We Paid Cash: A New-To-Us Sectional

A testimony from Jennifer

From the time my husband and I moved into our house 4 1/2 years ago we dreamed of replacing our garage sale chair and freebie sofa with a sectional. While waiting for our dream to come true, we settled on purchasing slip covers for each to at least make them match.

My husband and I are both planners by nature and try to think long-term —  especially when making decisions that will cost us a substantial amount of money. We didn’t want just any sectional, we wanted one with a chase lounge (for me), pull out sofa (for when our guest room inevitably becomes another kid’s room), and recliner (for my husband).

So our search began in the most logical place: Craigslist! At first I was a little grossed out about buying a used sectional, but quickly got over it when we realized the price of a brand new sectional. We looked and looked and looked but couldn’t find what we wanted.

Fast forward three years, two dogs, our first child, and a lost job later our dream was still alive, but just barely. Losing a job can really make you think out of the box — and that’s exactly what we did. We sold all the large items in our basement (stereo system, couch, chair, elliptical, and coffee table) on Craigslist and made $475!

We now had $475 burning a hole in our pockets, and the hunt was on again for our new-to-us sectional. We were blessed to find exactly what we wanted within a week, which surprised me since we had been looking for three years and never found anything! I didn’t waste any time, we contacted the seller, went to take a look at the sectional. It turned out to be perfect in every way!

The sectional belonged to an older couple with grown children who have only had it a few years and took great care of it. The pull-out bed had never been used (a huge plus for the gross out factor!) and their home was immaculately clean. To top it off it was a Lazy-Boy. I never dreamed we would actually get a name-brand sectional!

The price listed was $425. We were able to pay cash for it and have enough leftover to rent a truck to move it.

At the end of the day we were able to get our dream sectional without touching our bank account or credit card (which are now all paid off!!) It just took a little time, a lot of patience, and some clever thinking.

Jennifer Willis lives in Olathe, Kansas and runs an in-home daycare. She has a son named Henry who is 1 1/2 years old and another son on the way! She has been married to her husband, John, for 4 1/2 years.

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