Comments on: A Broken Recliner Puts Frugality to the Test

By: Six Ways to Raise Emergency Cash | Frugal Dad

Six Ways to Raise Emergency Cash | Frugal Dad — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:35:39 +0000

[...] high quantity items such as small toys, gently used clothing, etc. Advertise larger items such as furniture on Craigslist, and sell smaller items such as DVDs and books at [...]

By: Have You Ever Been Embarrassed To Be Frugal? | Frugal Dad

Have You Ever Been Embarrassed To Be Frugal? | Frugal Dad — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:01:43 +0000

[...] and I noticed a lot of things in need of repair or replacement. We did recently pick up a garage sale recliner to replace a broken one, but our sofa has been missing a leg for some time and is propped up by a [...]

By: Everything PC » Blog Archive » Would You Leave Your Job During The Crisis?

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:35:15 +0000

[...] Frugal Dad: A Broken Recliner Puts Frugality to the Test [...]

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:04:11 +0000

That chair is almost, but not quite, as horrific as the one from the Frasier sitcom.

Craigslist can be great for furniture finds though. Heavy things like that aren’t items most people are going to bother selling on eBay, and often times they’re willing to let them go for free (or cheap) if you’ll haul them away.

By: marci

marci — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:49:12 +0000

Patience is not only a virtue – patience pays!
Way to go!

I have to say, in my 50’s now, and I have only bought 2 new pieces of furniture EVER. One was a bed on a 5th anniversary – the other was a LazY-Boy double rocker recliner love seat (I couldn’t find one of these used and it had to be small for my little house) I bought the loveseat 12 years ago and don’t regret it for a minute, but I did wait for both a 10% off sale and a $100 off coupon from the store.

The rest of my furniture I jokingly called “Early American Salvation Army”… altho it came from a variety of sources, mostly free

Freecycle is great also!

By: Serenity Rose

Serenity Rose — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:36:10 +0000

Great find! I’m glad you were able to replace your recliner. I would recommend trying freecycle also, before buying a used one. I see recliners given away on freecycle regularly.

I’m lucky to live in the one of the largest freecycle networks in the world! I’m still so surprised that so many have not heard of this organization. If you aren’t familiar with it, please check it out at http://www.freecycle.org to find the group in your area. There are freecycle groups in every major city in the world.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:58:42 +0000

@RDS: I would have waited until Spring when people were again having yard sales, or continued to look on freecycle.org (thanks to all those who mentioned it), or Craigslist. I just refused to pay retail prices for furniture.

By: DavidK

DavidK — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:41:44 +0000

Oh, I forgot to add that we did pay for the set with the “sizable check” my wife got, except that we spread it out over the 10 months. This both helped the ol’ credit rating as well as allow us to maintain liquidity in case something would have happened. We can be thankful that nothing did!

This can also serve as an example that financing is not always evil and can be quite useful sometimes.

By: DavidK

DavidK — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:34:50 +0000

I’m almost in the same predicament except that I don’t even have a recliner! A year after moving into our house (3 years ago), my wife made a big sale and had a sizable check. We agreed that our “makeshift” furniture was just not cutting it in the living room and we didn’t even have any dining room furniture — it was just a blank space. After shopping around for almost two months, my wife finally found a furniture store that was having a “going out of business” sale. Yea, right. Anyway, she played some serious hardball with the owner over a living room and dining room set. I was so proud of her! She managed to get both sets, which would retail for about $5K for only $1900! We financed for 24 months at 0% interest but paid it off in 10 months. After we got the furniture home, I wanted a recliner and went out shopping. After a few “clutch the chest” moments, I had to give up. I don’t want one second-hand because I’ve seen what people do to theirs (spillage, baby spit-up, dog poo, etc.) and haven’t found one at a significant enough discount to justify the purchase. Oh well.

Glad to hear you were able to find one you could live with FrugalDad!

By: Affluent Pauper

Affluent Pauper — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:49:36 +0000

Thanks for writing such great articles. I went to a garage sale over the weekend and am amazed at the stuff that people get rid of because they simply upgraded, don’t like the color or style anymore etc. I’d much rather pay $40 for a comfy used recliner like you did than pay $400 for one in a glossy flyer that ends up going on my credit card and costing me $1000 because I never got around to paying the balance on my card!