Lara from Mrs. Waste Not emailed in the following tip:
On my blog, I frequently share about my Freecycle findings because I probably end up finding an item I really need or want about once a month — all for free. It occurred to me that it would be great to step back and tally up how much this awesome network has saved me this year and so I did!
Since I know a lot of you are frugal like me, the prices I use in my examples below are what I would pay if I purchased the items second hand. I have noted if it is a retail price, just because it means it is something I do not usually find second hand.
My Freecycle Finds This Year:
Boy Clothes Round One = $21 saved
2 long sleeve shirts, 4 short sleeve shirts (all NWT), 1 pajamaGirl Clothes = $87 saved
5 dresses, 4 shorts, 6 skirts, 2 pants, 2 leggings, 2 sweaters, 5 short sleeves shirts, 2 long sleeve shirtsSewing Machine for a Child = $30 saved
My daughter has been asking for this, and I am saving it for a Christmas presentIris Bulbs = $10 saved
I used a retail price. I don’t see these often in my garage sale adventuresDresser for Son’s Room = $40 saved
Some dings on the bottom, but you cannot beat the priceBoy Clothes Round Two = $36 saved
4 long sleeve shirts, 6 short sleeve shirts, 2 pajamasTwo gallons of paint = $52 saved
One sage which I used in my living room, one beige which we plan on using in living room. These painting jobs were previously planned, it was just serendipitous that we ended up with the perfect colorsTwo summer bridge activity books for next summer = $30 saved
This is based on the price on the back of the book.Total Saved in the Last Twelve Months: $306
Now, I will stay that if you want to score deals like these, you need to stay on top of the emails. I receive an individual email for each post, rather than digest. This gives me a better chance of being the first one to respond and therefore get the item. I also check my email every 2-3 hours to be on top of deals.
I do use caution when going to a strange place to do a pickup, but a lot of people leave things on their porch so no human interaction is necessary. I also try to post something myself every couple of months, as a return of the good will.
I hope that this encourages you to sign up for your local freecycle list. If you have scored any great finds yourself, I would love to hear about them in the comments!
Mrs. Waste Not is the mom in a typical family of four, and her blog, Mrs. Waste Not, is where she document how they save money and exercise responsible stewardship of the earth. When she’s not gardening, cooking or playing with her kids, she has her nose in a book.
Sue says
I recently posted on freecycle that I wanted an exercise bike. The first go around produced no results. I posted again in a few weeks and got a response that a woman had one to give away. I proceeded to pick up a full cardio, pre-programmable state-of-the-art bike in mint condition. When I opened the instruction manual, out fell a receipt that showed she had purchased the bike for $999.99!
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
Freecycle is an excellent idea! I wish I had better luck with it. A lot of folks check Freecycle constantly, grab every freebie, and then resell it on Craigslist and local FB yard sale sites to make money.
Bethany says
Oh my goodness I have received a TON of free stuff — always wanted to quantify it but never did. My last pick-up was 2 huge garbage bags of 4T clothes for my son .. barely worn. I’ve received cases of baby food that were nowhere near expired. Boxes of baby cereal — never opened. I also give away alot of things especially once my boys grow out of a particular size or outgrown a toy (Thomas is a huge one). I also exercise caution by picking up in public parking lots, taking somebody with me, or doing porch pick up…
Wendy says
Please PLEASE be a good neighbor, though – offer as many things as you receive! Nothing kills a Freecycle group faster than long list of “wanted” requests and nobody offering anything (or only offering trash). When I offer things on Freecycle, I usually look up the past posts for the first few people who want to pick up whatever I have, and I offer it to whoever has offered something up most recently.
Mrs. Waste Not says
I check the free section of craigslist regularly, but I have yet to find something I want there. I am glad others are having luck. I will mention I see quite a few listing for plants and mulch there – a great money saver!
Missy Robinson says
I both use and donate on Freecycle – it’s wonderful! Over the years I’ve gotten lots of children’s clothing, a glider, a dresser, children’s luggage, iris bulbs and a butterfly bush, dishes, too much to count!
Be sure to check the “free” section of Craigslist, too!
Ann says
I have given away a ton of stuff on freecycle and gotten some nice stuff, too. I get the digest version so I don’t have the large number of emails. Even so, as long as something doesn’t have a ‘taken’ message, I email asking about things I’m interested in. Often, the person has had a ‘no show’ and is eager to get rid of the item. I also find that if you consistently post things to give away, others are more likely to select you as the recipient of their items, because they recognize the name. I have had a few not-so-great experiences, but figured that the problem was the person and not freecycle. ‘No shows’ are a bit of a problem (some people don’t value your time and energy if things are free) but I just take it in stride. I’ve learned that the 1st person to respond has the greatest likelihood of not showing up, so I wait a little before making a decision. I’ve asked for specific things a few times and gotten great responses – again it helps if you consistently post stuff to give away. An active freecycle group is wonderful!
