If you’ve ever tried to furnish a house on a budget, you’ll know how hard it can be.

In the shops the price tag will invariably come to thousands of pounds.

But Nicola and Oliver Shelton do things differently at their North London home.

In their back garden, Nicola’s two daughters Daisy and Scarlett play on a set of swings. It’s one of the few large items in their home they’ve actually paid for.

Most of their household goods have come from fellow users of the Freecycle website - and those they no longer want are redistributed among the community in the same way.

From large items like the TV, fire guard, connecting doors, shelves and tables, to smaller more everyday objects like cement, weedkiller, an electric toothbrush, clothes hangers and even Nicola’s daughter’s cardigan, all were obtained for free.

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FLOWER MOUND - Sarah Bailey said her home has become as cozy as they come, and she didn’t have to break the bank to get it there.

“My husband was mad,” she said. “He thought I had spent hundreds of dollars at the store, and I was like, ‘I didn’t spend a dime.’”

Tuesday, the stay-at-home mom showed off her free finds to News 8. Among them was a wine rack in mint condition, as well as several pictures with a wine theme that she was able to use in her kitchen.

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3. Freecycle Network is a web-based, nonprofit organization that helps people offer up items that other people will happily take (www.freecycle.com). Also, you can offer things for free to people in your area on an online bulletin board or newspaper.

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Free furniture is just a click away. Freecycle and Craigslist frequently have items that you just have to pick up.

Many visitors to the sites will spend weeks waiting for that fantastic free item to pop up.

We saw several items at no cost during a quick search: a trampoline, washer and dryer, computer monitor, a Dodge Intrepid car and bed.

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Ebay, Craig’s list and Amazon are websites where you can find and buy anything but there’s a new site that’s drawing in thousands of fans everyday.

The website allows you to get everything for free and at the same time help the environment too. It’s called Freecycle.org and it’s purpose is to keep all that stuff you want to get rid of from piling up in the landfills.

Members of Freecycle can list items they want to get rid of and if someone wants those items, they can pick them up.

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Even if the economy has you cutting back on shopping, you still can get something new or at least new to you.

“People are throwing away things every day that are really nice,” said Veronica Bates.

Bates’ home is proof of that.

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Kristyn Jackson is also sharing her slightly used items. She uses Freecycle, which is a Web site linked to Yahoo groups based on where you live. Freecycle Ohio has thousands of local residents signed up in hopes of unloading items they no longer use and aquiring things that may not be in their budget right now.

There are rules as to what you can and cannot post, and each request is filtered before it is sent to the users. Nobody is allowed to list garage sales and no money ever changes hands. People can ask for items they need and offer items they no longer want.

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“People are throwing away things every day that are really nice,” said Veronica Bates. Bates’ home is proof of that.

From an aquarium that could have cost a couple hundred dollars, to a brand new cabinet that would have cost $200 or more, to a $50 table on her deck, Bates recycles other people’s belongings by freecycling them.

The e-mail and virtual bulletin board online community has thousands of members in Maine who give and take new and used items.

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Freecycle.org is organized like Craigs list. People post whatever it is they are willing to hand off, and others can log on to search the site. The website has been around for years, and has sections for Champaign-Urbana, Danville, Decatur and Springfield. And word seems to be spreading. More people are logging on every day to find things they can take off other’s hands for free!

“I’ve seen cars go through there, big screen TVs,” says local website moderator Paul Grindley. “Fertilizers, lawn and garden equipment, computers, lots of computers.”

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Those members in Brazil can watch the video at the link below.