Furnishing with Freegle

I love the idea that something you no longer have a use for can go to a good home and online communities Freegle and Freecycle are the perfect way to do this. You post a 'wanted' or 'offered' items and others can see your post and reply, simple.

Here are my ten top tips:

1. Be clear in your offered ad descriptions- detail the size, colour etc and also your location and when would be convenient for the new owner to collect

2. Most groups send a summary email everyday- sign up to receive daily digest emails, then you won't need to keep checking the website

3. Be quick! If there's something you really want, make sure the emails come through to your phone and reply as soon as you spot it- chances are if you want it, someone else probably does too!

4. When you reply to a post, be polite, succinct and flexible (nobody wants to read a long story about why you'd be the best person to have the item)

5. Be patient and be prepared to wait for replies if you post a wanted ad- it's bad etiquette to re-post wanted ads frequently

6. Remember that it's free- don't ask for anything ridiculous and be grateful for all offers you receive

7. Give and take- it's important not to just always browse the offers, but to give stuff too. I make a rule that for everything I receive from Freegle, I will post something too

8. Keep up to date- mark offered items as 'collected' and wanted items as 'received' to save your time and other peoples

9. Say thank you- it's always nice to drop someone an email afterwards thanking them for the item

10. Be careful- these online communities tend to be lovely, safe places, where people want to share what they no longer need, but think sensibly when agreeing to collect items and bring someone along with you, just in case


Here are some of the free things we've found for the kitchen at Thrifty Terrace:

And a slimline dishwasher, which is perfect for our small kitchen and a real luxury in our otherwise spartan home:

We have also given lots away lately, including our old bath tub, which I'm told is now being used on an allotment to grow carrots in!

Why not have a look- you'll be surprised at what you can find!

Music Magpie

This weekend was a big stuff sorting/clearing out weekend as we prepare for the arrival of yet more samba drums to fill our house up (Dave runs a samba drumming business Ola Samba and we're starting a new community group- Ciren Samba for which we will be acquiring yet more drums!)

We gave some furniture away on Freegle and a couple of bags to the charity shop. I also tried out Music Magpie- a site which allows you to input the barcodes of any CDs/DVDs/games you no longer want and then gives you a price for them and a freepost label to send them away. You can then elect to give the money to charity, convert into M&S vouchers to spend online or receive a cheque. It was really simple to do, although I couldn't get the webcam barcode reader to work so input them manually and although you don't get much for your CDs, I'm just glad to have some more space.

Now I just need to find a box to fit them all into and wait for my £12.92 to arrive!

Project Singer

I am now all moved in, finally have the Internet and am ready for my first project- Project Singer.

Meet Captain Sew:

I was lucky enough to get my hands on this 1920s Singer sewing machine, which has been converted for electric foot pedal use, from a very kind lady on Freegle*. My grandmother used to make dresses and made my mother's wedding dress skirt and I would love to learn to sew like her. For now though, I'm sticking to simple projects, like table mats:

I am hoping that with some practice I might be able to handmake some Christmas presents, maybe cloth bags or pin cushions for my fellow sewers.

* Freegle and Freecycle are two of the biggest (and best) websites which enable you to find others in your local area who can give a home to the things you no longer use (anything from wardrobes to craft pipe cleaners) or to find gems like Captain Sew for yourself