On my drive home from work yesterday, I passed a stack of wood along the side of River Road. On top of the pile was a hand-lettered sign that read: FREE LUMBER — HELP YOURSELF. I drove past, not paying it much mind. (I was singing along to Kelly Clarkson at the top of my lungs. “Since you been gah-ohn!”)
But then it occurred to me that a stack of free wood might be useful. Didn’t I just pay a lot of money to buy lumber for my horseshoe pits last spring? Aren’t Kris and I wanting to edge the vegetable garden? If nothing else, couldn’t I cut up this wood and use it to heat my workshop next winter?
I went turned around and went back. It took some creativity, but eventually I loaded my Ford Focus with the entire pile:
- Nine four-by-fours ranging in length from 6 feet to 12 feet.
- A variety of two-by-fours, all under six feet.
- A handful of plywood pieces.
All of this material is used, but in great shape. It’s perfect for any purpose I might have, especially to edge the vegetable garden.
I’m a big fan of the informal “side-of-the-road” exchange system that exists in most neighborhoods. Last summer I wrote that free is a very good price:
One step you can take to becoming more frugal is to overcome our cultural resistance to picking stuff up from the side of the road. I’m not suggesting that you dumpster dive, but start paying attention to the things that people discard. The perfectly good things that people discard.
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A better source of free stuff is family and friends. Pay attention to the things people are purging. You can often get good stuff for free (or cheap) simply by asking. I’m always happy to give my friends things that I might otherwise sell.
Our circle of friends often exchanges things with each other: Mac and Pam gave us a couple of old chairs; Mike and Rhonda just brought over some metal edging (we have a lot of beds to edge); we gave our old couch to my brother’s family; etc.
Watch for useful items that people are discarding. And don’t just throw useable things in the trash. Ask around — somebody you know may view your trash as a treasure.
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I have dubbed my wife “Queen of the Road-side Special”
We hardly buy toys for the kids, yet our garage is overflowing with kids outdoor toys. Our basement has even more indoor toys. We have more toys for kids than I ever had when I was kid, yet we barely ever buy anything for them! Probably a good 50% or more are from friends or family discarding stuff, 25% or more are from “road-side specials”, with the remaining 5% being consignment-store bargains.
And the great thing about the consignment store is that we can bring stuff we’ve bought, found, picked-up, or been given and sell it there for store credit! We’ve *sold* things through the consigment store which we never paid a dime for. This works out *really* well for clothes. It’s like a really low-cost clothes rental system
Buy some clothes, when the kids outgrow them, bring them back and essentially trade them in for new stuff that fits.
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My wife and I are in the process of moving and we got rid of a loveseat left in the house just by putting it out on the curb. Someone drove by and picked it up within an hour.
My wife’s employer just purchased the adjoining building, which was filled with old office furniture, so we were able to pick up a nice big wooden desk, for free of course.
Half of our furniture is old (1960s-1980s) office furniture that we got for free from various places over the years. It is in good condition, has a neat look to it, and was free. Best of all, things seem to have been built much better then. Better materials and craftsmanship. It doesn’t get any better than high quality stuff for free.
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Congratulations on the free wood. If this is pressure treated lumber, you absolutely must not burn it to heat your workshop next winter, and you shouldn’t cut or sand it without wearing a respirator. The gasses you’d inhale working with or burning pressure-treated lumber can cause arsenic poisoning and other nasty ailments.
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Hmm, this reminds me that I need to haul our old loveseat we have taking up space in the storage shed to the side of the road to see if someone takes it. Somebody better or else it is getting chopped up and burned!
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Freecycle is a network where you can sign up for your local area and offer to give away the stuff you might otherwise throw away. It’s an easy way to be sure your discarded items get used. I’ve found it’s sometimes difficult to claim items due to the amount of interest, but that also means it’s very easy to give your items away.
http://www.freecycle.org/
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I use the local Freecycle message boards to either find or get rid of stuff. Check it out at Freecycle.org.
