Jules she/herAug 24, 2025
I realised something recently, that just about all the advice my parents gave me about education, careers, housing and finances has been flat out wrong. All the advice they gave me about relationships, friendship, grieving and supporting someone grieving, has been really useful to me over the years. And I think that says something about what's important and unchanging about the human experience really, and how what current society tells us to focus on will become unrecognisable in a generation.
Show threadNatalyaDMar 18

@afewbugs I keep having to explain to my mum (age 75) that furniture is NOT expensive but rent/mortgages are MASSIVE. And that for 1-3 months' rent in most places, you could furnish an entire house with IKEA type stuff.

My mum is stuck in the early 70s, rent was cheap but places were grotty and furniture was £££. Mum and Dad had grocers' boxes and a wardrobe door as a table for months after moving in. Their first bed cost £££ and was an investment 'for life' (25yrs till the divorce).

Show threadArtemisMar 18

@NatalyaD @afewbugs
I was told the same!
We finally managed to save up for a down payment, and we were told "make sure to budget about $10k for furnishing it". What?!?!?

We've lived in an apartment for 18 years and have everything we need already. I can get any other piece of furniture I'd want secondhand for less than $100. WTF would I spend $10k on?

Show threadNatalyaDMar 18

@Artemis201

Yep! I think even second hand furniture in the 70s was expensive in the UK at least. Whereas now I think the 2nd hand costs dropped because there is so much cheap mass produced stuff that is "trendy".

Much of our furniture is acquired from our families. My partner built our bed as a strange size (Euro King Size) which cost a few hundred pounds + a few mattresses.

Otherwise I think since 2003 we've bought 2x 4 chairs and 2x tables all 2nd hand all under £70 total.

@afewbugs

Show threadJules she/herMar 18
@NatalyaD @Artemis201 in my experience second hand furniture is cheap or even free, it's the hiring the van to move it that's the cost but we've usually been lucky to find friend to go in with at the same time when we've needed to
Show threadJules she/herMar 18
@NatalyaD @Artemis201 but you can very easily furnish a house off Facebook marketplace, the things your friends are moving out and can't take with them and even random finds - there's a flat pack desk in the attic of our house that the previous owners left behind that we will some day figure out how to get down and assmble
Show threadNatalyaDMar 18

@afewbugs @Artemis201

We're cheapskates for sure, but if stuff works and we can "keep it alive" safely, why would we throw it away or replace it.

My sister is Little Mrs Trendy and she replaces the entire house furnishings every few years, often with expensive, hideous AND uncomfortable stuff.

Show threadPatrick Lam Mar 18

@NatalyaD @afewbugs @Artemis201 leather couches! Expensive and uncomfortable!

Totally agree about furniture.

Show threadArtemisMar 18
@va2lam @NatalyaD @afewbugs 😂 you know what I do with leather couches?
I find them for free on marketplace, strip them for the leather, and use it for costuming.
Show threadJules she/herMar 18
@Artemis201 @va2lam @NatalyaD I've got a friend who strips second hand leather off furniture and things (the brown one was apparently an old shipping trolley). He's not on here but is on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bobdeveyst?
Show threadPatrick Lam 
@afewbugs @Artemis201 @NatalyaD love that upcycling!
Mar 18 at 4:05pmWeb