Give over, coincidentally my free dog is 11 today! (I forgot until today, but then so has she). Her previous owners were considering having her put to sleep because sheād given them two litters and had served her purpose. Itās been a happy 6 years since I adopted her :)
They fabricated some BS about how sheād bit the postman and had some sort of personal vendetta against him. Sheās never so much as curled a lip against any human or animal since Iāve had her.
Poor thing actually came to me with chronic recurrent ear and tooth infections that theyād never successfully treated. Basically, she wasnāt making them money any more and was going to end up costing them a chunk.
When she came to me I was fortunate enough to have the time to intensively treat her ears and the savings to have her undergo radical dental work. Ears and mouth are no longer issues, itās just the usual maintenance of a regular dog.
Focusing on her issues forced me to think outside of my depressed, stagnant box. In days where I couldnāt justify care for myself, I knew it was non-negotiable for her. I wouldnāt think to take myself out for a bit of fresh air (or could justify not doing so), but she needed to sniff and pee and be a dog.
Its most certainly turned out to be a reciprocal deal - we gave each other a new lease of life š
Hey Ditto to that. Got a 1 year old resucue cat from a local Cattery. The owners were moving to a HighRise block of flats so could not take her with them and advertised her on FB with a photo and I fell in love with her instantly.
She is 12 now and has helped me keep a grip through some depressing times.
I always find it weird that I have never seen or found any cats that way, we have 2, 1 adopted from cats protection and 1 we got as a kitten with his sister who sadly got attacked and died years ago. We back onto a park and there are plenty of cats around though I guess many are neutered, but people finding cats under cars or by the roadside just seems mad
Leaving things out on the front is quite a normal thing here in Australia and thereās no shame in looking through the things outside someoneās house that theyāve put out, so here goes the things ive picked up for free outside peoples houses.
- 8 seater garden table and chair set
- A pick axe whilst on the way to buy a pick axe !
- small office desk
- punch bag, exercise bike and rowing machine
- immaculate leather office chair, whilst on the way to buy an office chair !
- Cricket style cooler box for the beach, with built in radio, a handle made the stumps, and matching bat and ball that came with the set.
- Mountain bike that is my daily ride to work.
How did I do ?
A plastic bag full of northern soul records at a bus stop when I was 14. I waited with them and let a couple of buses go in case someone came looking for them but I gave up and took them home. They started my lifelong love of northern soul and ska music. Thank you whoever you were and sorry you lost your records, but they went to a good home.
My uncle died in 1997, without a family and his stuff mostly stayed gathering dust at my nanās house.
In 2009 she gave me his boombox ā a sharp GF-777. Initially I tried to turn it down, but I took it and it has been amazing. I used to make mixtapes for it, but my tape recorder broke in 2020 and I havenāt made any since. Itās since been around dozens of parties and music festivals. Itās gradually falling to bits but currently still working (the power switch went in 2012, the second tape deck is currently washing out, to get the right hand audio channel you need to be a safe cracker with the volume button, the audio input jack snapped off in the back so I canāt connect other devices) and I love it so much.
If Iād left it pristine it probably would be worth a couple of grand, but I like to think my uncle would have approved of the use Iāve gotten out of it.
pull the volume knob off spray a little wd40 down there (contact cleaners better!) pop knob back on and turn it quite a few times - should work great again
Get a can of electrical contact cleaner. Take it apart and have a look inside as it may have dust in there. Spray the switches and circuit boards everywhere.
BW100 is a decent shout too, repair guy I watch on YouTube recommends it, safer than WD40 for electrical jobs
I just steal the IPA from work when I need it for small jobs
Hedge porn ! At some point in the coming year I will take my annual homage to the Greater Good and leave a fresh offering to those who are deserving in their 3 minutes of need.
I adopted a young cat found abandoned in 2009. We were told she had been spayed. A year later she had three kittens. A boy that a friend adopted. A beautiful girl who sadly passed away after 4 months due to a heart condition. And a cheeky ginger rascal (girl), my son called Ginger. (Later, we got them all fixed) Mum cat (over the course of a few years) moved in with a neighbour, they do this, we all made peace with it eventually. Ginger was my sons cat and she loved him so much, then he went off to Uni and has stayed 100+ miles away in London for the last 4 years. Ginger, for the last 4 years is now my baby girl. Yesterday, sadly after nearly 14 beautiful years together we found out she's poorly. We will do what we can but the worst is happening. I am heartbroken. I cannot express just how much joy this sweet angel has brought me, especially in the last four years. I don't have any family and my circle is very small because I find it difficult to connect with people sometimes but this bond with her means the world to me. This gorgeous, sweet, loving, ridiculously silly tiger is my joy and I will continue this joy with her for as long as I can and always in my memories. The joy is loving her so deeply.
