This generosity is not limited to the holiday season. You can pretty much always find a free piano on Craigslist. Some of the other items were offered by members of Rochester’s Freecycle chapter, which is part of an international network that allows people to exchange unwanted items, but no money.
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Sometimes a sort of magic happens. For instance, the shutters that used to be on our front windows could not be repaired so they were removed. Just about the time I was figuring out where to buy new shutters, two pairs of them, just the right size, came up on Freecycle, a local online list. A little paint, some hardware, and some hand-forged holdbacks and the house had shutters once more.
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EAST TEXAS (KYTX) — Maybe you’re living on your own for the first time or lost your clothes and furniture in a disaster.
It can cost thousands of dollars to build up your home furnishings. But did you know there’s a place you can get anything from couches to refrigerators to clothes absolutely free? Right here in East Texas?
It’s easy, if you know where to look.
Seven years ago, Brandee McGuire learned a magic word — free. She got plugged into the non-profit website network Freecycle.org, a place to get rid of items you don’t want anymore, free of charge.
“[We’ve had] several houses, we’ve had boats, we’ve had cars,” she said. “There was one in Neches. It was a brick home that needed a lot of work. They were moving and they didn’t want to deal with it so they were just giving it away.”
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In money-saving moves, Lynne Huff said she has started cutting and coloring her own hair, driving less and burning wood from felled trees on their property to provide heat to their home and keep down the cost of propane. She also has become an avid user of Freecycle.org, where millions share items for free.
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1. Start chucking out unwanted stuff early
If you don’t start packing until the day before you move, you’ll end up panicking and just throwing everything into boxes without consideration. As soon as you know a move is on the cards, start the spring cleaning process. It’s much easier to throw stuff away than shift it, but if you’re trying to get rid of a lot of stuff, you’ll want time — whether that’s to sell it, freecycle it, give it away, or (in the worst case scenario) dump it.
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Before you spend money on concrete, it’s worth trying to Freecycle some–people rarely purchase just the right amount of materials for a particular project, and even a quarter of a bag of concrete is going to do you just fine.
To mix the concrete, get out an old bucket, an old cup, and a paint stirrer. Measure out an amount of concrete that will fill your mold (Do you know how to fill a mold with water and then pour it into a measuring cup to find the volume? Science in action!), and just enough tap water, a little at a time, to give the concrete a brownie batter-like consistency. This is actually the only part of the project that’s messy, since concrete mix is dusty, so do this on the porch.
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Nice furniture does not a beautiful home make
It’s tempting when you move in to a new place to break the bank on some gorgeous furniture and hope that it will solve all your interior decor needs, but it’s far more important to focus on the decor and repair of your property first. Then, if you can still afford the lovely sofa or bookcase, you’ll do the furniture justice – it’ll simply fade away in a drab-looking room. Don’t be afraid to turn to freecycle, cheaper furniture stores or family for your first set of furnishings!
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“Ordinary people have been really generous too. I put out a message on Freecycle and we were able to got clothes, duvets and even toys.
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Contact local churches, libraries, grade schools, day care centers, children’s hospitals and foster care programs–or post an ad on the website of the Freecycle Network (freecycle.org), a green, grass-roots collective that acts as a digital curbside.
Members list items they wish to part with, but with one catch: It must be free, and it must be local. A few more giving options:
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Have you heard of Freecycle? It’s a worldwide grassroots network of people who recycle usable items among themselves. When a member has something to give away, it’s advertised via an email distribution list. People who want it reply to the email. The item usually goes to the first responder (all recycled items are free).
Freecycle groups are organized geographically, which makes it easy to participate. If you live in Sonoma Valley you’d probably want to join Sonoma Freecycle (there are also groups in Napa, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and other nearby cities).
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