How to Find Free Things Wherever You Live

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By Terria Fleming
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free free free

You can't beat free. Free is always good. Even better are all the recent movements, groups, and programs that are working hard to keep good stuff of all kinds from ending up in the dumpsters and landfills. Recycling and reusing stuff makes for a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

information from this article
time to pick up your free stuff

Step 1

freecycle

If you haven't heard of freecycle, then you need to check it out. To join freecycle all you need is a yahoo account, and then you can join your local freecycle organization. Freecycle is taking over the country. Freecycle groups are in practically every city or area so it should be easy to find a freecycle group near you.

All items are offered free to the first taker, so all you need is some way of picking the stuff up, and an internet connection so you can check the freecycle postings often.

Freecycle does ask that you offer something free for others, before answering one of the free ads, but that shouldn't be a problem. We all have things we want to get rid of.
Step 2

free store in NYC

Freestores are a new concept in the US but they have been going strong for years in Europe. See the resources list below for a web site that has a freestores directory.

Everything is free in a freestore. They are similar to thrift stores, with items being donated to them, but unlike thrift stores the items are then put on display in the freestores for, (what else?), free.
Step 3

free market in China

Free Markets are catching on across the US too, and there is a similar worldwide free market movement going on. Free Markets are not as organized as free stores, and are often held outside, on sidewalks, in public parks, and other places where people gather and there is room to display the goods.

Free Markets often have free vegetables, fruits, and herbs, as well as a wide variety of goods being offered to the public for free. Think farmers market/flea market but without any money changing hands.

Do an internet search for Free Markets for your city or area to find a free market near you. They are also advertised sometimes on craigslist, so check there also.
Step 4

freegan

Freegans are another group that promotes free stuff. In the case of Freegans they tend to get free stuff from dumpsters, and to promote the prevention of waste by reusing and recycling goods and food that they find in the dumpsters.

Not everyone is comfortable dumpster diving like the freegans do, but I admire the desire to stop wasting all the food and other stuff that gets thrown away in huge amounts every single day, in every single city in the US. Anything that can put a dent in that waste is good in my book.

The web site for freegans is listed in the resources below so check them out, and take a look at how much good they are doing.
Step 5

free garden produce

Craigslist has a free section where you can find all kinds of things listed for free. Just get in touch with the person and make the arrangements to pick up the free items from them.

I've seen everything from excess garden produce, cars, furniture, toys for kids, grocery bags of food (from someone who was moving but didn't want to pack the food), to trailer houses, and lots of other things as well. You never know what you will find. You have to check it often and be quick or you might lose out though.
Step 6

Other places that offer items for free are; FreeSharing, Free Swapper Network, and Regiftable.com. Links for all these can be found in the resources below.

You can put notices on freecycle and on craigslist section for the particular free items you are seeking too, so don't forget to do that if you really need a new table or something but just can't afford it. Maybe someone would be glad for you to have the old table they are getting rid of, all you'll have to do is go pick it up.