This spend-thrift has kitted out her home with £20,000 of luxury items – for nothing.

By using the website Freegle, searching through skips and scouring charity shops, Newhaven’s Cat Fletcher, 49, has fully furnished her house for free.

She said: “It just makes sense to me. There’s so much stuff which needlessly gets thrown away.
“I find shopping and buying things really boring and this can be so much fun.”

Among the items she has salvaged for her home are a sofa, a £900 Habitat side- board, cast-iron Le Creuset saucepans, a six-hob oven and Bosch dishwasher.

Most of her items, which she estimates to be worth around £20,000, come from the internet site Freegle, which she helps to run.

Set up in 2009, the website enables people to find new homes for unwanted household goods. Users simply post their unwanted items on the site and then arrange for anyone interested to take them off their hands.

She added: “I would encourage everyone to use it. There’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

“You can find some really good quality stuff on there.

“You also end up helping the environment because the item doesn’t go to landfill.”

The eagle-eyed mum- of-two also keeps a look-out for items on her travels. In the streets nearby her Newhaven home, she has picked up a set of Debenhams white crockery and a chest of drawers.

She said: “My favourite item has to be my palm tree.

“Someone from Hove was renovating their garden and drive and had to clear everything.

“I paid someone to bring it over and now I’ve got it in my front garden.

“I used to have an electric organ which was a barrel of laughs and now I’ve got a windsurfing sailboard.

“I’m Australian, so I’m a bit of a wimp in the winter but I’ll get it out in the summer.”

The only household item she has reluctantly spent money on is her mattress.

She said: “I’ve saved thousands of pounds over the years, which I have instead spent on the things that matter most to me.

“For example I’ve done a lot of travelling, eaten good food and like to spend time with friends.”

To advertise and pick up unwanted goods visit www.ilovefreegle.org.