I seem to have bought a new sofa.

I’d gone into a few furniture shops just to get an idea on price. I was fed up of the charity store sofas that we’d always had – there’s a reason why they end up in charity stores: the frame is collapsing or the foam has disintegrated.

There is a slight chance that I’ll get a bonus sometime this summer – so I wanted to have an idea how much what I like would cost.

It was mostly very disappointing: the things I liked were way too expensive – several times what I wanted to pay. When you have a stinky dog that sheds everywhere, you can’t be too precious about furniture.

But it still needs to be comfortable!

I hate people pouncing on me as soon as I go in with “can I help you?” and I’m immediately suspicious of the “I hope you’re having a nice day!”

I’m afraid I was a little short with the fellow who greeted me on one of the stores – in response to his greeting I answered that I was just looking.

I wandered into one shop, and things were about the right price.

Then I saw one that was well within my imaginary budget.

I took a photo and moved on to the next couple of stores.

They were more of the same. Mostly (in my opinion) ugly or too expensive or both.

I went back to the first store and found the fellow that I was a little short with initially – he was kinda cute, and I realised that he’d only been doing his job.

I checked out what colours I could have and whole long it would be before delivery. Twelve weeks! Normally I might be annoyed by that because I want it now, but I don’t want it just yet – not until the husband moves out.

Thirty-six months interest free credit is a much better deal than using the credit card, which was my initial thought. The credit card would cost an extra seven hundred pounds over the same period. I can also pay it off any time without any penalties – and since I am hoping for a bonus this year, I may be able to pay off a lot of it straight away.

So, there we go. I have bought a new sofa. It’s going to be a kind of dark teal/green colour, which will go nicely with the wallpaper. It’s a kind of hard-wearing suede, so it’ll stand up to the dog and will feel soft.

I’m really excited that I’ve picked out my first piece of grown up furniture!

Why am I feeling guilty?!