Regular readers of my blog will know that I love a freebie, for me, this extends beyond getting samples in the mail. I’m not ashamed to admit I get excited by hand-me-downs and I’m not too proud to accept them. The saying ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ really applies here.

I am constantly surprised by the quality of items that people no longer want or need. I did a blog post last year showing just a small amount of the lovely things I have been gifted. Most things came from Freecycle, Freegle, and some of the local Facebook Freebie pages.

I’m also donating things every year using the same method. I think it’s important to give something back. I also love de-cluttering and having a good old sort out.

Late last year I started to fall out with the free websites. It started when I had a huge clearout, listed the items, sifted through loads of responses, and allocated new owners. Several didn’t turn up to collect the items and didn’t bother to email to apologise or let me know they weren’t coming. I also received emails stating ‘I’ll have it and ‘Can you deliver’, in the end, I boxed the whole lot up and took it to a local charity shop.

The final straw came when I was told I could have two sets of drawers, one was ready for collection that day ( Chris has a van and we are always prompt at collecting) and the other set would be ready the following day. They were a matching set from Ikea and we were desperate for drawers. Chris collected the first set but said the lady was a little odd towards him, later that evening I received an email saying she was going to give the other drawers to someone more deserving. I’m not sure what she had based this on as Chris was perfectly polite as he always is. I know the decision was the ladies to make but promising something and then retracting is a little rude in my opinion. A few weeks later she emailed to ask if I wanted some bedside tables so maybe her conscience got the better of her, who knows?

After a few more frustrations I decided to have a break from looking at the sites. Many people are choosing to sell all their unwanted items which is understandable in the current financial climate so the few items being listed were whipped up almost immediately.

Last month I decided to put my big girl knickers on, toughen up and throw myself back in the game. I keep a wishlist of items we would like for each room of the house to look out for. I’ve also been purging our clutter again (seriously where does it all come from?) and offering it on the free sites.

Of course, there have been a couple of no-shows, and I have made a note not to offer to again. I have also received some brilliant things in the last two weeks. I’m checking the sites at least once a day now and things seem to be picking up as the weather changes and people are having a good old spring clean.

I’ve also collected two duvet sets which were in immaculate condition, the lady had even ironed them! She had changed her colour scheme and they were in such good condition. It’s always worth asking for bedding if you feel it’s in an unusable state it can always be donated to an animal shelter or used as dust sheets for decorating.

This toy box and bookshelf are in fantastic condition and were just what we needed for Jake’s room, they also had a matching wardrobe but it was too large for us to collect, what a shame.

I also got a Breville Antony Worrall Thompson hand mixer. It’s in brilliant condition and has all the attachments with it. Appliances can be a little hit-and-miss but it works perfectly.

Do you use Free sites like the ones I’ve mentioned? I would love to hear what goodies you have managed to find.