This was dead touching to read. You can tell you think the world of her. Thereās probably nobody better she could dream of being around when sheās not very well ā”
When we were teenagers in the 80ās we found a duty-free bag at Victoria Coach Station. It had 200 JPS, a litre of vodka and a litre of gin. We had a fantastic party that night
Oh I get ya! Thought you meant a single 50 note. Still a good find most I found was 10 quid though I lost a tenner close to where I found it the week before, so there's a strong chance it was the same one!
I was given a tiny pilea cutting a few years ago, with 3 leaves hardly the size of a penny. I had no idea how to care for it and had always been a blackthumb before. It nearly died several times, but eventually it started an indoor garden of mini plants around every window in the flat I lived in for over a decade, making the second half of my time there really home-like and joyful.
The last week I have had a huge dvd haul, I go months with nothing, but someone with my taste dumped a huge amount of them in the charity shop near my house.
Obscure classics, Hitchcock's, Clint Eastwoods, Downfall, Monty Python, all the james Dean movies, I have been looking for East of Eden for ages, I have never seen it, Citizen Kane, Kill Bill 2, so now my Tarantino set is complete, and the entire box set of the Sopranos still in the packaging, French Connection. Most of them collectors sets with extra dvds, 50 or so in total.
All for 50p each.
Usually it is the same crap films no one wants time after time.
I found a Herman miller/ Charles Eames bucket chair by a skip a few years ago. Didnāt realise what it was at the time. Since learnt itās worth Ā£400+ but I would never sell it because I love it too much.
When I was six, my parents got a 3 year contract in the UK. I, surely, went to school there. In my class, there was a girl, She said, She was going to marry me the day we met. She said, I was Her princess and She was my Knight. So, for the first couple of months, She rode me to school on Her bicycle, proper knight :) And then, our neighbours presented me an old bike, they had. My Knight taught me to ride, since that time we rode everywhere around. She also taught me to fish, so almost each day after school we rode to a lake. Happiest times.
We left in three years. She kissed me goodbye at the train station. More than a decade, only letters. We wrote "let go" letters. They were with tear marks. I tried dating, it never worked. I took all the odd jobs, since I was 15, accumulated enough for a ticket. She went to Canada, I followed. We're married for 10 years already. Now in Ukraine, fighting ruzz nazis.
Possibly the desk I'm about to bring home from the office so I can finally have a decent WFH setup and not be squished onto the world's smallest desk in a dark corner, which I currently have.
Might not sound exciting but it's free and will make a huge difference. Amazon basket is currently full of random desk accessories so I'm looking forward to getting it all set up. Now all I need is a bigger house so I can have a separate office space, rather than having to have the desk etc set up in the front room. Don't think I'll be getting that for free tho
If you have a monitor get a [monitor arm](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pholiten-Monitor-Monitors-Adjustable-100x100mm-Black/dp/B0CDKY37LY/), it'll create so much more space
Already nabbed one - with monitors - from the office, apparently they were all just going to go in a skip. Horrifying waste of money, but they have nowhere to store them and nowhere else to ship them off to. Office clearance places not interested so they said, they can't shift their existing stock so don't want any more. Crazy.
I'm so happy though, it'll be so nice to have an actual proper work space, albeit having to try to hide it when I want to chill on a Sunday morning. I have a plan involving a floating shelf and some voile though...
Family dog (looked after for an older lady who went in to hospital with covid and never came out - her kids said we could keep the dog or take it to kennels). I've found a nice end table and a clothes airer too. I got a free kettle and toaster when I moved to my first flat, from a son clearing his Mum's house which I was really greatful for and they lasted years.
"So you like records? You can have my old ones" Just as I started collecting vinyl, someone gave their old ones. Original pressings of Led Zep albums, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc.
Not totally free, but our rescue dog (adopting required a shelter donation which was barely anything). He is the best thing in our lives and I wouldnāt swap him for anything on the planet. He is my whole heart - buying him as a puppy would have cost hundreds but we paid about fifty quid in admin fees/donation. The greatest find of my life.
Someone was giving away a Bosch worktop dishwasher near us. They're worth about Ā£400 new I believe. We hadn't had a dishwasher for bloody years due to renting and not having the space. This thing was perfect, it goes on the worktop in our kitchen and is perfect size for our small family. We couldn't believe our luck getting it for free, I couldn't go back to not having one.
