. But in smaller towns, you must luck up on quality stuff.
What has been your best, most treasured find at a thrift store? And have you ever been gifted something like this that meant the world to you?
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
YES! My first husband and I separated in 2009, and I moved into an empty apartment with my daughter (my son stayed with him for a few weeks before joining us).
A good work friend donated a couch and love seat to me and it matched the space so well! I was so grateful for that. Another good work friend was redoing a spare bedroom from an office / study space into an actual bedroom, and gave me an oversized chair with an ottoman. I LOVED that chair. I was super thankful for that!
The final thing I really needed was a kitchen table and chairs. I watched our classifieds and saw one, but it was offered at $250. Nope, too rich for me. Long story short, they kept reducing it (and I can’t believe no one else jumped on it) and I finally got it for $50!
I bought a bed frame with mattress and box spring that had been in a spare bedroom and never slept on… for $40. I was very blessed to be able to complete what I needed for such a small amount of money.
My first couch in my first apartment was much the same. We love thrifting! Our kitchen table came from a dumpster. We now live in a very rural area, so furniture is impossible to find, but I’ve been focusing on beefing up my wardrobe. When we travel, we look for thrift stores since there is more to find in bigger areas.
I LOVE your new couch! GOOD FOR YOU!! You know, you could always crochet a nice afghan to throw over the back to give it a big of pizzazz! What a great find! I’m with you, I really LOVE to shop at thrift stores! I find the most amazing things! Of course it takes time & patience, but if your persistent, you can find great stuff! When I find great stuff that doesn’t work for me (clothing) I buy it & then sell it on Ebay! I’ve made $1,000 in the last 60 days! So thrifting is not only fun, but profitable! 🙂
That’s fabulous! We completely lucked out with our couch and loveseat set that we got at The Salvation Army for $40. They’re getting a bit saggy, but are otherwise in great shape, and they’re a nice, solid blue color in a nice style.