BECKY SHEAVES

The trouble with kitchen islands is they are just insanely expensive. It's just a big wooden cupboard, right? So why does it cost more than a second-hand car or a holiday?

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FRESH from my triumphant acquisition of garden furniture at a quarter the price it would have been if new, I have been continuing my adventures in online second-hand shopping with gusto.

If I can buy something on the cheap, nothing is going to stop me. Not even horror stories. Someone I know tried to sell a pair of shoes on the internet. When she handed them over to the purchaser (a woman), they snatched them out of her hands and legged it, without handing over the agreed £12 in cash. Over her shoulder, the thief screamed: "And don't forget, I know where you live!" Nice. Now, this did not happen in our own beloved West Country, so I reassure myself with that. But as regular readers will know, I am as gullible as the next person scrolling through their phone in search of a bargain. As I confessed in a recent column, a scammer parted me from a £200 deposit recently with quite embarrassing ease.

None of this has put me off, however. And so it was that I dashed downstairs the other day brandishing my mobile: "Look at this island! It would cost five times more if it was new." My husband then gave me a solemn lecture on How Not To Waste Money. (Clue: you have to stop buying things.) And then he said: "Let's have a look at it. Hmmm... I can see why you like it."