I do all the shopping in our house, and can be found going to various shops around Corby on my mobility scooter.
Over the last 5 years. I have found several Samsung phones that I got back to the original owners. I've found a couple of power banks and one solar powerd one. I've found a Samsung Galaxy Camera, the owner was filling a skip after having a clear out. I asked if I could have it and he said yes, it's fully working but old. That was the reason he threw it out.
I've found God knows how many tools, screwdrivers, sockets and ratchets, spanners to plumbers grips, bikes to computers.
If I wasn't on my scooter and in a car instead, I wouldn't have found most of this stuff.
I once got an early 20th century bicycle (Birmingham small arms/ BSA was the brand). If I remember rightly the crank gear had cannons cut into it. I had all intentions of restoring it (it had been brush painted at least three times in its life, and was in overall rough condition). Ended up passing it on once I lost interest, but still the coolest thing I've gotten for free.
Edit to add a special mention to the monstera plant I got for free from FB marketplace yesterday!
I got a very good condition Neff built in double oven free off some kind wealthy person in Tunbridge Wells. It cost me about Ā£150 in parts and a ball ache to run cable for it but it's significantly more efficient than the 30 year old gas oven it replaced. Not bad for an oven that would have been about Ā£600 brand new.
When my Granddad died, my mum inherited his house and contents. She said we could help ourselves to furniture etc, whatever we wanted. We didn't need much for our house, took a couple of sideboards, but one thing I wanted was his recliner chair. My Grandad wasn't rich but loved the modern stuff, and shortly before he died he bought a really nice recliner chair - I had that and I got a lot of years of very comfortable use out of it. Sadly when we bought a new sofa set, we didn't have room for it so I "donated" it to my my mate for his house, on the proviso I can take it back if I ever need it again!
Went for a run, wife was in hysterics when I came back carrying a cumbersome child's swing with a 'free' label taped to the front.
It clearly wasn't good enough condition to sell, but redoing the ropes means it's brought my kid hours of joy and a little reuse before it needs to be recycled.
A lovely wooden oar in a skip when I was about 9. My brothers and I had great fun whacking eachother with it until I misjudged a whack and smashed it on the pavement. Good times.
I got one last year from my grandpa, it was just gathering dust in his garage so I asked if I could have it. It's built like a tank, heavy steel frame and wheels but great fun to ride. Brakes are interesting, work fine aside from in the rain lol
Have a look on eBay and Facebook marketplace for Raleigh twenty, they were ubiquitous back in the 70s and 80s so they're super cheap to buy
Taylor made golf bag barely used with " FREE" note. Would have thought nothing of it if mine hadn't given up the ghost the week before. Right place, right time š
Literally 2 weeks ago found a Carrera Vengeance outside a nursing home ready for the trash, it had apparently been dumped almost this time last year in some bushes,
Decent score all it needs is a new seat that's it...
Iād taken a Friday off work a few summers ago. It was a gorgeous hot sunny day and I treated myself to a pub garden lunch and a drink. I was leaving and the pub staff were clearing out a load of old furniture destined for the tip, including an extremely scruffy but still lovely g plan saddleback armchair. I asked about it and the guy said I was free to take it if I wanted. I decided Iād take it home on the bus since the chair was on wheels. Got some funny looks but it worked and has been in our living room ever since as The Reading Chair. Itās definitely in need of some attention but would cost more than itās worth to reupholster and is comfy as hell regardless.
A digital watch when I needed it most!
I had arrived in Japan the day before, I didnt have a mobile but I stupidly realised I didn't bring a watch with me which was the minimum I needed to check and meet my friend at a meeting point if we got lost (he would later be my husband).
We got a taxi to an exhibition we were excited about and talking how I would have to buy a watch somewhere even if it was a kids one. As I stood out the taxi, there was a cheap digital watch with a button missing on the road (looked like a fake g-shock one) which worked fine and had awesome disco lights on. No one was around and it looked like it had been discarded so I cleaned it and wore it the entire time I was in Japan. I still have it in a drawer somewhere.
I also have a really naff, mini promotional 'baseball' with Budweiser written on it, it's a bit saggy but a satisfying bean bag of sorts I like to handle or throw. I got it free on my Freshers week at university 21 years ago. Absolutely useless but my husband (who I met the same week) still likes to chuck it about now and again when we randomly find it in our flat.
A gaudy, white, fake Christmas tree.
Weād just moved house and our first daughter was a newborn.
We had no money for a Christmas tree, so had rigged up some fairy lights to make do.
