We moved into our house eight months ago and for the first time ever we have a finished basement. Since our previous homes have been fairly small we didn’t have any furniture to put in the basement except for a broken chair and a television we pulled off the curb on bulk trash day. One of our frugal family fun nights involves watching a library movie or playing the Wii, but I had no desire to watch a movie while sitting on the floor.
I really wanted to buy furniture for our basement so searched Craig’s List for used couches. I set a price limit of $250 dollars and knew I would find something quickly. At the beginning of the year my husband suggested we should look for free furniture instead of buying it used. I was more than a little disappointed. I really wanted furniture and I knew I could find it used on Craig’s List for under $250 in a few weeks. But, how can you argue with free?
Then a few weeks ago my husband found a free couch and love seat. When he went to pick it up the lady also gave him two arm chairs, a giant bean bag and a sled to my son because he was a hard worker. All for FREE.
When I walked in the basement and saw our nice, new to us furniture I was so happy I waited for free. So many times we can be tempted to satisfy our desires immediately. In this world it is a daily struggle not to get what we want when we want it. From credit cards to text messaging it isn’t often we must wait for anything.
While I am not suggesting that a person can live their entire life getting everything for free (although there are people who have tried this) I do think that when you want something it is okay to wait and see if you can acquire it for less or even free. From pulling it off the curb on bulk trash day, to finding it in the classifieds, to bartering goods and services the willingness to wait is an investment with big returns. Many times finding what you want for less involves waiting for the perfect opportunity.
My family put this idea into practice again last week. They decorated this cake as a surprise for me when I came home.
It was a Super Bowl cake, but the day after the big game it was marked down to $2.99.
The removed the Super Bowl decorations and re-decorated it as a welcome home cake for me. 
Learning to wait is one of the best money saving tips I know.
Absolutely true! I always wait to make a purchase….usually put it off as long as I can. And I’m usually able to find a better deal, or in the case of books or movies, I eventually am either able to borrow them or check them out from the library. Instant gratification can be an expensive thing, and you really can save money simply by being patient.
Learning to wait is a hard thing. Living beneath ones means isn’t easy for most either. We live in a money spending world… for the most part my husband and I have never been those type of people but we do need to learn how to be even more frugal.
Nell
LOVE! Doesn’t get better than free!
This is the post my husband so would want me to read! I need to learn to wait. It is truly a hard practice to begin, but I am so trying!
Thanks for the reminder. And, I’ll tell my husband he can quit pestering you to write this post now!
awesome! FREE stuff rocks and it looks like you got some nice pieces.
Glory to God! The furniture looks beautiful and it’s so nice to see your family in one mindset concerning the finances;)
that’s a great post and an awesome cake. it’s so much fun to me when the whole family participates in frugal living.
The cake looks great! I can’t believe you got all that furniture for free! That’s awesome! I have that problem of wanting immediate gratification. I am trying to work on it, but gosh it’s hard!
I LOVE the cake!!! What a blessing with the furniture!!!
What a sweet family! Waiting for the Lord to provide often changes circumstances or changes you. What a gift of the free furniture! Sometimes husbands know best!
You’ve got a great family!
And I’m sure that must have been rough when your husband first said, “let’s wait for free”. Especially since you weren’t planning on going to the Big Box store and asking them to do one of those “don’t pay til 2012″ events and wrack up all the interest. You were already planning on being frugal.
So congratulations for sticking it out! It’s nice that you can look back now and have no regrets as you sit in your wonderful furniture! Your family room does look great!
And we’re like you: we either watch movies or play on the Wii. No cable for us, either!
Sheila from To Love, Honor and Vacuum
I agree, waiting is best. We try to do this as well and be truly content with what we have. We can always make do.
I’ve always been concerned about secondhand upholstered furniture. If you don’t know the previous owners, how do you know if they were clean or if they had bugs or roaches? I know that nasty bugs can live inside upholstery, so I’ve always been unsure about this!
If my parents give us their living room suite someday (please!), I’d take it because I know them and know that they don’t have a bug problem. I have secondhand living room furniture from my grandparents, as well. I bought a loveseat at a garage sale years ago, but it looked fine. Does anyone know how to check for or clean up bugs in furniture?
Waiting doesn’t give buyer’s remorse. And that’s only the first part of the list of good reasons to wait. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalms 27:14 KJV)
I am learning that instant gratification isn’t always as it seems sometimes it’s just a quick fix. I have learned so much from your blog. Now you will have happy family nights in the basement.
