Good luck with that Bri - hope it works out better than the taxi driving
Too far away to be of any direct help I'm afraid but it certainly can pay. Over here people have garage sales and larger furniture items often get unsold so they leave them out with a 'Free' sign on for anyone to take. Just last week Mrs CA saw an old bookcase so chucked it in the back of the truck and a quick rub down, couple of coats of high white gloss later sold it for $200.
We often use freecycle.org to get rid of stuff we no longer need for free (you'd be surprised what people will take e.g. 46" projection TV that took 4 men to lift, 8'x4' bathroom mirror) and to get stuff that people give away, from chicken wire to plants to fence panels - you can see I use it mainly for the garden but people do give away furniture. Have a look on there as there is a Freecycle group for Rotherham and Humberside.