I agree, which is why our house is full of things like cheap desk/patio chairs, desks taken from offices who no longer wanted them anymore and boards resting on top of those triangle wall mount brackets. We didn't even have a couch for a long time after our past hand-me-down was tossed, until recently, when I took one my mother didn't need anymore. A bookshelf unit in the living room, a small narrow desk, and a few short shelves for DVD type storage are about all I've ever spent on furniture. And the mattress.
Personally, if I didn't have/wasn't allergic to my cats, I'd just toss giant pillows on the floor and sit on those.