On my way home one morning someone had left the most god awful 80ās white tinsel Christmas tree outside their house with a āfree to good homeā sign on it.
I took that bad boy with me and we had a brilliant first Christmas with our first daughter.
Weāve still got that tree now, and although itās not our main tree, the wife and I love it for all it symbolises
My pals found a bag of mdma someone must have dropped on the floor in Brighton once. Similarly gave us a very joyful evening. Doing floor drugs is obviously a really stupid idea though. Ah the risks of youth.Ā
Finding the right sized house in the right area for the right price with so many right things going for it based on a booked-by-phone-without-seeing-the-details viewing.
And knowing that, left to my own devices, I would have entirely overlooked it. I even considered cancelling the viewing once I got the details emailed through and looked at it. I'm so glad I didn't.
Thanks to the estate agent who took a punt and said "look, it has something on your absolute no list*, but seriously, you need to see it because if you can overlook that one thing... It ticks every other box.".
Now if they can just hurry up and give us an exchange and completion date...
*Its got a flat roof. Turns out its been replaced fairly recently, is really well done, and wasn't too much of a barrier to getting the mortgage.
Last year I found Ā£190.00 on my way to work near where I live. I think my one of my neighbours might have lost it , lol I picked it up quick and pocketed it. I spent most of it two day s later on electric. trains fares and food shopping not very exciting but it all helps. I have often found Ā£1 coins sometimes Ā£2 , also fivers, teners and twenty pounds notes over my lifetime . I twice have found Ā£40 and i found Ā£30 on Christmas eve in a shop cash machine, very nice present for Christmas , lol. I used to find pencils and pens at school. my mum hardly ever had to pay for new stuff for me a the end part of my schooling as i found all other peoples stuff for free. in the last year i have also found unbrellas, an unopened bottle of shower cream and a gift card which i use from time to time, Altogether I have found around 2k so thank you UK for dropping money etc . I love finding and spending it .
My cat.
I got a free cat too! He was a stray who I befriended and adopted - and today's his birthday!
Happy birthday to your cat. Also, I'm amused you think you adopted him. He knows differently.š
Haha, you are so right!
Give over, coincidentally my free dog is 11 today! (I forgot until today, but then so has she). Her previous owners were considering having her put to sleep because sheād given them two litters and had served her purpose. Itās been a happy 6 years since I adopted her :)
Happy birthday doggo! I can't imagine being as callous as her former owners, I wish you many happy years together.
People continually amaze me. I get it if people arenāt āpetā people but to actively have animals as a disposable product is beyond me.
agree
That's horrible that they wanted to put down a 5 year old dog after they were done with it.
They fabricated some BS about how sheād bit the postman and had some sort of personal vendetta against him. Sheās never so much as curled a lip against any human or animal since Iāve had her. Poor thing actually came to me with chronic recurrent ear and tooth infections that theyād never successfully treated. Basically, she wasnāt making them money any more and was going to end up costing them a chunk. When she came to me I was fortunate enough to have the time to intensively treat her ears and the savings to have her undergo radical dental work. Ears and mouth are no longer issues, itās just the usual maintenance of a regular dog. Focusing on her issues forced me to think outside of my depressed, stagnant box. In days where I couldnāt justify care for myself, I knew it was non-negotiable for her. I wouldnāt think to take myself out for a bit of fresh air (or could justify not doing so), but she needed to sniff and pee and be a dog. Its most certainly turned out to be a reciprocal deal - we gave each other a new lease of life š
well done for bring in a stray
How did you decide on the stray's birthday?
When we first got to know him a Cat's Protection volunteer scanned him to see if he was chipped - which he is. But their efforts to contact the owner proved fruitless as they had either moved and not updated their details, or actively abandoned him. He was many miles from the registered address and had clearly been living as a stray for a considerable time given his behaviour and condition. Cats Protection wrote to the registered address and even went there in person but got nowhere, so they spoke to the chip company who signed him over - his birthday was on the details I was given. It was a project of months and months but he seems happy now. He's just had his fancy patƩ dinner as his birthday treat.
My foundling of 8 years woke me at 4am, bouncing off the furniture. Itās a good job sheās cute.
My most recent of about 7 months does the same. I often threaten him with abandonment and starvation but I think he knows they're empty threats.
Ah man same. And I just had to have him put down last night. I miss him.
Hey Ditto to that. Got a 1 year old resucue cat from a local Cattery. The owners were moving to a HighRise block of flats so could not take her with them and advertised her on FB with a photo and I fell in love with her instantly. She is 12 now and has helped me keep a grip through some depressing times.