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Heh, Matt’s post reminds me of the Simpson’s episode with the trampoline.
They tried giving it away, but no one would take it. Bart told Homer the sure-fire way to get rid of it was to lock it to the fence so no one would “steal” it. 5 minutes later, it was gone
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Frank’s right–don’t burn it if it’s treated (it probably has a green tinge).
While I’m all for the FREE STUFF, beware becoming a pack rat. It can be as bad a being in debt. I know a few people who have a serious problem with free accumulation–Craigslist is a real addiction for them.
HOWEVER, enjoy in moderation
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A good thing to remember also is that just because it’s free or cheap doesn’t mean it’s a deal either. I’ve had people try and convince me to buy a jacket for $2.50 even though I didn’t need it, and it would take up room in my tiny closet. Or like the woman on Freecyle who took my stuff and said she just loves free stuff! I don’t think she really cared what was in the box (though I think people on Freecyle troll for junk to sell at the flea markets and yard sales).
Anyway, sounds like you got a good deal. I have no problem taking stuff on the side of the road. Living in a university town it’s very common. Unfortunately I can never drag bit items back to my car since I don’t have a car or friends I can call on like that. Oh well
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Like other commenters, surprised you didn’t mention http://www.freecycle.org, a brilliant grassroots network of local free stuff exchangers…
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A couple of quick points:
* I’m aware of Freecycle, though I’ve never used it. I didn’t link to it in this entry, but I did in the entry from last July.
* Thanks for the tip on the pressure-treated lumber. I know not to use the stuff in vegetable gardens, but I didn’t know I shouldn’t burn it, either. Only one piece of the wood is pressure-treated, so that’s good.
Keep the stories about free stuff coming!
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I’ll even resort to dumpster diving to pick up things to sell on eBay. It’ll net a few dollars every week.
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Doh! I was going to post up a link to Freecycle but I see the crowd has beaten me to it. So I’ll just add a little note for your local dump. They’ll often have free stuff available for resident. Our local dump here in the SF bay area offers free mulch, free compost, free lumber and so on to any resident who wants to come pick it up.
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My friends and I do a clothing exchange a couple times a year. We all get together and go through the clothes that don’t fit anymore or we just don’t want anymore. We donate everything left over to a local battered womans shelter. It’s fun and a good way to come home with “free stuff” (sometimes with tags) w/o spending a dime. Free Shopping.
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I’m with Rob. I’ve used Freecycle a good bit, and even though there are some loonies on there, there are also lots of nice people who can give items good homes . . . or who can offer something you want or need! You just have to wade through the emails regularly (if you do the daily digest, at least in ATL, all the items will be gone).
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I have 2 points.
1. In my town, there is a twice yearly “bulk pickup” day, once in the fall, once in the spring. You can basically put out anything the garbage men normally wouldn’t take. Sounds like an environmental disaster, but in practice, what happens is people drive in from up to 80 miles away and pick over your stuff and take it, no questions asked. It makes me a little nervous to have shady people driving their pickups through my neighborhood all day, but its well worth it when you see your pile slowly disappear before the actual garbage pickup day. I’ve heard of people getting things like lawnmowers that only need a little tune up, up to perfectly good refrigerators that “rich” people threw out because it was the wrong color.
2. I don’t recommend people putting sofas out in this fashion, because at least in my town, unless your sofa is really disgusting, you can usually get $50 for it on craigslist, AND the buyer picks it up.
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We use Freecycle to get rid of stuff but not to acquire things, for the most part. I read the “wanted” and “needed” post for entertainment.
-Wanted: 6 horses plus cheap or free board. Horses must be kid-safe.
-Needed: Wildly expensive video games.
-Wanted: Furniture for an entire house (yes, they had a LIST of EVERYTHING).
-Wanted: Dog, perfectly trained.
The things people want and need on the Freecycle list for my area are so outrageous that I subscribe to the list just to read them.
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The one time I gave away a sofa on craigslist (free, but you come pick it up), I got around 100 requests in 36 hours. It’s a great site for finding and disposing of stuff.
