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Check out Freecycle if you live in UK and see if you can pick up something Free for Christmas.  http://www.uk.freecycle.org/

There are other branches of Freecycle in countries such as Australia, Canada and Germany so check them out if you live there.

Check out Money Saving Expert and see if you can find some freebies or bargains. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

Make a few decorations and Christmas cards.  You could use last year’s cards to make a few new ones.

Write a basic shopping list and buy only what you really need and no more.

Pick some holly from a forest and make a few seasonal decorations for the home.

Consider buying some good used toys from a charity shop instead of getting into debt.    Supporting charity is good.

  – Site #1 that everyone low in cash needs to know about.   To get involved, you need to sign up for a yahoo account then join groups and locate freecycle.   They will help you find one in your community. The idea behind freecycle is one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  People will post items that they are trying to get rid of and others will reply to the post. The only bad thing about freecycle is in some ways it is like winning a lottery because you do not know if that person will give you the item or not. Everything on freecycle is free.  You can also post an item wanted on freecycle. You never know what others have laying around that could help out. Our washer died when our son was a baby and a freecycler gave us a working but older Maytag washer. It ran for five years after we got it which bought us some time to plan to get a newer model.

  -Site #2- Wish Upon a Hero- here you can grant other’s wishes or get your own wish granted.  Wishes can be for something small like a pizza night for the family to something big like a vehicle for a struggling family. Obviously not all wishes can be granted but you never know if you do not ask.  I have had strangers send care packages to my son when he was ill, a hero who helped with a bill when I was short on money and even someone who sent my son two pillow pets for Christmas. He desperately wanted them and I did not have the money to get them for him. The website is http://www.wishuponahero.com.

   Site #3- Start Sampling- You can request a free sample of a product here every 24 hours. They have samples such as shampoo,cat food, dog food, or coupons. These little samples can really help in a pinch. Some people save them for when they run out of something and don’t have the gas to go to the store wile others make guest gift baskets for guest bathrooms.  This site is htttp://www.startsampling.com.

    Site #4- Big Big Forums- this site has several different forums with different topics. My favorite here is the freebies. I also stock up here with free samples for when I am in a pinch. This site is http://www.bigbigforums.com.

   Site #5- use peoplestring.  I had to put a plug in for this site because you really can not go wrong here. They give you a free email and you get paid to use it.  I use mine for sites that require an email and I do not want to give them my main email. It is also a social site where you can play games, meet new people, check email and join groups. Go here to join peoplestring.   You can also keep all your favorite sites on peoplestring and each time you visit a site from your peoplestring page, you get points which turn into cash.  I have been paid a twenty dollar check and am working on my second payout. Checks are paid monthly if you have earned twenty dollars. If not, your money carries over to the next month and your earnings from that month are added on. I look at it as extra money that I would not have had otherwise.

There are three vital resources to anyone unemployed or underemployed: the library, giveaway websites, and community farms or a personal garden. 

First Resource: Libraries

Many people think of libraries as the place they had to go flip through card catalogs to find musty old books for reports in high school.  A number of opportunities are missed due to this stereotype.  A local library now can fill many needs, including job seeking, internet access, and entertainment.  Instead of spending money on a book about resumes or job hunting, ask the reference librarian.  He or she not only will show you the best books on the subject, but also may be able to guide you to additional community or internet resources.  Most libraries now have internet free to patrons, so you can save a lot of money on paying for internet by utilizing this resource.  Cancelling internet and cable saves a huge chunk of funds, and libraries carry DVDs for free.

Second Resource: Giveaway Websites

Free websites, such as Freecycle and the free section of Craigslist, often are severely underutilized by people who would most benefit from their use.  This often is because when you try to minimize expenses, the internet is one of the first things to go; as mentioned above, using the free internet at the library will save you that money while still allowing access to such a vital resource. Many people post items they wish to give away on Freecycle.  The majority of the items are in great condition, posted either because someone is looking to clear up space, or because they inherited unwanted items, or other reasons that don’t detract from quality. 
Checking Freecycle once per day for needed items and posting a “wanted” message for needs before buying them will conserve a large amount of money.  One of the first things to look for is something to help cook your own food cheaper.  For example, you could ask if anyone has a rice cooker or slow cooker they no longer need.  (Note: resist the temptation to ask for every interesting item. Excessive clutter can impede your efforts to accomplish money saving tasks, such as cooking meals from scratch.)

Third Resource: Community Farm or Personal Garden.

To reduce expenses while unemployed, you can grow your own food or get a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share.  Many farms offer the choice of paying for an entire summer of food up front or working for a share.  The work often is minimal, only a few hours per week, and the return is vast. 

Alternately, if your living situation is appropriate, home gardening while using free compost is a fantastic way to get free, fresh food.  Many garden clubs meet at libraries and members are happy to offer a few extra plants as they thin them out.  Freecycle, again, is a great resource which you may use to request specific plants from anyone who has extra to give. 

To grow a garden, you must either have a plot of land in which to plant or must use garden boxes, but utilizing Freecycle aids porch-gardening significantly, as you can get compost, plants, and containers that others view as trash but can be repurposed as gardening boxes, a compost bin, or hanging planters.