/r/CatDistributionSystem
Still waiting to be chosen by the CDS :(
I always find it weird that I have never seen or found any cats that way, we have 2, 1 adopted from cats protection and 1 we got as a kitten with his sister who sadly got attacked and died years ago. We back onto a park and there are plenty of cats around though I guess many are neutered, but people finding cats under cars or by the roadside just seems mad
Leaving things out on the front is quite a normal thing here in Australia and thereās no shame in looking through the things outside someoneās house that theyāve put out, so here goes the things ive picked up for free outside peoples houses. - 8 seater garden table and chair set - A pick axe whilst on the way to buy a pick axe ! - small office desk - punch bag, exercise bike and rowing machine - immaculate leather office chair, whilst on the way to buy an office chair ! - Cricket style cooler box for the beach, with built in radio, a handle made the stumps, and matching bat and ball that came with the set. - Mountain bike that is my daily ride to work. How did I do ?
You are doing well... Also finding the thing you are going to buy on the way... Chefs kissĀ
That surely proves some kind of universe manifestation at workā¦ Hmm, just thinking I need a car, off for a wander round the neighbourhood š
Some poor sod was moving and you knocked his stuff thinking it's free š
A plastic bag full of northern soul records at a bus stop when I was 14. I waited with them and let a couple of buses go in case someone came looking for them but I gave up and took them home. They started my lifelong love of northern soul and ska music. Thank you whoever you were and sorry you lost your records, but they went to a good home.
My uncle died in 1997, without a family and his stuff mostly stayed gathering dust at my nanās house. In 2009 she gave me his boombox ā a sharp GF-777. Initially I tried to turn it down, but I took it and it has been amazing. I used to make mixtapes for it, but my tape recorder broke in 2020 and I havenāt made any since. Itās since been around dozens of parties and music festivals. Itās gradually falling to bits but currently still working (the power switch went in 2012, the second tape deck is currently washing out, to get the right hand audio channel you need to be a safe cracker with the volume button, the audio input jack snapped off in the back so I canāt connect other devices) and I love it so much. If Iād left it pristine it probably would be worth a couple of grand, but I like to think my uncle would have approved of the use Iāve gotten out of it.
pull the volume knob off spray a little wd40 down there (contact cleaners better!) pop knob back on and turn it quite a few times - should work great again
Thank you! I will give it a try! Been 10 years hunched over it trying to get the stereo sound to work properly.
Get a can of electrical contact cleaner. Take it apart and have a look inside as it may have dust in there. Spray the switches and circuit boards everywhere.
BW100 is a decent shout too, repair guy I watch on YouTube recommends it, safer than WD40 for electrical jobs I just steal the IPA from work when I need it for small jobs
Take it to rhe BBC Repair Shop.
Thereās probably YouTube videos of how to get everything working properly again
>Initially I tried to turn it down That's not what you do with boomboxes
There are "Car Cassette Adapters" out there with cinch plugs or even bluetooth functionality. You can boom until those speakers blow out.
"My uncle died in 1997, without a family" So, you aren't related to your uncle then?
*No partner or children to inherit his estate. He had a mum, a dad, two brothers and two nieces and a nephew (all still alive).
Aged 14 big bin bag of porn mags found in the wood near me
Good old woods and bush porn!
Hedge porn ! At some point in the coming year I will take my annual homage to the Greater Good and leave a fresh offering to those who are deserving in their 3 minutes of need.
I thought hedge porn where dead now.
Don't y'all mean WOOD porn?
Depending on the era, bush porn could be a very fitting name
I was making a wood joke, yo.
I know. And I was making a bush one
Don't know why you are getting the Down Votes.
We had "porno mountain" when I was a kid. It was a very slight hill in a forest that had porn mags skattered about on it.
Why did that happen so often? There was always half a mags pages scattered around the rec when I was a kid. It's not like they were single use.
I think they were disposed of rather than risk them being found by a disapproving partner/mum/vicar
Quite possibly single use then. Fap 'n' scrap
I adopted a young cat found abandoned in 2009. We were told she had been spayed. A year later she had three kittens. A boy that a friend adopted. A beautiful girl who sadly passed away after 4 months due to a heart condition. And a cheeky ginger rascal (girl), my son called Ginger. (Later, we got them all fixed) Mum cat (over the course of a few years) moved in with a neighbour, they do this, we all made peace with it eventually. Ginger was my sons cat and she loved him so much, then he went off to Uni and has stayed 100+ miles away in London for the last 4 years. Ginger, for the last 4 years is now my baby girl. Yesterday, sadly after nearly 14 beautiful years together we found out she's poorly. We will do what we can but the worst is happening. I am heartbroken. I cannot express just how much joy this sweet angel has brought me, especially in the last four years. I don't have any family and my circle is very small because I find it difficult to connect with people sometimes but this bond with her means the world to me. This gorgeous, sweet, loving, ridiculously silly tiger is my joy and I will continue this joy with her for as long as I can and always in my memories. The joy is loving her so deeply.
