Issue #125: ISO free stuff on the internet

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January 5, 2022 • Issue #125

Hi y’all —

Happy New Year! In 2022, I resolve to keep sharing modern money tips and making bad jokes in this newsletter. You’re welcome.

Money is kicking off January with a special guide called ~*22 Ways to Have the Best Financial Year of Your Life*~. We’re helping you to shop smarter, finally start investing, build your nest egg, get a career glow-up and so much more. I contributed a couple of pieces, including one all about a trend I’ve been noticing on Facebook lately: Buy Nothing groups.

Sounds self-explanatory, right? You… buy nothing. Get the rest (aka everything) for free. Great, but how could that possibly work?

How do I find deals on stuff through Buy Nothing groups?

I called Liesl Clark, a cofounder of the Buy Nothing Project, to get the scoop. She told me it’s a massive, Facebook-driven grassroots movement encouraging communities around the world to participate in a sustainable gift economy. Some 4.3 million members in 44 countries have joined 6,800 hyperlocal groups online where they request, offer and swap items, forming valuable connections in the process.

“It’s creating a network of people who are committed to sharing with each other and giving and asking and expressing gratitude with no strings attached,” Clark says.

Members are also, of course, saving a ton of money. In the eight years since the project kicked off, Buy Nothing groups have quietly grown to become the best place on the web to score a deal on anything I could possibly desire, free of charge.

Keeping junk out of landfills and avoiding record-high inflation rates are just added benefits.

From cribs to fresh produce, “we all need stuff,” Clark says. “You will inevitably find people who have exactly what you're looking for.”

Transactions typically happen in one of two ways. The first happens when a person has something they want to get rid of. They post an offer, usually with a photo and brief explanation of why they’re giving it away — “full size sheet set from IKEA, never used, light tan (bought the wrong size and missed the return window)” — and their location. Then comments roll in, direct messages are exchanged, and the deal happens offline.

The other occurs when a person wants something they don't have. They post an ask — “Does anyone have an extra set of shower curtain hooks? My liner didn’t come with any” — and how far they’re willing to travel. Comments roll in, DMs are exchanged, and the deal happens offline.

Buy Nothing groups are location-centric and super-specific. In fact, many cities have multiple Buy Nothing groups divided into neighborhoods — Austin, Texas, has about 70 alone. Upon joining, members have to prove their residency by answering a set of questions.

(Though it recently launched an app, many Buy Nothing groups still live on Facebook.)

They also have to agree to a set of rules. Buy Nothing’s principles explicitly forbid buying, selling, trading, bartering and exchanging money for goods and services.

“The whole philosophy is there’s no tit for tat. People take what they need and give what they can,” Stanzi Littlefield, an admin for the Portland, Maine, peninsula group, told me.

Items are often used — “a wide variety of working DVDs, roughly 150 or so I'm trying not to put in the trash” — or have a small defect — “Cordless vacuum, given to me by a friend. It works but not well?” Sometimes the descriptions are funny: “The lucky recipient will also receive a plain white unscented votive with some dirt stuck to it because my cat kicked it around the floor a bit.”

Clark said newborn clothes, produce and furniture are regularly swapped among members. Littlefield said people who move to Portland frequently use Buy Nothing as a way to outfit their apartments for cheap, putting out a call for coffee tables, lamps and spare dishware.

There is, however, a delicate balance in the Buy Nothing groups. If I’m interested in getting involved, Littlefield said it’s crucial to find the correct group for my location. When I post to ask for an item, skip the sob story and focus on facts.

From there, she recommended maintaining a degree of self-awareness of my role in the group. If I’m always taking and never giving, change that.

THE BOTTOM LINE

(but please don't tell me you scrolled past all of my hard work)

I can definitely score free stuff from Buy Nothing groups, but I need to make sure I join the right one and contribute often.

Clark said it’s an opportunity to form connections in a turbulent time.

“The bottom line is a very real savings. Families and individuals are able to not only save but also have a little extra income, and we’re finding they’re putting that money back in the local economy,” she adds.

RECEIPT OF THE WEEK

check out this wild celebrity purchase

VIA INSTAGRAM

Beloved actress Betty White was worth millions when she died at age 99 last week. But White came from humble beginnings: She earned just $50 a week as co-host of Hollywood on Television, the show where she got her TV start back in 1949. Decades later, in an Emmys acceptance speech, White said she was thankful to have worked in the entertainment industry. “It is such a privilege,” she said. “And the bottom line I think to the television business is that unless you’re a real bad egg, it is such fun.”

INTERNET GOLD

five things I'm loving online right now

1	I spent my holiday break watching Yellowjackets on Showtime, and I recommend you do the same ASAP. The show follows a teen soccer team that crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness. Usually it wouldn’t be my thing (it’s very gory and intense, leading me to fast-forward through some scenes), but I’m drawn to the mystery — and the theories on /r/yellowjackets. Who is AQ?!
2	Congressional districts as Pokemon is the crossover I didn’t know I needed.
3	Does anyone want to do a drive-thru mannequin body part heist with me? LMK!
4	I loved this feature about the three teachers who created Oregon Trail, which every ‘90s kid spent hours playing in elementary school and is the way I learned the definition of “dysentery.” I especially appreciated this quote about the video game’s notoriously difficult gameplay: “You often died, which is kind of fun.” Read it, then make your own Oregon Trail tombstone.
5	Double Scotch on the rocks, please.

401(K)9 CONTRIBUTION

send me cute pictures of your pets, please

VIA SUSAN BECCIO

Meet Bella, a smiley pup who lives in Rome and goes by the nickname “doggity dog.” Bella is a big fan of Buy Nothing groups on Facebark.

See you next week.
 

 
P.S. Are you in a Buy Nothing group? What’s your favorite old-school video game? Did you make any financial resolutions for the new year? Start 2022 right by sending a Dolla Scholla holla to julia.glum@money.com or tweeting @SuperJulia.

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