Following these three simple tips will dramatically ease the financial burden while unemployed, as well as providing great resources to continue to use for improved standard of living after employment is achieved.

These type of people have one thing in common.  Never being satisfied with what they have.  They will never find it by accumulating more stuff.  They lack a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their lives.  They are filling that void with “stuff”.  It is a huge moral issue in society today when there are people starving and losing their homes, and others are still upgrading their homes to something unnecessary and at times ridiculous. 

The problem is, for them, that many things good eventually come to an end.  Kmart thrived for years until walmart and Kmart came along, and now it is hard to even find a Kmart.  These same people never prepared for losing the infinite wealth they had coming in, and with the downturn in the real estate market, many paid for it.  You hear all of the time about the rags to riches story, but how about the riches to rags stories that are so prevalent now?

The same upper middle class people who were so busy showing off are unlikely to get much sympathy from organizations, friends, or family, much less any assistance.  The ones who spent that money living in their affordable house, donating to charities, and helping friends and family in need are much more likely to see any type of assistance or charity when things get rough.

Your friends, family, and organizations should be looked at as investments in the future in general.  That child that starved to death could have in 30 years found the cure to an illness.  This may be an illness that affects one of your loved ones or yourself.  Your family member may have almost lost their home, but because you helped them hold onto it through the hard times, they were able to sell it later and pay you back with interest.  That child that overcame cancer thanks to the donations of others has a special interest in finding a cure for others.  There are so many things that can affect your life that you don’t personally deal with on a daily basis.  Giving to others will eventually come back to you, whether you realize it or not. 

With the way the economy is right now, charities are in desperate need, and even if you have no extra money, donations can be in the form of furniture, toys, clothes, or even cans.  If you have no money, think of other ways you can help others.  Freecycle is a great way to give your old stuff away.  Your old stuff can turn into a few dollars for a charity.  Even if you have a garage sale for a profit, you are helping some people that may not be able to otherwise afford the stuff they are getting, and it helps the environment.

Donating to charity does not only provide fulfillment and purpose in your life, it can make changes in lives that indirectly or even directly effect you.  There are so many reasons to donate to charities and give in any way you feel comfortable.  From babysitting the neighbor’s child to giving money to Habitat for Humanity, it all makes a difference. 

  Freecycle is set up to keep usable items circulating rather than going into a landfill.  Once we are done with items that still have useful life left in them, they can be donated to others using Freecycle. All you do is register at Freecycle.org.  There are Freecycle groups all over the world, that just trade within a local area. Find your local group. When you are ready to list your furniture, put up an OFFER ad, describing the furniture.  If someone is interested, they will contact you by email, and you can arrange a time for them to pick up the items. You can upload pictures to give people a better idea what the furniture looks like.  You may want to list dimensions also for tables and large items. Items are usually taken in a day or two.

Image Maureen Lunn

2. List on Craigslist 

Craigslist is similar to Freecycle, but in addition to being arranged by geographic areas, it is primarily for selling items in a local area. There are catgories of items, but there is also a Free Stuff category that you can list your furniture in. The general rule on Craigslist also is that the buyer is responsible for picking up items.  There is also an informal practice of posting “Curb alerts,” where people put items out on their curb and post a notice where it is and that anyone is welcome to take it.   Don’t leave it out there indefinitely, though.  Usually this is done the day before big trash pickup.

3. Donate to charity 

Charities make money by selling donated items, and they will take your furniture if it is still in usable condition. See if you have a Goodwill, Salvation Army, Disabled Veterans, Purple Heart or other charity group in your area. Call them and schedule a pickup, and they will send a truck to your house to pick up your donations. In the USA, you get a tax credit for the value of the items.  

Image jawcey

4. Give to College Students 

If you have a college nearby, college students moving off campus and into apartments always need furniture.  You can post a notice on bulletin boards, in the school newspaper, or in the local town newspaper saying free furniture.  Conversely, if you want to fix up and sell furniture, you can get it at the end of the semester when students move out and leave for the Summer. 

5. Have a Garage Sale 

If you are up to having a garage sale to sell some other items, you can offer the furniture for free to whomever hauls it off.  Just put “free furniture” in your yard sale ads and on any signs you post, then put a sign up at the sale itself. You should have no problem getting someone to take your items. 

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I found some baby bags that I never or seldom used also. I decided that it was about time to give them away. I also found some woven bags and cloth bags. So I posted all these item on Freecycle, a community of “green” people who likes to recycle. And as soon as my post was up, there were people asking for them. I chose the ones who were able to come and collect the items immediately.

As I searched further, there were more items I don’t need. I found a bag of baby caps, mittens and booties, and a couple of baby blankets. There are just too many baby things I don’t need. My daughter is now three, but I hung on to them thinking I may need them or give them away to someone close to me, but it never happened. As such, I have decided, no use keeping the things anymore. Time to give them up!

I like to give away things in batches. I still have a lot of items I have not sorted out – my daughter’s clothes and so on. It takes time, but now that I’m so motivated to do so, I might as well clear as many things as possible.

