Kristyn Jackson is also sharing her slightly used items. She uses Freecycle, which is a Web site linked to Yahoo groups based on where you live. Freecycle Ohio has thousands of local residents signed up in hopes of unloading items they no longer use and aquiring things that may not be in their budget right now.

There are rules as to what you can and cannot post, and each request is filtered before it is sent to the users. Nobody is allowed to list garage sales and no money ever changes hands. People can ask for items they need and offer items they no longer want.

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* If you’re really up against the wall, trawl websites such as Freecycle or Craigslist for items that people are giving away. Something might be a good fit for a buddy or relative.

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Free-cycle matches those who have something they don’t want with those who want something they don’t have. There are a couple of catches – you need to have e-mail, you usually need to deliver the item and it has to be free. That said, I’ve seen people give everything away from furniture to packing peanuts, from car parts to school supplies. To sign up and join the no obligation e-mail list, go to www.freecycle.com.

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The Freecycle Network: This online community works on the principal of keeping, good, usable items out of the landfills. Visit freecycle.org to see if there’s a network near you.

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Whether you have a job or not, the words “freebies” and “bargains” probably sound really good to you right now. And getting your hands on them may be easier than you think.

One of our viewers, Robin Wendrick, sent us an email saying she’s been getting some great deals on websites like Craigslist.com and Freecycle.org.

On there she finds links to things people are giving away for free, everything from furniture to appliances. That is if you don’t mind picking them up and the word “second hand.”

Wendrick said, “Big deal! I don’t care if it’s used if I’m getting it for free I’m getting it for free. That 1,000 dollars can go to my mortgage or my utility bill.”

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Judith Freeman’s [CTOpinion, Nov. 6, “Time To Stop Consuming”] statement that thrift stores are for the “poorest of the poor” is not exactly accurate.

I know many so-called middle-class people, myself included, who buy from thrift stores, shop at tag sales and use freecycle.com to stretch their budgets, clothe their children, recycle, keep landfill levels down and prevent themselves from becoming the “poorest of the poor.” And seniors like me use them to offset the sky-high cost of getting old in America.

Even Sarah Palin said she usually shops at an Alaskan consignment store.

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Thousands of people across Northamptonshire are finding good homes for their unwanted items online.
Features editor Joni Ager finds out how one man’s rubbish can be another man’s treasure.

There’s a saying that goes “Nothing in life is free”, but a web phenomenon is proving that wrong.

Freecycle is a charity that invites people to post details of unwanted items they want to give away on a website.

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“People are throwing away things every day that are really nice,” said Veronica Bates. Bates’ home is proof of that.

From an aquarium that could have cost a couple hundred dollars, to a brand new cabinet that would have cost $200 or more, to a $50 table on her deck, Bates recycles other people’s belongings by freecycling them.

The e-mail and virtual bulletin board online community has thousands of members in Maine who give and take new and used items.

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Freecycle.org is a site that lets you give away your old items, and pick up new ones, without any bartering allowed. Users post items they`re hoping to get rid of, and other members of the group use e-mails to get those items for themselves.

“They actually encourage you not just to respond to the first person who e-mails you, but make an e-mail, send it out, then get some replies and see, if there`s somebody you think really needs it,” says Peter Schultz, who uses the site.

Schultz has been part of Free Cycle for about three years, and says it`s a way to get rid of things around the house you don`t want anymore, without having to take them to the trash.

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Beth also solicited the help of freecycle.org to obtain a bread making machine and a juicer. Instead of suffering, she and her family are benefiting from these actions, as the quality of what they consume is heightened.

I frequently see posts from a middle school teacher on freecycle.org as well. He is using his imagination to provide his cash-strapped classes with fascinating and fun activities. Sometimes he asks for strobe lights for school dances, inflatable globes, costumes or materials for specific projects.

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