Your best scrounge/freebie

[cowcreekgeeks]

I'm a firm believer in freecycle. It's an awesome way to get rid of items that may still have life in it. Some folks simply cannot afford items like a couch, bed, etc. You may find something you need there. I built our barn out of mostly scrounged materials. My chain link chicken run cost me nothing. I've learned to keep my eyes open and if I see building materials I could use, I stop and ask about it. Now, I'm not looking into folks' back yards or in their garages...but you can tell when people are finished with a build. It's not hard to ask and the worst you're gonna get is a stern "NO!"

Yesterday, our two year old and I were down at the chicken run and Brendan (our little boy) was giving his best impression of a chicken laying an egg. All of a sudden Brendan hollered big truck!!! I looked down the road and spotted a cement truck. I grabbed Brendan, tossed him on my shoulders and walked down the road where the cement truck was pouring a patch in the road. I explained to the workers that Brendan LOVES big trucks and they all got a kick out of him making like a chicken. Well, the operator of the truck asked if I could use some concrete...HECK YEAH I COULD USE SOME CONCRETE!!! He backed in front of my barn and said he only had a little so I said pour in front of the ramp.

I had the bad idea of sledgehammering cinderblocks in front of the barn thinking I could make them small enough to lock in with the round gravel to make a great walkway. NOPE...all I managed to do was make a mess and made it dangerous to walk to the barn. Ankle breakers!!!

The cement truck had almost 3 cubic yards of highway grade cement on it!!! All for free!!! The driver told me it would set up quick so I worked like a madman trying to level it out. The driver drove away but came back about 20 minutes later in his pickup truck and helped me screed the concrete!!! We didn't get it finished smooth because it really set up quick...that's okay...I can live with that. That guy probably saved me $450.

He even said that he could get a truck of asphalt and a roller to smooth it up and make it pretty. Again, for free! He said he didn't like leaving a job as ugly as that. I don't think it's ugly at all!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!

What is your story on your best scrounge/freebie???

[Old Vet]

I went to a neighbor and help him get a pump ruining to water his garden. As I was leaving he ask me if I have a gun. I said yes and toled him what caliber it was and he proceeded to get 15 boxes of ammo(13 boxes of shot gun shells and 2 40 caliber) for them. I asked him how much and he said nothing you earned that much by being a good neighbor.

[cowcreekgeeks]

When we bought our place the neighbor down the way came over to find out why I was double digging my yard. I explained I didn't like to eat grass...I wanted corn, tomatoes, peppers and such. He told me about some problems he was having with his son. I felt sorry for the old guy and said good luck...he'd have to work that out on his own. The next day, he brought me a box of ammo. I mean a 24"Wx36"Lx18"H box of various ammo and broadheads! Was his estranged son's. His loss.

[nathan104]

A few months ago I got over 700 ft of 2-3" drill stem from a neighbor. Ive seen it sitting in his pasture partially buried since I moved in. Finally after a year, I asked him about it. They said they had been wanting it out of the way and I could have it all. Went to move it and also found a bundle of thirty 25' sticks of sucker rod mixed in. We were pretty happy to get all that.

Also, on freecycle, I have received a classic boat on trailer with motor. Motor runs, boat float, trailer pulls. Planning to restore it one day as it a 60's hydrodyne and a very unique and beautiful boat.

The best thing Ive gotten for free was from freecycle and believe it or not, I was given free land. Its about a 1/2 acre lot in a subdivision on Lake o the pines in Texas. I was living in Arkansas at the time but was planning my move to Texas. They said they had owned it for years, had only been once, and was tired of paying the taxes and hoa dues(totalling $50/year) Its a nice treed lot with nothing around it but other mepty lots. Road front, about a mile from the lake. The hoa has a swimming pool, boat ramp, shower facilities and bunch of other stuff property owners have access to. Pretty cool. I now live only about an hour and a half from the land so it worked out pretty good.

[ronbre]

i'm always getting free stuff but no way can i top yours..mine are generally smaller..but they add up to a lot when you pile em up..

i've never gone on freecycle..

i'm also always giving stuff away..i hate having garage sales !!

