Hiya!
THIS has always been my favorite thread!
Like Martha, I can't remember all the free little thingies that wiggle their way into my life. I'll do better starting now. (I know we're supposed to be grateful for the weather and birds, etc... but I REALLY like free stuff-- assuming it's useful and not clutter, of course...)
I know I got free cucumbers from a neighbor last week, and a free little basket (like a bushel basket, but smaller-- tucking it aside for holding Christmas-food-gifts.) I got 3 empty spice jars (DD14 is allllll about the "cottage-core aesthetic"-- just shoot me) off the free rack at a local thrift shop along with a little glitter-filled keychain and some fake-treasure-coins (to add to a geocache somewhere...) Safeway gave me a free frozen pizza when I was there driving my Mom to do her shopping. And then there was a different thrift shop where the lady didn't feel like counting out what I had, so she just said "How about $3 for all of it?"-- So since the apron I bought for my daughter (again with the cottagey-thing) was $3, that makes everything else I got free... including a card game that is going in my mother's Christmas basket and rectangular bread basket that will eventually get given away with a loaf of something (probably banana bread) in it.
One big thing that I discovered a few months ago is "Buy Nothing" on facebook. It's like freecycle, but it's based on facebook instead of email, and it's very local. People give away all kinds of stuff, and you can ask for things, too. People give away big things (like a treadmill) and little things (like bed, bath, and beyond coupons or extra seedlings.) It's pretty cool. I just picked up a grabber-stick-thingie for my Dad (who is bedbound these days),and someone else is giving me miracle grow violet food for my mother-in-Law-- but I can't count that yet, because I haven't actually picked it up yet!