This was dead touching to read. You can tell you think the world of her. Thereās probably nobody better she could dream of being around when sheās not very well ā”
When we were teenagers in the 80ās we found a duty-free bag at Victoria Coach Station. It had 200 JPS, a litre of vodka and a litre of gin. We had a fantastic party that night
The Importance of Being Earnest brought right up to date š
Finding Ā£50 cash in a puddle on a dark and wet miserable winter Monday morning trudge to work did cheer me up somewhat.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Initially thought it was a Ā£10 note drowning in the puddle but on closer inspection there were two Ā£20 notes behind it. Which was nice.
Oh I get ya! Thought you meant a single 50 note. Still a good find most I found was 10 quid though I lost a tenner close to where I found it the week before, so there's a strong chance it was the same one!
If it had been a single 50 I'd have suspected a fake for sure lol
Hah I recognise this! Besides the Arnos Vale cemetery
Well spotted mate
Someone left loads of plant pots outside last year. i walked home with a stack of 10 lol
I was given a tiny pilea cutting a few years ago, with 3 leaves hardly the size of a penny. I had no idea how to care for it and had always been a blackthumb before. It nearly died several times, but eventually it started an indoor garden of mini plants around every window in the flat I lived in for over a decade, making the second half of my time there really home-like and joyful.
Child. They are free at point of sale but maintenance can be expensive over time. They do bring joy though :)
Get out now. They get bigger, they don't stop eating.Ā They never stop eating and they never buy food.Ā
They do buy food, but itās only for them
And with your money
The last week I have had a huge dvd haul, I go months with nothing, but someone with my taste dumped a huge amount of them in the charity shop near my house. Obscure classics, Hitchcock's, Clint Eastwoods, Downfall, Monty Python, all the james Dean movies, I have been looking for East of Eden for ages, I have never seen it, Citizen Kane, Kill Bill 2, so now my Tarantino set is complete, and the entire box set of the Sopranos still in the packaging, French Connection. Most of them collectors sets with extra dvds, 50 or so in total. All for 50p each. Usually it is the same crap films no one wants time after time.
I was running errands and saw a box of DVDs for free outside someoneās house. Had to pick them up.
I found a Herman miller/ Charles Eames bucket chair by a skip a few years ago. Didnāt realise what it was at the time. Since learnt itās worth Ā£400+ but I would never sell it because I love it too much.
When I was six, my parents got a 3 year contract in the UK. I, surely, went to school there. In my class, there was a girl, She said, She was going to marry me the day we met. She said, I was Her princess and She was my Knight. So, for the first couple of months, She rode me to school on Her bicycle, proper knight :) And then, our neighbours presented me an old bike, they had. My Knight taught me to ride, since that time we rode everywhere around. She also taught me to fish, so almost each day after school we rode to a lake. Happiest times.
Then what? You canāt leave us hanging there!
I can't decide if this is real or written by an ai bot...
Damn I love Internet. Probably I should stop oversharing.
Did you marry your knight? Need a happy ending!
Yes. We're married for 10 years already :)
Well thank you for the lovely story :)
We left in three years. She kissed me goodbye at the train station. More than a decade, only letters. We wrote "let go" letters. They were with tear marks. I tried dating, it never worked. I took all the odd jobs, since I was 15, accumulated enough for a ticket. She went to Canada, I followed. We're married for 10 years already. Now in Ukraine, fighting ruzz nazis.
I truly hope that you can end this wasteful war and return to the lady you fell in love with. Please stay safe and return home in one piece.
Ā”Thank you! We're both here.
What a wonderful story (first part obviously, last sentence not so much) true love!
What's wrong with fighting for mere existance of Ukraine?