[chickenista]

Our local freecycle is really boring.. but I did get a year's worth of apples last fall and that was nice.
I get most of my freebies by just asking..
Hundreds of feet of gutters from where they were redoing a school.. closer and cheaper to dump it in my yard than to drive to the dump and pay.
And all the firewood I could ever use and all the woodchips I could ever use from a local tree company.. same deal.. closer and cheaper to dump it here. I get big hugs when I get a load of wood too.. and that is alwyas nice.

[cowcreekgeeks]

Originally Posted by ronbre

i'm always getting free stuff but no way can i top yours..mine are generally smaller..but they add up to a lot when you pile em up..

i've never gone on freecycle..

i'm also always giving stuff away..i hate having garage sales !!

I have a friend that makes a pretty good living. When he decides he wants to buy something, he does and it doesn't matter to him if he bought one just like it last year. I'm VERY fortunate to have him for a friend because he's given us a year old sectional, last years model camo outfits, Matthews Q2 bow, coolers, deer feeder, fishing poles...there's more but I can't remember what.

I have a friend that works hard just to keep his head above water. I pass the savings on to him as best I can. Now he has a buddy that is in a worse situation than him so the chain of love continues...

I'm waiting on my well to do friend to buy a new truck

Freecycle is pretty boring as Chickenista said...but sometimes you can find steals! (uh...mebbe literally) It does burn me up that some folks post wanted ads like Wanted: House with land...Wanted: Laptop computer.....Wanted: '69 Camaro with mag wheels in pristine conditon...my wife is sick and I won't work and our kids REALLY need the Camaro to get to state offered free childcare. Please help us out.

I hate yardsales too. You never get what you think the item is worth.

[Nevada]

The best freebies are always gambling freebies, regardless of size. An example is "match play" coupons. Basically, the casinos are just giving money away when they issue match play coupons.

That said, I had some pretty good luck while I was building my cabin. I got a free 40 gallon LPG-fired water heater, enough asphalt shingles to do half my roof, and a cast iron bathtub. (click on thumbnail for full image)

[pcdreams]

got my eye on a free barn to take down. Only problem is I don't have the know how, nor anyone to help

[beaglebiz]

I got a full size sheet of plywood free, some 2x 4's in weird sizes, used some, burnt the rest (new), a blender I use exclusively for soap making..
I have given away childrens clothes and shoes , a breadmaker and other stuff I dont need.
Getting to be time to declutter again, one mans trash is anothers treasure. The plywood is now a part of a bunkbed in my boys clubhouse, the 2x 4s and mother scrap wood is chairs and shelves in said playhouse, also used as reinforcements on chicken coop against predators.
I noticed this year pickings seem to be more slim at yard sales than in the past...I got an adult vinyl poncho (for rain) to keep in my car for emergencies for a buck (a heavy duty one), some golf balls for the kids and thats about it today.

[PyroDon]

My best freebie well our neighbor was talking about getting rid of some old welded fence wire I said I could find a use for it if he was tossing it .
a few days later he called and asked if I still wanted it and if so to come on over . when i got there he had it all loaded up on a trailer along with a golf cart. he said can you use the golf cart as well ?
I asked what he wanted for it and he said just take it heres the charger.
I went and unloaded the trailer not believing my good fortune. upon returning the trailer a few minutes later his wife said see if he'll take that old mower.
it was a 23hp sears gt4000. he said he wasnt sure what was wrong with it but it seemed to be locked up . I took it home and got to fiddling with it and discovered the electric clutch was locked up . Knocked the cluch off and she started right up so I drove it back over and asked him if I should find a new clutch for him. he said nope just keep it his wife never did like it .
so I was the proud new owner of both a nice running 4 wheel golf cart and a sears garden tractor with a total of 136 hours on it .
My best trade was likely the truck Im driving a 76 ford that I traded 6 #3 1x12s 10ft long and drove home

[hunter63]

My best freebie, was when I was about 7 years old.
They were knocking down a cement block building about 5 blocks away.
I asked the guys if I could have some blocks, to build a "fort" they laughed and said sure.

I was hauling them home, 2 at a time, in my red wagon, had to sorta "roll" (square block don't roll so good) them up a board to get them in as they were too heavy for me then (haven't got much lighter, I have noticed.

Well I had about 20 /25 hauled when my dad came home from work, threw a fit, and made me take them all back...................

