Hmmm.
Amazing ‘70s stereo setup. Realistic brand amp and huge speakers, great sound. Found in alley with “free, works great” sign. Took home, cleaned up. Gave it to friend’s kids just moving into their first house. (Already had a fantastic free, or nearly, hifi.)
Canning jars for pickles etc., the old good kind. Put out on sidewalk for free.
High end gore-Tex jacket, a friend had too many.
Xmas tree (IKEA gives you a voucher = to cost of the tree, and we buy some food there anyway, so I guess it counts as free.)
A smoker, in which we smoked amazing fish and chicken. Friend upgraded.
New road bike seat (bought 2 “take-off” seats at local shop, re-sold one for enough to pay for both).
Some other summer clothes, kitchen gear etc from friends who de-cluttered during Covid. Stuff that fit niches we were waiting to fill when . . . free or cheap stuff came along.
A couple tanks of gas. Our grocery chain is a co-op and refunds members a % of their annual spending each year. They have gas bars at stories. So our fuel refund “bought” us a tank or two in equivalent.
Basically, our network of friends passes stuff around according to need. We drove a free car for a year then passed it on for free to a friend’s kid. I rebuild old bikes and they get handed around. When we get rid of stuff and friends don’t need it, and it isn’t worth reselling, we do a “free stuff” online ad. Everything goes.
There is too much stuff, everywhere, and it just swirls around. Might as well get some and use it for a while.
