I saved £11k furnishing home with bargains including hot tub & sofa that should have cost £1,800 – how you can too ...Middle East

SCROLLING through the items listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, Becky Chorlton’s eyes suddenly widen with delight.

She has just spotted a swanky Bosch fridge for the rock-bottom price of £15.

Messaging the seller, she snaps it up and within hours a gleaming fridge-freezer — which would have cost £599 if bought new — has pride of place in her kitchen.

For Becky, bagging bargains is all about the thrill of the hunt.

Every day, she logs on to Facebook Marketplace to track down furniture steals for her new house.

To date, she says she has saved more than £10,000 on furnishing her three-bedroom cottage in Cheshire.

She has found all sorts, including a dining table, TV cabinet, wardrobe, lamps, a rug — even a hot tub. The total cost of her purchases so far is just £700.

“I’ve always been into buying second-hand,” says Becky, 27. “I’m obsessed with prolonging the life of anything and everything.

“I hate over-consumption. It’s a good feeling to get a bargain and prolong the life of something that would end up in landfill.”Becky, who runs an online vintage clothing store, says she’s inherited her thrift habit from her mum, Sandra, a retired receptionist.

Her obsession stepped up a level 18 months ago when she and her boyfriend, Steffan Roberts, a 28-year-old outdoor activity instructor, moved into a rented house together.

“We were renting before buying a house together,” she explains. That’s when her money-saving hobby started.

“We didn’t have much money and didn’t want to invest in furniture, so I started looking on Facebook Marketplace and other second-hand sites.”

Becky and Steffan moved into their new house in March this year.

One of the first must-haves Becky saw listed was a pine farmhouse-style, eight-seater dining table with matching chairs.

A set like that would normally sell new for around £1,200 but this was going for just £150.

Becky quickly snapped it up — on Facebook, naturally — and sent Steffan off in his van to pick it up.

“We’ve got an open-plan kitchen and the large dining table is perfect,” she says.

“It’s one of our favourite things. It’s on the list to sand down and repaint. It was really good value as well. Even second-hand tables can cost hundreds.”

INCREDIBLE BARGAINS

Yet Becky surpassed even her own expectations with the Stoves cooker that she found for £400 — a saving of £1,600 on the store price.

Then came the high-quality Bosch fridge-freezer for £15. “Our new kitchen didn’t have an integrated fridge, so we desperately needed one,” she says.

“We found this one, which said ‘like new’ on Facebook and it was in such good condition. We just gave it a clean before we put any food in it.”

Of course, the old fridge that came with the house didn’t end up at the dump.

“We’ve put it in the garage, it’s extra storage for food,” explains Becky.

She says she has become so hooked that she isn’t even prepared to pay full whack for a kettle.

But incredibly, she found one that someone was giving away for free.Becky then turned her attention to the living room. Happily, a very comfy, neutral- coloured, L-shaped sofa had been left by the previous owners, along with a couple of chandeliers.

“The previous owners couldn’t take it with them and they offered it to us,” says Becky.

“As first-time buyers, we jumped at the chance.”

I look everywhere, but for furniture, Facebook Marketplace is the best boutique.

Becky then hunted down a TV cabinet on Facebook. “It cost £65 and I was really happy with that,” she adds. “It’s a nice French style. I reverse-Googled the image and saw that it costs £650 new.

“I look everywhere, but for furniture, Facebook Marketplace is the best boutique.

“We tend to pick stuff up the same day when we’ve seen something we like — you have to be quick when you find a bargain.”

A lamp she bought for £35 (£130 new), a coffee table for £10 (£40 new) and rug for £20 (£65 new), all from Facebook, have completed the look.

Looking for furniture pieces for the garden, Becky then found a bench and bar stools, which were being given away.

“I’m so obsessed with the garden bench,” she says. “It works perfectly as a place to sit and soak up the sun in the garden.

“The bar stools also help complete the country-cottage vibe that we wanted.

“I took off the original cushions and replaced them with new ones.”

However, one item that Becky bought for the garden unfortunately turned out to be a mistake.