Jessica says
I was a freecycle member for 8 years, until last September. I posted an offer and selected a respondent. We made arrangements for pickup of the item. I always required that respondents give me a date and time for pickup and I always told them that if the item wasn’t picked up within 2 hours of their stated time, then the item would be offered to the next person in the list of respondents. I did that because I got sick and tired of the no-shows.
So this person did a no show. They were supposed to pick up at 10am, and at 2pm the item was still on my porch. I removed the item, emailed that person that since the item wasn’t picked up, it was being offered to another person. I got no response. This was a Tuesday.
I contacted another person about picking up. We made arrangements for a Friday pickup. I placed the item on my porch at noon and then I went to a doctor’s appointment and returned around 2pm. The item was gone.
I got onto my email around 5pm, and the person who was to pick up that day had sent a message asking where the item was, mad that they wasted their time and there wasn’t anything on my porch and I didn’t answer my door.
I wrote back, stating that I had indeed set the item on my porch and we confirmed that she came to the right place.
I had an inkling that the no-show person from early in the week had pulled a stunt. I emailed that person, asking if they took the item off my porch without permission. A day later I got back a message saying that they indeed had come and stolen the item off my porch even though they had received the first message saying it was no longer available to them. They had been stalking my house waiting for me to put the item back on my porch.
I was completely creeped out. I contacted the Freecycle monitor. I was told to “play nice” and that I was insulting the person by calling them a thief! They were a thief! They took items off my property without my permission! Plus they wasted someone else’s time and gas!
After that, I left the group. I didn’t want to be part of a “community” that condones theft.
I’m just sharing this to encourage safety and privacy.
Mrs. Waste Not says
Wow, I am sorry to hear about your negative experience! I do think some groups are probably better managed than other.
Rachael says
I, too, have dealt with a fair bit of strangness from the admins. I’ve had requests and offers not posted and told they weren’t allowed, while someone else’s posts got through. There are tons of ‘wants”, but rarely ‘offers’, and I’ve offered stuff more than once and noone ever responded to. Our admins talk about how hard they work and they are volunteers, so I don’t want to doubt them, but I’ve had every single one of my emails to them ignored and never responded to. Very frustrating. I’ve ended up going to craig’s list for stuff because of how bad the local freecycle got. I bet it really does depend on our locale and the admins.
Shelley says
I have noticed that the offers and even wants have dropped off to almost nothing in our freecycle group. Population is around 90,000 in our freecycle area. I used to get at least 20 emails a day from freecycle, but I’ve not had an email from them in almost 2 weeks!! On average the offers have been only 1-2 a week over the last year to year and a half. I’m wondering if most people are keeping their stuff and making do with it or maybe selling it for a little extra cash?
Mrs. Waste Not says
I should mention that since I wrote this, I have also received a romertopf clay cook pot that I had been looking for and a folding table we wanted for parties in the yard. I have had really good luck, but I also imagine that certain freecycle groups are more active than others.
Kelly @ Fru-Gal.org says
I <3 freecycle, too! I don't stay on top of it as much as I should, but have scored some sweet items, and it doesn't hurt to ask for an item if you have something specific you're looking for. I didn't want to buy kid-sized hangers while organizing my kids' clothes, so I asked on freecycle and receive a huge box of nice, white, some brand new hangers!
Cris says
I’ve only received from freecycle twice and I agree you have to respond fast to have a shot at the stuff. The first time I got several cans of formula samples a new mom didn’t need and the second I got playtex bottle lines. I nursed and pumped (working mom) and at 9 months my supply decreased drastically (very upsetting) so I supplemented for a month and from 10-12m went to formula. Things were very hard financially and that helped so much, between that and my own samples saved for months I estimated I spent about $40 for those 3 months of formula. It was just left on the porch for me to pick up- along with the coupons and formula checks that come with samples.
The most important thing of freecycle though is to keep stuff out of the landfills while helping others. You can also post needs and wants- I’ve seen and tried myself too (without success) to ask for insert coupons.
Ashlee says
I’ve only had mild success getting things from there. But when we moved and were getting rid of TONS of things I always posted to freecycle. We couldn’t take bleach or any open cleaners with us in our interstate move. Glad someone could use them instead of just trash.