The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Mustachianism Around the Web => Topic started by: NestEggChick (formerly PFgal) on November 25, 2015, 10:29:47 AM
-
I'm shocked that I'm just now learning about this! I looked up my area and found that my own city and two neighboring ones all have groups for this. The idea is simple: if you have something you don't need, offer it to others. If you need something you don't have, ask if someone has it. That's it!
I love this! It's saves money, it saves resources, and it helps neighbors get to know each other. I just joined my local group and can't wait to check out the page. I'm so glad to see this is a real thing that so many people are doing!
http://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group/#USA
-
Cool! Thanks for posting. Found a tiny group in my town (15 members). Will try to check it out.
-
Nothing in my area, oh well. Maybe the mustachians in the Las Vegas area will want to start one?
-
How is this different than FreeCycle?
-
OMG I had no idea Munich had a freecycle group, thanks for mentioning this
-
No problem. Just remember, free isn't always free. Even free stuff has associated upkeep and storage and clutter costs. But good way to reduce stuff without it going to a landfill. :)
-
Aside from having a clearler UI, I think the big differences are that this has more of a community feel and it's not just about stuff. With freecycle, people travel a few towns over to get stuff. There's nothing wrong with that, but these groups are supposed to help foster community. From what I can tell, my group is doing that. And it's not just about stuff. One person posted asking for crochet lessons. A few people offered to give her free lessons, but others said they also wanted to learn, so now this weekend there's a group getting together at a local coffeeshop to do crafts and teach each other. I really love that, especially in areas like mine where we live close together but we don't know each other.
-
Looks like the one in my state is Facebook based. This is where I start ranting about having to be on Facebook but I will spare everyone and just use my own approach of talking to people about trades when I need something.
-
Currently waiting to be a part of my project (two in my city)...
I have to admit, I also set up an IFTTT to scan free items on CL as well because there are things I 'want', but don't want to buy. I also have things I'd like to get rid of. I think my city also has a trade item for item (no cash adjustment) FB group.
-
In the last week, I've gotten skates and a bike for my son from my local BNP! Both of these I was going to need to buy for him this year as he's outgrown last year's (for both), but luckily these came up. I obviously don't need the bike till spring, but I'm happy to store it in my garage for a few months to save buying a new (or new to me) one. It's a great resource!
-
That's awesome Jesse! I haven't been getting things from my group, but I've posted a few to get rid of. I haven't had any takers yet, but one of these days....
-
Looks like the one in my state is Facebook based. This is where I start ranting about having to be on Facebook but I will spare everyone and just use my own approach of talking to people about trades when I need something.
+1
-
Bringing this back from the dead. I reached out to do this in my city. It amazed me that no one has put this together for my neighborhood. I went through the initial efforts, but the admins have pretty strict "population" limits. It sounded fine for suburbs, but I live in a city with high density and they wanted to put geographic lines right down the center of a neighborhood. I explained that that's just not how the neighborhood works, but they weren't really wiling to open it up. So I really started to think that their MO is to make a lot of groups, get other people to administer and moderate them for free, and then they reap all the advertising benefits (and we don't have a choice to turn off the ads).
So I finally said that we had pretty good listservs in place that also allow for business referrals, etc. I just didn't see enough value to move forward.
-
How is this different than FreeCycle?
It tends to limit members by verifying that you live in the town/city.
It encourages community building (discourages just leaving something on a front porch for pickup but rather encourages that the giver and recipient have a brief conversation)
Giver can choose to give in any way they want (first to reply, say briefly why you want item)
There's less people who just pounce and ask for everything so that they can yard sale/resell online (because the community gets a feel for frequent flyers)
There is a lot of giving of time, experiences in addition to stuff
Folks rally around a need - for example, single mom needs clothes for kids - group gets her a bunch of items all at once (usually one person organizes on mom's behalf)