Her Lay-Z-Spa hot tub, which retails at £330, had seemed a bargain at £70.

“We cleaned it thoroughly, but it was in a bad way,” she says.

“We ended up selling it for a bit more — I think around £100.”

Becky says that the only items she and Steffan had paid the full retail prices for were the washing machine and dishwasher — to make sure they were covered by the product warranties if anything went wrong.

It may take a while to find something that suits, but it’s well worth the wait.

One of the bargain buys Becky is most proud of is a lamp by the Italian luxury brand Natuzzi. Listed for just £35, it would have cost £1,000 if bought new.

“We weren’t a fan of the lampshade, so we bought another one in a charity shop for £5,” she says.

“We used it in our old house, which had more of a retro, mid-century style. It didn’t go with the style of our new house, so we sold it for £200 — so we made a bit of money.”

Becky advises collecting an item you’ve bought online yourself to save on the cost of delivery.

“The kitchen table, for example, was around four hours away, but my boyfriend was willing to drive and pick it up,” she explains.

Having now turned her attention to the main bedroom, Becky is holding out for the right find. “You have to be patient,” she says.

“At the moment we’re sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

“We’ll know the right bed when we see it.”

QUEST FOR A DEAL

Becky’s bargain quests don’t stop at Facebook Marketplace. Two or three times a week, she visits car boot sales. “I look for clothes, furniture, anything,” she says.

“Before we go, I’ll change my location on Facebook, meaning I get a whole new bunch of furniture to browse.

“And if you buy something that’s not the best decision, you can just sell it for what you paid.”

Becky also travels up and down the country scouring charity shops for bargain buys.

“We tend to pick a town and go there to explore the charity shops,” she says.

“If we don’t like them, we cross them off the list. Expensive towns tend to have more expensive price tags,” she adds, and advises: “Be friendly to the staff — they may let you know when they’re restocking.”

Becky explains that she bargain hunts in charity shops for her job selling vintage clothes online, and adds: “I love it.”

Her mum has recently been busy on Facebook’s shopping section, too.

“My nan recently passed away and my mum is clearing out her house,” Becky says. “She’s listing everything on Facebook Marketplace — some of it’s free as she just wants it to go to a good home.”

What advice does Becky have for anyone wanting to follow her example?

“Be open-minded,” she says.

“It may take a while to find something that suits, but it’s well worth the wait.

“Sometimes second-hand can be just as good — or even better — than buying new.

“And like me, you could save thousands.”

BECKY'S BARGAINS

DINING TABLE: Paid £150, retail £1,200 – saved £1,050

TV CABINET: Paid £65 – retail £600 – saved £535

HALL CABINET: Paid £20, retail £250 – saved £230

OUTDOOR TABLE SET: Paid £50, retail £500 – saved £450

BAR STOOLS: Free – saved £150

FRIDGE: Paid £15, retail £599 – saved £584

TWO GARDEN BENCHES: Free – saved £200

KETTLE: Free – saved £40

SOFA: Paid £100, retail £1,200 – saved £1,100

3-PIECE SOFA: Free – saved £1,500

2 CHANDELIERS: Free – saved £1,300

LIGHT SHADE: Paid £5 – retail £25, saved £20

STOVES RANGE COOKER: Paid £400, retails £2,000 – saved £1,600

COAT HOOK – Paid £5, retail £35 – saved £30

SMILEY FACE LAMP: Paid £35, retail £130 – saved – £95

KARTELL SIDE TABLE: Paid £30, retail £43 – saved £13

IKEA COFFEE TABLE: Paid £10, retail £40 – saved £30

RUG: Paid £20, retail £65 – saved £45

NATUZZI LAMP: Paid £35, retail £1,000 – saved £965

LADDERS: Paid £10 – retail £200 – saved £190

LAVA LAMP: Paid £19 – retail £30 – saved £11

OAK WARDROBE: Paid £10, retail £500 – saved £490

PINK SOFA BED: Free – saved £450

LAWN MOWER: Free – saved £60

LAY-Z-SPA: Paid £70 – retails for £330 – saved £260

TOTAL SAVED – £11,398

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