Karen Yoho of Greenbelt, Maryland, has had many pianos pass through her life. Communications director for the Salvation Army National Capital and Virginia Division, Yoho played piano as a child and acquired her first piano through Freecycle in 2008. She paid $100 to move it, hoping that she might take it up again and that her 6-year-old daughter Mary Alyce might show an interest. Neither happened, so in 2012, when Yoho saw a “piano wanted” posting on Freecycle, she gave it away. In 2015, her neighbor was offering a piano free to a good home, so Yoho and the neighbor split the $150 moving charge to roll it down the sidewalk. “I was hoping this piano would become a member of the family,” she says. But a year later, it was getting no love, so she gave it away.

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Karen Yoho of Greenbelt, Md., has had many pianos pass through her life. She played piano as a child and acquired her first piano through Freecycle in 2008. She paid $100 to move it, hoping that she might take it up again and that her 6-year-old daughter Mary Alyce might show an interest. Neither happened, so in 2012, when Yoho saw a “piano wanted” posting on Freecycle, she gave it away. In 2015, she picked up another free piano from her neighbor, splitting the $150 moving charge to roll it down the sidewalk. “I was hoping this piano would become a member of the family,” she says. But a year later, it was getting no love, so she gave it away.

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Other apps to familiarise yourself with include, freecycle a non-profit movement of people who give (and receive) stuff for free in their own neighbourhoods. Also check out homeexchange.com, trustedhousesitters.com and couchsurfing, all offering ways to travel without paying a cent.

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