Money trouble? Get furniture for free!

I don't know about you, but these days I find myself constantly counting the pennies; I'm so skint that a couple of weeks ago I had no choice but to order a tap water whilst at a 'coffee' meeting in Starbucks with a colleague - it's okay, I blamed wanting just water on the warm weather.

Constantly counting the pennies?

My money trouble began when this year, for the first time ever, I struggled to get a summer job, meaning that for the past couple of months I have had to all but beg, borrow and steal my rent money, scraping it together from odd jobs, a tax rebate and even a deposit reimbursement from my old Landlord. I'll admit it's been tough, the worst part being that for the previous three months I have not set foot inside a coffee or clothes shop, my wardrobe is seriously out of fashion and my Starbucks cravings are at an all time high.

Obviously having just moved into our first flat, having a cash flow problem meant that the boyfriend and I struggled with furnishing it, however thanks to our parents, the Cheltenham Freecycle and the new British Heart Foundation shop on the high street, we managed to furnish it without breaking the bank.

Since the recession hit Britain a few years ago, the majority of Brits felt the pinch, and with government budget cuts only adding to the problem, people like myself with little spare cash in the bank had no choice but to cut back on luxuries.

But with furniture restoration schemes and re-cycling projects at an all time high, there is no need to go without. Furniture re-cycling has become so fashionable that Channel four's property guru Kirstie Allsopp recently aired a new home improvement show dedicated to furniture re-cycling - Kirstie Allsopp's Fill Your House For Free, complete with it's own shop selling, or I should say 'giving away' re-cycled furniture for FREE!

Learn how to fill your house for free with Kirstie Allsopp

Kirstie's shop may be in Scotland, a little far from Chelts, but believe it or not within our little racing town we have our own hidden gems: Emmaus charity shop, selling old furniture for budget prices, the British Heart Foundation furniture shop, selling not just re-cycled furniture but also fridges, cookers and all manner of other electrical items, complete with a year-long guarantee. Or if low priced furniture is still above your budget then the Cheltenham Freecycle is one of the best resources for for free furniture and other unwanted household items.

Believe it or not our sofa, DVD player and vintage style cream bin all came from the Cheltenham Freecycle, and all in great condition.

The thing to remember with re-cycled furniture is that despite appearances, with a creative eye and a lick of paint there really is no limit to what you can do with any piece of unwanted furniture. It really is all about seeing past how it looks and imagining how it could be. Old furniture is ideal for creating that pretty vintage look, a lick of paint, some wire wool and hey-presto you've got yourself some vintage style furniture.