One man's junk...

I've mentioned Freecycle several times, so after a few questions like,"What is THAT?" and so forth, I thought I should explain it.

A few years ago, I ran across an article about how someone was trying not to spend any money (except for food necessities) for a whole year. No new clothes, no movies, etc. They mentioned that they had a mug break and got a free one thru freecycle. I KNOW! What's that? I said... So I did a little research and found that it's a nationwide phenomenon, county based in each state. It's a Yahoo group, county by county, that has their members post things they don't need anymore or ask for things they might need. It lessens the amount of waste going into the landfills and helps out someone who needs that item. So it's a win-win for sure!

www.freecycle.org

There are a few rules and each county is different. For my county, you can't just sign up and start asking for things, you need to offer something first. And you can only ask for something once a week. There's a moderator who keeps track of things. My group has over 5000 members, so it's a very active one.

It does increase the number of emails that you get, but the posts are immediately emailed to you when someone posts something and you can respond to them faster, thus more chance that you will be the lucky recipient of the item. Rather than waiting for the post to get to the website, which by that time, the item is already snapped up. But I have offered things and no one wanted them either... So oh well. My rejected items either go to the Good Will or the trash.

With Freecycle, I've gotten rid of a old yucky piano and gotten a newer one that sounds better! I've gotten a few clothing items that I mostly make into other things. Then yesterday, got a loft! In cleaning the girls rooms and sorting thru their old things, I've gotten rid of clothes and shoes that don't fit them anymore. I asked for a little Tykes playhouse once and 3 weeks later got an email from someone with one! Then a couple years later, decided that my daughter had really outgrown it, so we offered it on Freecycle and it was snapped up right away.

The best part is, that EVERYTHING is free on freecycle. Get it? Free Recycle?! Too cool!

So... if you're looking to save some money here or there and need something OR if you've been cleaning out your garage and are wondering what to do with that lawn mower with the broken pull string... Check out Freecycle.

One man's junk....