A thrifty dad has saved £2,000 by decorating his new home with free furniture from Facebook Marketplace.
Darren Leeming, 54, recently moved to York from Harrogate with his wife Elena, 39, and their two young children: Clive, six, and Violet, five.
They bought a four-bedroom home for £330,000 and spent £50,000 renovating the property.
The family ran out of money and had to find an alternative way to get furniture to fill the house.
Darren turned to Facebook Marketplace and an app called Olio to get 22 household items, including his couch, TV, elliptical bike, and coffee machine.
Father Darren Leeming (pictured) saved a staggering £2,000 by furnishing his home, by finding furniture on Facebook.
According to expert Darren, when the family moved in, they “literally ran out of money” after spending a lot to renovate their new home.
He estimates he has saved £2,000 so far by avoiding buying new things.
Darren, an architect from York, said: “He was a ‘do-over’. So of course we spent a lot of money on renovations and literally ran out of money.
“That’s when we started looking at Olio and Facebook Marketplace to see what was available and what we could purchase.”
Darren and Elena moved to York in May 2023 and spent six weeks renovating their family home.
But when the renovations cost more than they thought, they were forced to try to find free furniture.
Darren’s best second-hand finds include a sofa, a coffee machine and a bed for his daughter on Facebook Marketplace.
The father also used the Olio app, which allows users to give away unwanted food and household items, to find items.
Among them were two televisions, two computer monitors and an elliptical bike for his home.
Darren also used the Olio app to find some of their deals, including two TVs, two computer monitors and an elliptical bike.
Darren’s finds were free, as long as he picked up the items. In the photo: a swing (left) and a side table (right)
Speaking about the way he furnished his house, Darren said it was “really kind of ideal, especially nowadays with the cost of living crisis.”
He got everything completely free, he just needed to go pick it up.
They all came in good condition, so Darren even needs to do some DIY.
He said: “It really is an ideal thing, especially nowadays with the cost of living crisis.”
Darren also uses the food waste program at Olio (and gets free food from big retailers like Tesco) and is even a “food waste hero” when he uploads food waste on his behalf.
