A Frugal Guide to Furnishing and Eating

Personally, I love frugal living. A good deal is something I thrive on, I love being able to find something used, new, or found on the side of the road that is still usable, and cheap. I greatly value being able to spend less and give more. I enjoy living a simple life, and I hope I never reach the point where I find myself buying above my means, or even dreaming above my means.

The United States, with all it's capitalistic typhoons and get-rich-quick scemes, is actually a great place to live on less. The resources are here. I've lived abroad in Europe, and I found less openess to recycled belongings and a simple lifestyle, with the exception of the gypsy community, of course. I've listed some of these resources.

1. The Garage Sale

A product of American ingenuity. As far as I could tell, the garage sale does not exist in Europe. I doubt you'd have much luck finding one anywhere else around the globe. A great place to find cheap anything, and if you're lucky, kids selling lemonade for .10 a cup.

2. Freecycle

Freecycle.org lets you give and recieve furniture for free. It makes use of Yahoo groups by letting you sign up for the Freecyle group in your area. Have an old couch you don't want, but don't want to end it's life forever by tossing it in the dumpster? Some furniture has life left in it, and freecycle is a great way to avoid sentencing it to a premature death.

3. Craigslist

Many people know about and use Craigslist, but I challenge the truly frugal to check out the "free" section. There are finds here just as valuable as in the for sale sections. I recently brought home a hide-a-bed couch for free, and the lady even paid me $5 for gas for my trip out!

5. Dumpster Diving

I've known people to take entire living room sets out of office dumpsters. Great finds to be had by all!

4. Freegan

A fair warning: freeganism is not for the average soccer mom and the twins. I must confess, I myself am not a freegan, nor am I a vegan, nor can I even claim vegetarianism, but I do like the concept. While I don't agree with the entire Freeganism value system, I am intrigued. Freegans take dumpster diving to the next level, taking food out of the trash. Not always the most sanitary, but at times, it can be perfectly harmless. For example, taking a can of beans out of a dumpster. Personally, I'm not going to lick the can, so I have a new can of beans. Some freegans take the lifestyle to the extreme, taking fruits and veggies and creating entire meals. I dig this. Millions of pounds of food are wasted every year, and someone might as well enjoy it. Check out their website at www.freegan.info or check out a meal prepared by the world's first freegan chef at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC-NNuYm1sQ

Thanks for reading, and give some of this a try with me!