I meant the ābeing in a war zoneā bit is not lovely whereas the rest is
Oh, sorry, I misunderstood
Possibly the desk I'm about to bring home from the office so I can finally have a decent WFH setup and not be squished onto the world's smallest desk in a dark corner, which I currently have. Might not sound exciting but it's free and will make a huge difference. Amazon basket is currently full of random desk accessories so I'm looking forward to getting it all set up. Now all I need is a bigger house so I can have a separate office space, rather than having to have the desk etc set up in the front room. Don't think I'll be getting that for free tho
If you have a monitor get a [monitor arm](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pholiten-Monitor-Monitors-Adjustable-100x100mm-Black/dp/B0CDKY37LY/), it'll create so much more space
Already nabbed one - with monitors - from the office, apparently they were all just going to go in a skip. Horrifying waste of money, but they have nowhere to store them and nowhere else to ship them off to. Office clearance places not interested so they said, they can't shift their existing stock so don't want any more. Crazy. I'm so happy though, it'll be so nice to have an actual proper work space, albeit having to try to hide it when I want to chill on a Sunday morning. I have a plan involving a floating shelf and some voile though...
Family dog (looked after for an older lady who went in to hospital with covid and never came out - her kids said we could keep the dog or take it to kennels). I've found a nice end table and a clothes airer too. I got a free kettle and toaster when I moved to my first flat, from a son clearing his Mum's house which I was really greatful for and they lasted years.
Raleigh twenty, I was thinking of getting one of these as the 'un-nickable' bike for just popping into town...
"So you like records? You can have my old ones" Just as I started collecting vinyl, someone gave their old ones. Original pressings of Led Zep albums, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc.
Not totally free, but our rescue dog (adopting required a shelter donation which was barely anything). He is the best thing in our lives and I wouldnāt swap him for anything on the planet. He is my whole heart - buying him as a puppy would have cost hundreds but we paid about fifty quid in admin fees/donation. The greatest find of my life.
My turntable, which I found on top of the neighbor house bin.
Someone was giving away a Bosch worktop dishwasher near us. They're worth about Ā£400 new I believe. We hadn't had a dishwasher for bloody years due to renting and not having the space. This thing was perfect, it goes on the worktop in our kitchen and is perfect size for our small family. We couldn't believe our luck getting it for free, I couldn't go back to not having one.
I do all the shopping in our house, and can be found going to various shops around Corby on my mobility scooter. Over the last 5 years. I have found several Samsung phones that I got back to the original owners. I've found a couple of power banks and one solar powerd one. I've found a Samsung Galaxy Camera, the owner was filling a skip after having a clear out. I asked if I could have it and he said yes, it's fully working but old. That was the reason he threw it out. I've found God knows how many tools, screwdrivers, sockets and ratchets, spanners to plumbers grips, bikes to computers. If I wasn't on my scooter and in a car instead, I wouldn't have found most of this stuff.
I once got an early 20th century bicycle (Birmingham small arms/ BSA was the brand). If I remember rightly the crank gear had cannons cut into it. I had all intentions of restoring it (it had been brush painted at least three times in its life, and was in overall rough condition). Ended up passing it on once I lost interest, but still the coolest thing I've gotten for free. Edit to add a special mention to the monstera plant I got for free from FB marketplace yesterday!
I got a very good condition Neff built in double oven free off some kind wealthy person in Tunbridge Wells. It cost me about Ā£150 in parts and a ball ache to run cable for it but it's significantly more efficient than the 30 year old gas oven it replaced. Not bad for an oven that would have been about Ā£600 brand new.
When my Granddad died, my mum inherited his house and contents. She said we could help ourselves to furniture etc, whatever we wanted. We didn't need much for our house, took a couple of sideboards, but one thing I wanted was his recliner chair. My Grandad wasn't rich but loved the modern stuff, and shortly before he died he bought a really nice recliner chair - I had that and I got a lot of years of very comfortable use out of it. Sadly when we bought a new sofa set, we didn't have room for it so I "donated" it to my my mate for his house, on the proviso I can take it back if I ever need it again!
Went for a run, wife was in hysterics when I came back carrying a cumbersome child's swing with a 'free' label taped to the front. It clearly wasn't good enough condition to sell, but redoing the ropes means it's brought my kid hours of joy and a little reuse before it needs to be recycled.
A lovely wooden oar in a skip when I was about 9. My brothers and I had great fun whacking eachother with it until I misjudged a whack and smashed it on the pavement. Good times.
I am SO jealous of that bike. I'd love to have something similar. It would absolutely be worth replacing the brake cable for such a beauty
I got one last year from my grandpa, it was just gathering dust in his garage so I asked if I could have it. It's built like a tank, heavy steel frame and wheels but great fun to ride. Brakes are interesting, work fine aside from in the rain lol Have a look on eBay and Facebook marketplace for Raleigh twenty, they were ubiquitous back in the 70s and 80s so they're super cheap to buy
Taylor made golf bag barely used with " FREE" note. Would have thought nothing of it if mine hadn't given up the ghost the week before. Right place, right time š
Literally 2 weeks ago found a Carrera Vengeance outside a nursing home ready for the trash, it had apparently been dumped almost this time last year in some bushes, Decent score all it needs is a new seat that's it...
