[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

Both my parents met in London having been raised there, and my maternal Grandparent's lived there until the mid 70's. I started my life in Hampshire as I was a Navy brat and the closest I ever got to living near London was Godalming in Surrey from 2005 to 2013.

Two grandparents from Morpeth (eventually ended up in Southampton via Loughborough and London), one from Cumberland and one from Leatherhead (who ended up in Solihull). So I only have tenuous connections with the Big Smoke.

[Tracy]

I go in our local lush store around Christmas they have free samples of the Christmas luscious smelling little freebies if you ask for samples of watever you fancy you can try anything has there cruelty free it's a bonus and I don't use a lot of anything they last me all year so it's a little treat and you take the pots back for recycling all round bargain 😁 our charity shops are quite good too I've had loads of bargains

[Connor_EONNext]

I always seem to have no luck in my local charity shops 😂 I think some of the best finds I have got were from the local antiques shop, managed to get some lovely furniture when moving - although the shop is no longer there now 😭

[DebF_EONNext]

Has anyone found any more bargains recently?

I had 2 absolutely fantastic bargains just before Xmas

A freebie sofa - My old sofa was in such bad condition it actually had wooden boards under the cushions to stop you falling through and sitting on the floor 😂 I was scrolling Marketplace and came across a beautiful 4 seater and 2 seater leather sofa set in excellent condition and had only been used in the owners conservatory, they were less than 2yrs old and had been used a handful of times other than the cat sleeping on it! It couldn't have been better timing.

Extending dining table and chairs - This one wasn't a freebie but still a huge bargain from our local re-use hub. They were having a pay what you feel day I had no idea what to offer so the lady said that because it was a large table they don't tend to go well as people want the smaller ones so she said we could have it for £50 all in 🤯 because it was a charity I paid a bit more in the end (yes I'm probably the only person that haggles my costs up 😂) I got home and later found the same table still available brand new for over £500 😳 BARGAIN!!

[retrotecchie]

@DebF_EONNext

I get a few odds and ends from a woman in the next village who has a little sideline in house clearances. Her hubby is a chippy and had recently made a couple of shelving units for me for my utility out of reclaimed pallets. When I went to pick them up, she was about to throw away a rather nice Panasonic stereo and speakers. Apparently it did work until recently but had given up the ghost. It went in the back of the car along with the shelves.

The CD player is kippered, but that's neither here nor there but the radio didn't work too well either. Turned out the aerial socket had been brutalised and was shorted out so it wouldn't pick a thing up. Two minutes with a pair of needle nose pliers, a new aerial and it's absolutely spot on 👍

It's about 20 years old but sounds fantastic. As a bedside radio...perfect. If I want to play a CD (or cassette, or vinyl record) I use my 'proper' stereo...a 40 year old set of Kenwood separates.

The Panasonic was made in Malaysia (which dates it - newer, lower quality stuff is made in China). The Kenwood was made in Japan. Both will outlast me, I reckon.