One Freecycler contacted me and collected some stuff by afternoon. A few more will come in the evening to collect other stuff. I feel so much better from this activity. I give away items I don’t need to those who need them. Hang in there, Freecyclers! There are more stuff I’m giving away!

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Often we put unwanted presents away in a cupboard and forget about them. It seems ungrateful to return the gift, but it is very wasteful to leave items unused and unwanted to gather dust. There are a few options to consider.

Return the item to the store

The rules relating to returning goods will vary from place to place, but some stores may offer more than your basic consumer rights. In UK there is no right to return an item to the shop just because you have changed your mind or do not want the product. However many larger stores will allow an exchange or credit note providing that you have proof of purchase. Some stores will give a cash refund if the item was paid for in cash, but if the item was paid on a credit card the best you can hope for is a credit note. Very occasionally a store may agree to exchange their own brand items without a receipt, but they are under no obligation to do so and you will only receive the price that the item is selling for at the time, so if the item is in the sale you will get significantly less than the original price of the item. Products must be in new condition to be returned and items that have been opened are unlikely to be accepted, this is especially true of electrical items. If you intend to return goods to the store do so promptly because there will be a time limit on returns, and be prepared to queue because there will be lots of people returning goods after Christmas.

Image via Wikipedia

Sell the item using an online auction sites

There are a number of online action sites, the best known is ebay. Listing an item is fairly straightforward, but you must be sure to describe the item correctly and to stay within the rules. In some categories you are not allowed to charge postage so you must add this cost to the start price of the auction. Remember that you will have to pay a listing fee and a fee based on the selling price. Usually everything goes well but be careful and always get proof of posting.

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Donate the unwanted gifts to a charity shop

This was a gift, so if you are not desperate for the money you could donate the item to a charity shop. The gift will be recycled and the charity will have made some money

Advertise the item on Freecycle

You may not like the jazzy socks or ugly painting, but there is bound to be someone out there who would love to have them. Freecycle is an easy to use local service.

Try a Swap Site

There are a number of different swap sites where you can advertise your item and people will offer to swap it for something you want

Sell Locally

You could list the item for sale in your local newspaper, this may involve listing fees but as it would be a local sale the buyer would collect the item. You could sell at a car boot sale or table top sale, this involves a fee so it would only be an option id you had a lot of things to sell.

Re-Gift the item

This can work well if you make sure that you know who gave you the item and do not give it back to the same person or one of their close friends.

 That wasn’t the first time that I have done anything like that… Once I had gotten a water dispencer for free, but it had a bad spout. The lady swore that it worked, where it didn’t and didn’t where it did. Thank goodness I am a “Jill of All Trades”. I was able to fix it with little effort sans the spout. I called the manufacturer again to see how I could buy the part. Once again they sent it to me free of charge. Yeah!!!

 This world is already a huge garbage dump with people just throwing away good useable items. My parents seem to go through vacuums like they are changing their clothes. I don’t get it. I always tell them and everyone else to just call me when you have something that needs looking at, but they never do. Vacuums are an easy fix as long as the motor hasn’t blown up. Everything else is fixable. Trust me, I have fixed many vacuums. Why waste the money on a new one when you can fix the old one? Who knows. I am so livid that this is such a throw away society. All it takes is a phone call, an internet posting. Give your useable items away, fix those things that are broken, save your money. USE YOUR BRAIN!!! Work smarter, not harder. You’ll be surprised of the outcome!

Image via Wikipedia

Members looking for any items join the network, whether it’s the television that their student budget cannot stretch to or a coffee table to complete their front room. Other members with unwanted goods offer them, for free, to the network.

By making use of the freecycle network you know their products go to a good home where they are wanted. Reusing the product gives a more environmentally sound way of disposing of the product than throwing it away or even recycling it.

Next time you upgrade your computer or television and are looking to get rid of your old one, why not see if you could pass it on to someone who can make good use of it and use the freecycle network?

But where do you turn to barter and trade. In my local area we have two call-in radio swap shows. They’re on the air every day for about an hour. You can sell items, request wanted items and clear out your garage.

But where can you turn to if you don’t have the luxury of the radio call-in show?

• Head over to Craigslist- they have a special section in your area with a bartering forum, a wanted forum and a free forum. You can find many things here.
• Use your Yahoo- click onto My Yahoo and check out groups. There are groups here for everything from frugal tips, recipes, health concerns and do-it-yourself tips. If you can’t find a local bartering group in your area- then start one.
• Network among friends and work associates. Word of mouth is great. Maybe you have some old baby clothes and a co-worker is expecting. Or maybe you need some minor work done on your vehicle and a friend’s husband is a mechanic. In trade, find out what your friend and her husband could use- babysitting services, a home-cooked meal? Ask.
• Talk with your neighboring businesses. Maybe you own a florist and they own a catering company. You need free advertisement and they would like a nice centerpiece. Ask if you can make the centerpiece free of charge and if they’ll let you put business cards around the event.
• Check local business bulletin boards. People post items here all the time. Even though they may be asking for money- call and ask if they’d be willing to barter for another item or services.