All of our furniture has been free. The only thing we have bought for ourselves is our bedroom set, and we got that for a really really good price! Our Living room furniture doesn’t match but it seats lots of people
Love the cake too. What creative thinking:)
THH is one top of my list too
Learning to wait in an “instant gratification world” is never easy…BUT…God’s blessing is far more than we could ask for. I, too, have been the recipient of the blessing of waiting on Him to provide. About 3 years ago, we needed a bed for our oldest daughter who was outgrowing the crib (and had a baby sister on the way). I had prayed for months for God to provide an inexpensive twin bed with headboard…I was willing to refinish it if need be so it could be white. I waited, kepte my eye open at the consignment and Goodwill stores. He answered my prayer far more exceeding that I could have imagined when one of my husband’s customers called us after her twin bed did not sell at a garage sale she had. We wer thrilled and without even seeing it, my husband went to pick it up. What he brought home was a BEAUTIFUL Pottery Barn twin bed with beautiful scroll ironwork, a double pillow top mattress, and canopy. I could not believe it! The customer called a couple days later and said she’d like to give us the bedding for it as well…are you ready? Our girls’ room was done in butterflies. The bedding was a silk comforter and sham with pink butterflies! God is amazing to give so much more than I had prayed for and waited on him to direct us!
Ladies, I hope this testimony of a simple prayer for a bed is an encouragment to pray and wait for God’s direction. James 1:17…every good and perfect gift is from above…
I am thrilled for your family to have been blessed as you waited and submitted to your husband’s request to wait for FREE…I am sure the woman that gave the furniture is equally glad to see it going to your family. Enjoy!
Blessings ~
I have been visiting your blog for the past few months and really enjoy your posts. We have two little ones and we too are “trying to live like no else so we can live like no else.” When we first got serious about budgeting (a couple months after our first child was born and we realized we were still living the lifestyle of a two income household without two incomes…) we got down to business about prioritizing and investigating all purchases and WAITING, WAITING, WAITING. Well, we too had some pretty amazing things happen. We couldn’t even afford a truckload of mulch to landscape our previous home which was a major work in progress inside and out, so we waited. One of our neighbors who we barely knew came over one day and offered us leftover mulch from his landscaping project (he had no idea that this was important to us). His leftovers were just enough to landscape our entire yard! We just moved this past summer and our new to us home has a hearth to hook up a woodstove, so we scouted out craigslist for used stoves but they were still out of our budget. So we waited… and our realtor offered us an awesome used woodstove for free! There have been so many times when God has blessed us for living within our means.
God definitely takes care of our every need! What an awesome story of his blessings that you were able to fully furnish your basement with nice furniture that cost you nothing!!
And I love your creative family!! How cute to redecorate the cake for you!!
They were so creative with the cake! Glad you got your furniture.
We only buy or receive second hand furniture from pet free, smoke free homes. Since we don’t have pets or smoke we would rather our furniture not have been exposed to those things. I also have a few children with allergies so I am concerned about pet hair.
We always vacuum, wash, or clean any used (or new) piece of furniture we bring into our house. I am sure there is a way to check for those things though. If I walked into a home that was filthy or crawling with pests I probably wouldn’t take furniture no matter how good a price….
Toni
Aren’t you proud of your frugal, patient family? I would be, with that cake!
Wow … you can beat free… if I found a couch in good condition like what you found I would not hesitate to take a freebie, you could always rent a Rug Doctor at the grocery store and use the attachments to clean it (or borrow a cleaner from a friend for free
why does that awesome cake make me tear up? that is SO sweet and thoughtful of your family!!!
and WOW, you definitely can’t beat free! so whatcha gonna spend the $250 on now?
it was awfully nice for that lady to reward your son for his hard work. that is a lesson that he will not soon forget.
How sweet!!
What a great family you have and frugal too!!
Wonderfully stated! I, too, have learned patience, grasshopper. Heh.
That is so cool!! I never even know where to look to get free stuff. Although I should probably start looking and trying to figure it out. My daughter is going to need a box spring and mattress in a few months. Maybe if I start looking soon I’ll find something before she needs it.
Waiting is NOT a strong point for me. I’m working on it but it’s tough.
Hurray for you and your fab new finished basement!!
What a creative family to redecorate a cake for you!! Awesome!!
Free furniture it great! Our present sofa and love seat were free from friends. Also recliner, from same friends, but a few years later. I often think about the new ones we purchased a year after we were married, our next base assignment. Duplex we lived in had furniture but we bought a bed. When we moved into base housing we bought a sofa and love seat. Then a table and chairs becuz my pregnant belly got tired of holding my plate as I ate dinner on the couch!!! HA!! We’ve had free computer monitors and my first computer was built from “scratch” by my son and his friend!!! The refrigerator we bought the summer prior to our daughter’s birth and we still have it….30 years later!! It’s still working! Have a good weekend!!