Now I sorta have in mind what I need and just keep my eyes open, sorta like shopping.
Lots of stuff over the years.
Then again I also have given away so much stuff I can't even begin to tell you.
And so it goes..................

[empofuniv]

When we were young and living in a military community every trash night was "shopping" night. Anyone E4 and under had to move their households themselves rather than the military paying to move them. There was a lot of furniture left behind.

Sometimes just a little fixing was needed. I remember DH fixing and I sold: baby walker, chest of drawers, end tables etc.

One chest is still being used by dd2 who wasn't even a gleam in DH's eye. She also has the writing desk DH made from parts of a chest of drawers.

We are still using the dining room table that just needed a leg fixed and still using a bookcase that didn't need anything except to be put together.

That was about 35 yrs ago. They don't make furniture like that anymore I guess.

[bloogrssgrl]

I love demolition sites. I have two favorite scores.

The first is about 35 sheets of 8' x 8' x 8" foam panels from an indoor shooting range that was being torn down. I just drove up to the site and asked one of the guys on the job what they were doing with all the foam panels. He said they were just going to junk it so I could take it if I wanted it. It took several trips back and forth with the pick-up truck, but between me, my husband and one of my brothers-in-law, we got quite the stock pile of insulation. An added bonus, my brother-in-law found a gimpy little kitten on one of the runs and brought him home.

The second was an old, old department store being demolished in a near by town. I was driving by and they already had the facade off the building. I glanced in and saw that the whole store had beautiful old pressed tin ceilings. I turned the car around and found the foreman on the job. I asked if they were just going to junk them or scrap them. He said they were going in the dumpster, they didn't want to bother with scrapping. I asked if I'd be able to take some. He said, "I'll tell you what. We won't touch any of it. You bring your husband or boyfriend or whoever up over the weekend and you can take whatever you can get out." I asked him what he wanted for it and he said just drop off a cup of coffee if I'm passing through again. So that weekend, my husband, father-in-law, another brother-in-law and I went up and removed the entire ceiling from two floors of the department store, complete with the curvy edge pieces. It's all lovingly stacked on the second floor of our garage waiting to go in our home as we (ever so slowly) restore it. When my mom found out what we were doing, she dropped off a home made apple pie to give to the crew. So the following Monday, I stopped and bought coffees for everyone and brought them along with the pie. When I gave everything to the foreman he put the coffees on the hood of his truck and put the pie inside. He said, "I pay them well enough. This pie is going home with me."

[Wags]

Got a very sturdy wooden playhouse off of free cycle - had a bear of a time getting it home. During kidding season it is the kidding shed - and the rest of the year it is back to use as a very nice play house.

Also got about 400 ft of field fencing - most of it in 100ft or so pieces. And the power company has given us 5 power poles, not sure yet what I'm going to use them for, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

[Oldcountryboy]

I ended up with 2 handfulls of lead sinkers today. Was wading around in the creek when I noticed a throw net buried in the gravel/mud. Pulled it up and it was a tangled up mess with big holes in it and half rotten. But it was loaded with lead sinkers. Took it home and started cutting all the lead sinkers off and ended up with 2 big handfull. That'll last me a couple of years. Maybe a lot longer at the rate I've been fishing lately.

I'm in the middle of planning a chicken coop..the previous tenant left two huge 3-sided crate "things"..kind of like what a person might use for goat sheds..my plan is to stack one on top of the other and then board up the fronts..no boards and no $ to buy any either..

Friday, I drove over to J.C.Penny to pick up a gift which had been sent to me by a very kind person on ST..J.C. Penny's here shares a corner with Sears..when I came out of the store, my son said ,"Hey! Look at that big pile of potential chicken coop, Mom."

Sears had dumped about 50 wooden frame shipping materials. I called Sears..the manager said, "Take as many as you want." These things are 4 feet wide and 6 feet long..made up of 2x4's ..PERFECT size for framing in a coop front with windows. I'm happy, Sears is happy and after today, the chickens will be happy too.

[ginnie5]

my best scores have been on freecycle. I got a woodstove that we currently use to heat with and another time I went to get a laser printer and ended up getting that and a nice computer with flat screen monitor also.

[Jenn]

$2 for a cream cashmere calf length coat that fit. Kept it 15 years.