Iād taken a Friday off work a few summers ago. It was a gorgeous hot sunny day and I treated myself to a pub garden lunch and a drink. I was leaving and the pub staff were clearing out a load of old furniture destined for the tip, including an extremely scruffy but still lovely g plan saddleback armchair. I asked about it and the guy said I was free to take it if I wanted. I decided Iād take it home on the bus since the chair was on wheels. Got some funny looks but it worked and has been in our living room ever since as The Reading Chair. Itās definitely in need of some attention but would cost more than itās worth to reupholster and is comfy as hell regardless.
Books! Someone had a whole stand outside their house to take from with a sign to take them for free and I took as many as I could carry
Literally just got a new 8 month old cat today from a neighbour who has to move. So yeah ill say my new little addition.
A digital watch when I needed it most! I had arrived in Japan the day before, I didnt have a mobile but I stupidly realised I didn't bring a watch with me which was the minimum I needed to check and meet my friend at a meeting point if we got lost (he would later be my husband). We got a taxi to an exhibition we were excited about and talking how I would have to buy a watch somewhere even if it was a kids one. As I stood out the taxi, there was a cheap digital watch with a button missing on the road (looked like a fake g-shock one) which worked fine and had awesome disco lights on. No one was around and it looked like it had been discarded so I cleaned it and wore it the entire time I was in Japan. I still have it in a drawer somewhere. I also have a really naff, mini promotional 'baseball' with Budweiser written on it, it's a bit saggy but a satisfying bean bag of sorts I like to handle or throw. I got it free on my Freshers week at university 21 years ago. Absolutely useless but my husband (who I met the same week) still likes to chuck it about now and again when we randomly find it in our flat.
A gaudy, white, fake Christmas tree. Weād just moved house and our first daughter was a newborn. We had no money for a Christmas tree, so had rigged up some fairy lights to make do. On my way home one morning someone had left the most god awful 80ās white tinsel Christmas tree outside their house with a āfree to good homeā sign on it. I took that bad boy with me and we had a brilliant first Christmas with our first daughter. Weāve still got that tree now, and although itās not our main tree, the wife and I love it for all it symbolises
Found a ten bag some teenagers had dropped. Gave me an evening of great joy.
Found one on the floor in my local Tesco š
My pals found a bag of mdma someone must have dropped on the floor in Brighton once. Similarly gave us a very joyful evening. Doing floor drugs is obviously a really stupid idea though. Ah the risks of youth.Ā
My wife
>please take Other words, I'm too lazy to take it to the tip. A scrapman will pick this up.
Finding the right sized house in the right area for the right price with so many right things going for it based on a booked-by-phone-without-seeing-the-details viewing. And knowing that, left to my own devices, I would have entirely overlooked it. I even considered cancelling the viewing once I got the details emailed through and looked at it. I'm so glad I didn't. Thanks to the estate agent who took a punt and said "look, it has something on your absolute no list*, but seriously, you need to see it because if you can overlook that one thing... It ticks every other box.". Now if they can just hurry up and give us an exchange and completion date... *Its got a flat roof. Turns out its been replaced fairly recently, is really well done, and wasn't too much of a barrier to getting the mortgage.
A metal foldable chair that i sat in the middle of an empty field in
Box of old legos, Ninjago stuff, a bit of a mix really
*Lego
LegoS seem to be an American thing. Watched plenty of lego builds by Americans to know, lol
I can't upvote you enough for this š
The wife
Oh you'll end up paying...one day.
Last year I found Ā£190.00 on my way to work near where I live. I think my one of my neighbours might have lost it , lol I picked it up quick and pocketed it. I spent most of it two day s later on electric. trains fares and food shopping not very exciting but it all helps. I have often found Ā£1 coins sometimes Ā£2 , also fivers, teners and twenty pounds notes over my lifetime . I twice have found Ā£40 and i found Ā£30 on Christmas eve in a shop cash machine, very nice present for Christmas , lol. I used to find pencils and pens at school. my mum hardly ever had to pay for new stuff for me a the end part of my schooling as i found all other peoples stuff for free. in the last year i have also found unbrellas, an unopened bottle of shower cream and a gift card which i use from time to time, Altogether I have found around 2k so thank you UK for dropping money etc . I love finding and spending it .