This post was great timing for me because we just got our tax refund!!! It has been tempting to purchase some items on my wish list (wheat grinder and a new fridge) but we are going to reduce our debt load instead. With the boost we should be free of all consumer debts in a few months!!! Thanks for the encouragement!
Wow! that is awesome to hear about the furniture!
We’ve done that with waiting and got better deals. Dh wanted to get a bow. Well they cost around $500. YIKES! We waited and someone sold theirs from our church to him for $75! 
I LOVE that couch! Craigslist has been good and bad to us. One time we drove 1 1/2 hr to pick up a Detalier glider that was “free”. We picked it up, drove away, and 10 minutes later got a call begging us to bring it back! I couldn’t believe it- and I was mad I answered the phone! Turns out the husband broke down crying at the thought of the glider being gone– huh?!
What a great story! Your advance planning really paid off. I like to do the same thing but at auctions. We make a list months in advance of necessities and go to the appropriate auctions and estate sales. Have found some really good deals! Just saw a 7 piece bedroom set in excellent condition go for $200 last night!
WHAT A GREAT POST!!! sorry just noticed all caps. We have just move cross county and we have moved into a smalled home. I will have plenty to give a way come monday because we no longer need it or want it and I need to downsize. So if any is near ft lewis wa and lives near mcchord afb. I will have a lot of boys clothes strollers and 2nd hand furniture all free just drap a line katt1227@msn.com congrats and i bet your son was so proud
Wow! I’ve been watching craigslist for a bow and you’ve inspired me to keep watching for the right deal. Thanks ,
LHH or TH Husband or whatever she’s calling me:)
This also works in the reverse. When you are done with something and ready to pass it on to bless someone else, consider giving it to them for free as well. I know it’s nice to have a yard sale when you have a lot of stuff and can make money, but if you have one, two, or just a few items, why not just give it away? We did this with an old couch that was not in good shape because our previous cats had really clawed it, but it seemed a shame to just put it in the landfill. We put it on the curb on yard sale day with a big “free” sign on it and it was taken with an hour by a couple with a truck. He was looking for something inexpensive to put in their garage for when friends came over and they were working on their motorcycles or cars. It fit the bill perfectly for them and we were able to make them happy and clean out something we no longer need.
We have an electronic bulletin board at my company and I’m amazed by some of the things that people sell. Basically, about 10 people use the board to hold what amounts to perpetual yard sales, charging as little as 50 cents or a dollar for their little trinkets. Seriously, you lug this junk into work in the hopes that you can make 50 cents? It seems so much easier to me to just box it up and dropping it at their favorite donation charity, such as Salvation Army or to just ask if anyone wants these items. Of course, these are the same people who post a notice looking for a plumber, roofer, etc., and must state that they want someone really good but don’t want to pay much. ‘Nuff said, I guess.
Okay, I just have to say… You have a very cool family to make you that cake!
What a fabulous post. I’m still smiling from reading it. I’m so glad that you were able to outfit your basement for free! And that cake was just fabulous. What a wonderful family you have!
My boyfriend and I furnished our entire living room with free furniture from Craig’s List. We got 4 couches. 2 matching leathers, one reclining and one with a hide-a-bed. We got a free big screen TV. (Not HD or anything, but still big and free) and more coffee tables than we know what to do with! It’s amazing what you can find.
This may be a strange question, but being European I often wonder why in the US it seems ‘the basement’ is a standard room for a normal family home. I gather you have a living/sitting room/area, a dining room/area and a kitchen on the ground floor, too. Add a few bedrooms, a bathroom and a small storage room or garage, and you have a complete home, I would think. What exactly is the function of this half submerged extra space? If you have a TV and a Wii (we have neither), why aren’t they in the living room to enjoy? I happen to have cellar (old house), which harbors our heating system, and is used to hang laundry (in the winter, when it’s too cold to hang outside) and store drinks and potatoes. Maybe I’m missing something, but my idea of frugal basement furniture is no furniture. (our two double seats,a little bench and a few chairs comfortably seat our family and our visitors)
I did that with my new second hand vehicle. I do agree it pays to wait.
So happy for you. You got great furniture. You know what? The second-hand things or free or found-in-the-trash things I have gotten are the ones that best fit my house or my need at the moment. The same happens with the hands me down clothes. My kids have learned to be grateful when they received used cloth and for them it’s special to be wearing clothes from their big cousins and friends. They always remember who gave them that cloth. I also love to sand and paint wood pieces of furniture. At the end, it’s good to wait and find something that fits our budget.