Instead of buying a new USB cable, I asked on my Buy Nothing Group, and will pick one up tomorrow from a neighbor. (I needed USB to USB, and we only have USB to microUSB).
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I've tried and failed to find a buy nothing group in my area. Is it normal for groups to be limited to a single zip code? I am literally in an adjacent zip code and am unable to join the nearest group. I'm bummed because I have a ton of stuff and I think freecycle is full of scammers.
Very common to be this small! They are hyper local. The whole idea is to be neighbors, so everyone is invested. Mine covers about 3 miles (~2 neighborhoods). The beauty of not having one in your area- you can start a local chapter! My chapter was only started about 2 weeks before I joined. We now have 195 people in the group! And all are confirmed addresses =) It's amazing how quickly the group grew- word of mouth is a powerful thing. But yes, part of the point of Buy Nothing is no scammers, a super high degree of accountability, and no anonymity. These are your neighbors. People are very honest with their postings! And offer some amazing gifts. It's also wonderful to be able to re-home an item by having someone ELSE come and pick it up, then thank YOU for it!
I swear guys, Buy Nothing isn't paying me, I just really love that community lol. Been instrumental to my mustachianism and minimalism!
As for what I did today to save:
It's my birthday, and to celebrate we drove out to a hike (trail pass already paid for, yearly, $36, instead of $5 each time. Has paid for itself many times over!). We aren't going out to dinner, and instead having a bottle of wine and a meal at home. My gift is going to be a hair cut at the local beauty school ($15). Once I get around to arranging it anyway =P
My friends and family so far are honoring my frugal and minimalist nature. So far I've gotten a netflix gift card, a starbucks gift card, and a bottle of wine.