Trying to remain calm within chaos

Lauren has reecently stumbled upon this bloody brilliant idea. Alone we are all individuals who have had to struggle by hand and foot, deal with confusing buearucracy, and hope that luck will see us through. Together, we can share tips, resources, and ideas.

So this is my first contribution to the worthy cause. How FreeCycle saved the world or more specifically, how FreeCycle saved me money, time, and my social life.

Free Cycle works like this: Say I have some stuff I don’t need. I put up a notice on my local Free Cycle group. Someone answers my ad and takes the stuff from me FOR FREE. Yes free. Completely and 100% free.

I got hooked into Free Cycle from my friend JC. He moved to another state with a rumbly car full of clothes, a computer, and some video games. He had no furniture at all. He got an apartment and bought a sleeping bag and slept on the floor. Then a friend told him about Free Cycle. Within two months he had a double bed, a desk, a dresser, two end tables, a loveseat, a kitchen table, and two mismatched chairs. Over the next 6 months he got a recliner, a coffee table, and a papisan chair. And an antique coffee pot.

I’ve been on Free Cycle for about 4 months, and I’ve gotten flowerpots, two king size top sheets (my girlfriend and I share a double bed and we are both sheet hogs), knitting supplies including yarn, a side table, two sweaters, and a lamp. And some board games, but more on that later.

The stuff you get is thrift store quality, so sometimes it is ugly as sin, sometimes it is amazingly cool. But it is FREE. All you have to do is arrange to pick it up from someone.

So go to the Free Cycle main page, and find a Free Cycle group in your area. You’ll have to sign up for a Yahoo Group, and then you are in. Don’t sign up to get every email, because my group for example has about 30-50 per day. Sign up for digest or read it on the web.

And encourage your friends to sign up. Free Cycle works better the more people are on it. The more people, the more stuff. Put up some fliers at your local library or coffee shops or wherever people can post things. A couple bucks in paper and ink will really go along way if you can swing it. Put an ad for them on your blog or website.

So one of the categories that Lauren has as a part of HUHO is “things you can do with your kids that don’t cost anything”. I don’t have kids, but people are constantly giving away craft sets and books on Free Cycle, so putting out an add for art supplies and kid friendly crafts might yeild some really good results. And think outside the box. I saw someone ask for wood, a hammer, nails, and sand. You know what they did? Built their own backyard sand box. For free. Today someone is offering childrens books and puzzles another is giving away an older computer pinball game. I’ve seen people give away one earring or broken plates for crafts.

Lauren also wants to know ” how to entertain some friends without breaking the bank” and this is time for my special free cycle story. When my girlfriend and I moved in together we brought 7 decks of cards between us but no other games. We wanted to be able to have things to do with friends, so we put out a call for board games. We now have Clue, Scrabble, Boggle, Uno, and Taboo. Ok, so the scrabble is missing some tiles… we just use scraps of paper. Clue is missing the rope, but we just use a bit of string. If we asked again who knows what we might get. That was just off one post!

So the moral of the story is: Join Free Cycle. Get free things you need, free things you wish you could buy, and find free things being offered that suddenly inspire you. I made an old coffee table into a kick ass ottoman using some old pillows and fabric I had lying around and a glue gun. And spread the love and the word about Free Cycle.