Money Wise Pastor

Career, life, and money wisdom from a pastor's perspective

6 Ways to Save Money and Find Free Stuff Online

| By Rich | |

Tech guru Kim Komando recently shared 5 websites to help you save money and find low cost or free stuff online. Here they are, plus one more that is my wife’s favorite.

6 Ways to Save Money and Find Free Stuff Online

6 Ways to get Free Stuff Online

    1. Craigslist – Craigslist is a great place to buy and sell products and services, but it also has an area devoted to free items (which I never really noticed before). To find it, go to the For Sale Section and click the Free link.
    2. Freecycle – Freecycle is dedicated to keeping good used stuff out of landfills by putting it into the hands of people who want it. To use Freecycle, you must first become a member of a Freecycle group in your community or area. Membership is free and there are over 5,000 local Freecycle groups worldwide.
    3. eBay Classifieds – eBay is best known as an online auction site, but it also includes a free online classified ads site (formerly called Kijiji).  To find free stuff available in your community, just click on the “FREE Stuff” category.
    4. FreeNapkin – This site is similar to the other free classified ads site with one big difference – EVERYTHING posted on FreeNapkin is FREE.  Another unique feature of Freenapkin is that you have to first post and donate an item to someone else before you’re able to search for free stuff available in your community. This is similar to my wife’s favorite free book swap website, Paperback Swap, which, despite its name, isn’t just for paperbacks anymore. See #6 more more on Paperback Swap.
    5. BarterQuest – BarterQuest is a cashless online trading site where you trade what you have for what you want. All kinds of goods and  services can be traded on BarterQuest – even real estate!
    6. Paperback Swap – Paperback Swap is a free website that allows you to trade books you have, but don’t need or want anymore, for books that you do want. Don’t let the name fool you – Paperback Swap isn’t just for paperbacks – but that’s how it got started years ago.  At Paperback Swap, you can trade paperbacks, hard covers, and even books on tape. The books are FREE – you just pay postage on the books you send to others (and they pay postage on books that you receive).  To learn how Paperback Swap works, be sure to read my Paperback Swap review.

My wife and I have given and received hundreds of free books through Paperback Swap over the last few years.  It has been a wonderful online resource for my family, especially since we homeschool our kids.

I haven’t really checked out these other online classified sites until now, but was amazed at the amount and quality of free goods and services that were available in my community.

Have you given, received or traded free stuff via these or other online classified ad sites?  If so, what was your experience like?

You might also like:

About the author

Rich Rich writes on money and personal growth from a pastor's perspective here at Money Wise Pastor. He loves In-N-Out Burger (and has the t-shirts to prove it), big cities, international travel, running marathons, and helping others create more freedom, purpose, and fulfillment in their life and work. Find him on Twitter and Facebook.