In our Money Secrets series, we ask people to confess their furtive money-related secrets which they are hiding from loved ones or that people do not know the full extent about.
Today, we speak to Dr Maria Knobel, a GMC-registered GP, who picks up furniture that people leave on the kerb or picks up pieces cheaply online, before cleaning them up and selling them on for a profit.
The secret sideline alongside her work as a doctor has made her almost £10,000 over the last few years. However, she has kept it a secret from friends and family until now as she feared their judgement. But, she has decided the burden of secrecy is too heavy so has decided to reveal her money secret.
It all began when one of my neighbours left a solid oak bedside table at the kerb. It was scratched, water-stained and looked ready for the tip.
I sanded it down over one weekend, oiled the wood and listed it online just to see what would happen. It sold for £85 within two days.
It was the first time in years I had made something with my hands outside medicine, so it felt oddly rewarding. Weirdly enough, I then started noticing discarded furniture everywhere.
I am in my early forties and am a GMC-registered GP in the UK. I have been a doctor for 13 years and before general practice, I trained in emergency medicine and ENT surgery across NHS hospitals and one hospital in Switzerland. Now, I also work as medical director at Medical Cert which is an online, private medical certificate platform.
Since my first experience with the bedside table, I have been quietly reselling second-hand furniture online. I pick up pieces people leave on the kerb or sell cheap on online marketplaces and I clean them up and sell them on for a profit.
Some months I make around £150, other months it is closer to £400. I keep the earnings in a separate account that nobody knows exists. It started as a way to cover surprise bills, but it now feels like my own private cushion. The extra money meant I could afford to repair my broken boiler without borrowing from anyone.
My proudest find was a 60s teak sideboard. Someone had left it outside because the drawer runners had split and the handles were dull. I rebuilt the runners, cleaned the brass handles and sold it for £310 to a young couple furnishing their first flat. That was my most satisfying sale. They sent me a photo of it in their dining room a week later. I still smile thinking about it.
The most satisfying part is taking something damaged and making it useful again. In medicine, you treat a person and often wait weeks or months to see improvement. With furniture, the improvement is something you can see straight away. You sand, oil and tighten and the piece looks better by the end of the afternoon. It calms me for some reason.
There is also something similar to medicine in the diagnosis. A wobbly table leg and a patient with chest pain both require you to find the source of the problem before you can fix it.
I opened the separate account after my first three or four sales. I told myself it was just a tidy way to keep track of money for materials and occasional courier costs. But as the balance slowly grew, I started to see it as a safety net.
Then, my boiler broke last January and that repair cost me £1,180, which I paid from that account without touching my salary or using credit. I realised this money was not only a pocket of cash, but a private cushion that let me absorb a nasty surprise without panic.
I kept my furniture sideline a secret from family and friends because I did not want to explain myself. I thought my family and friends might see it as strange or unnecessary. Some would probably ask why a doctor needs to sell old furniture. Others might make jokes about me being on the side of the road picking up cast-offs. I avoided those conversations because the thought of them felt draining.
At first, the secrecy was pretty nice because it gave me a small private world that belonged only to me. But then it became awkward eventually. I had to hide sanding tools when friends visited and I dodged questions about weekend plans. All of that started becoming uncomfortable.
People assume doctors earn plenty and do not need side money. But let me tell you that even though medicine pays decently, life is expensive. I bought a house, I pay student loan deductions and I help support my mother.
The side hustle does not mean I am struggling. It means I have found a way to build a financial buffer without doing extra clinical shifts or private work. I would say to anyone who judges me that there is no shame in creating a small safety net with your own hands.
The secrecy is now heavier than the fear of judgement, so I have decided to talk about my money secret.
I have made about £9,400 from my side hustle in two years. After paying for tools, sandpaper, handles and the occasional delivery, I have about £6,800 saved in that separate account.
I plan to use part of it for a holiday next spring and keep the rest as an emergency fund. The cushion is now a permanent part of how I manage my finances.
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