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Solid suggestions. Might I add: barter.
For example, I recently did a website for a friend of mine who in exchange helped me with a few small legal issues.
Another suggestion: borrow.
For example, I have saved myself hundreds of dollars this year by borrowing needed tools from neighbors, rather than buying them. In most cases, I don’t expect I will need the tools again anytime soon, so buying it to leave in the garage feels like a waste.
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I can’t say enough good things about freecycle. We moved to California from Ireland last year and the only furniture we brought with us was two beds, two tub chairs and a love seat. We now have a house furnished from freecycle. We even got a fridge. The only things we had to buy were a washer and dryer, we needed them in a bit of a hurry but I have seen several to give away since. We have also met some cool people through the list.
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I get perfectly good stuff for free regularly from neighborhood trash. If I have time, the perfectly good items that I don’t need I drive to the thrift store. Casting someone else’s bread upon the waters, so to speak.
Also, I just picked up a 1920s light fixture off the top of someone’s trash, and it brought $69 on eBay.
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When we first moved into our house we realized after living in apartments we would have to get a lawnmower. A neighbor 2 houses down had set one up by the trash can so we made sure he was getting rid of it and now, after 4 years of use, it just died last week. It turns out he had wanted a new one back then and convinced his wife there was something wrong with it when it only needed a very cheap repair. We also just got a booth-style kitchen table and benches from a friend who just got a new kitchen set. We’ve also got my computer from the curb and some random kid toys and furniture. So, if anyone needs a nonworking lawnmower, there’s one on our curb right now
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After a few frustrating no-show issues with Freecycle, I’ve instituted “giveaway days” on my Livejournal. I sort things I don’t want into lots (for example, aromatherapy supplies; craft supplies; shoes that don’t fit; DVDs) and put photos up. My friends claim the lots, and I ship them out. (If it’s a heavy box I’ll usually split shipping costs with them.) People love claiming things, and it keeps my packrat tendencies down.
Sometimes giving things away can be really frustrating, though. When we moved from NC to VA in 2005, my car wouldn’t pass VA inspections and repairs would have been more than it was worth. We ended up giving the car to my brother- and sister-in-law in NC. They never even thanked us for it (well, not until a year later when my mother-in-law firmly suggested to them that thanking us would be a nice gesture for a FREE WORKING CAR).
This isn’t directly related, but I’ve found that another great way to keep down clutter is to scan magazine articles I want to keep. I add the scanned pages to private Flickr albums and recycle the magazines.
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If you live near a college campus, this is your week for picking stuff up that students discard! Students have started an initiative for being more responsible about their end-of-year unwanted stuff,a national group called Dump and Run, for students to designate things that would otherwise go to the dumpster for folks to take and use. You can read more details:
http://moneychangesthings.blogspot.com/2007/04/dump-and-run-eco-college-scene.html
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My bro is a master at this! Just last night, we were moving him into a new apartment and by the side of the road he spotted a plastic chain saw case. “Stop the car!” We stopped and got out… he picked it off the curb and threw it in the trunk… It had a relatively new chain saw in it, too! The thing still runs, also… The funny thing is that I would never have spotted it… It takes and eagle eye to spot the treasure among the trash!
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There was an Epson color printer on the sidewalk as I was walking to the grocery store. It came with cables and ink! I wanted to take it but I already had a printer and it was a bit heavy to lug without a car.
But my best find was a frozen yogurt maker! I couldn’t believe it! I have yet to test out if it works. It requires a lot of cleaning having gathered dust. But now I can make my own frozen yogurt and hopefully ice cream! I saw a convection oven yesterday while I was going to the museum in another neighborhood. The top wasn’t working but the bottom was. I wanted to take it but decided against lugging it on the bus ride home. I also saw a sewing machine in my neighborhood once!
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[...] recently wrote a post about how he picked up someone else’s discard pile (reuse!) on his way home from work one day and that got me thinking about what sort of goodies [...]
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