Frugal in the Fruitlands

I used to do a feature on this blog called “Frugal Fun in the Fruitlands”, where I would highlight free or inexpensive happenings in my area. This is kind of a throwback to that.

I recently read Early Retirement Extreme’s article “Travel is not worth it“. While I don’t necessarily agree with Jacob on this one, I was inspired by his postscript:

Before going to faraway locations, realize that your mind comes along with you. You will find what you bring. If you find much more at home, outside your doorstep, if you expand your mind instead. Here are some suggestions: 1) Do you know all the streets in your city? Have you been to every one of them. If not, geocaching is a nice way to explore the local area. 2) Okay, so you know the streets. Now can you name 5 different birds that live in your area? What about 5 different grasses? 3 edible plants? Do you know where the nearest body of fresh water is? Drinkable water? Do you know where the stream originates? 3) Do you know your neighbor? What about the other people on the street? Have you gained their perspective? 4) As you wander the streets of (1), consider the buildings. How old are they? Who owns them? How long have people lived here? Has any wars been fought over this area? Why? What happened to the losers? (You can consider yourself a winner since you are currently occupying the area.)

I’d say I score a failing grade on this measure. I’ve lived for four years in this town, a short walk from a lake with all kinds of free entertainment possibilities, and I went swimming and boating on it for the first time this month. I can name some of the streets in my town, but not all by any means. I could definitely name five birds and three edible plants, but I’d have trouble with five grasses. I don’t know my neighbors, and I don’t know much about the history of my town. This is almost willful ignorance, since I otherwise have a lot of intellectual curiosity about the world around me.

At around the same time, I discovered that a special tourism commission in Massachusetts compiled a list of 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, while they made a list, they did not check it twice, as the Longfellow Bridge was included twice. But hey, 999 is still a lot.

As one Boston Globe commentator quips, the list seems to have “made a solemn oath to leave no burg behind.” Even my little town of Lunenburg is on there, known for the Drawbridge Puppet Theater and its Historic District. I have never been to the puppet theater, and I was unaware there was a historic district. Apparently the tiny downtown area with an 18th-century parish church is the historic district – in which case, every town in Massachusetts has a historic district.

The point is, there’s a lot in my backyard that I could explore before I fulfill my dream of studying Spanish in Argentina. I feel like this could be a sort of life list of places to see before I die – or at least before I move out of Massachusetts.

Of course, not all of this fun is frugal. The New England Aquarium, for example, will set you back about $20/person, and that’s not including parking, food, and plush penguin souvenirs. But Mass Tourism sure likes lists, and there’s also 50 Under $50, a list of 50 frugal(ish) destinations in Massachusetts, for both a couple and a family of four.

You can see there’s a lot of overlap between these two lists. Just examining the locations in Central Mass, there’s the Fruitlands Museum, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and the EcoTarium – all of which I’ve never visited, despite my claims to local savviness and frugality.

I would argue that all of these efforts to learn about your own neighborhood are vital in a world with increasing globalism. Just as we are becoming divorced from our sources of food, we are becoming divorced from our sources of entertainment. As this happens, we lose a bit of our regional diversity. I would hope that we would view this loss the same way we view the loss of an interesting species of bird.

In short: fun begins at home.

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Books like Animal Vegetable Miracle: A Year of Food Life and The Omnivore’s Dilemma finally got into my head this winter, and I made a commitment to eating local, sustainably grown food by joining a CSA (community-supported agriculture; also known as a farm share or vegetable box scheme). I signed up with Stillman’s, a local farm, which offers a half share for $350/season. It was a bit of an ouch to put down $350 in January for food I wouldn’t see until June – especially since I was unemployed at the time! – but it’s now two weeks into the program, and I don’t regret it one bit.

The benefits of a CSA are many:

• The pricing is excellent - for 20 weeks of food I pay  $17.50 per box, which feeds two people per week, for a total of about $9 per person per week. A full or large share, which feeds around four people, is an even better value, at $500 per season, or about $6.25 per week per person. And this is for locally grown, pesticide-free (or minimal), sustainably harvested food!
• Since in most schemes you pay for this months ahead of time, when the season starts up it can feel like someone is handing you a box of free food every week.
• You’ll definitely end up adding more fruits and veggies to your diet as a result. (One of my friends joined a CSA for this very reason, as did fellow frugality blogger Mrs. Micah).

On the other hand, there are a couple of common complaints about CSAs:

• Unfamiliar foods – the “How do I cook this?” problem
• Too much food – the “How the heck am I supposed to eat all this food?” problem.

Like most things, CSAs are only a good value if you use up what you get. Soggy beet greens melting into the bottom of your refrigerator do nobody any good. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about – from my own experiences, and those of friends – about making the most of a CSA.

1. Right-size your box. When signing up for your CSA, most farms will give you guidance on how big a share to get. At least here in Massachusetts, the sizes seem somewhat standardized – a full or large share is intended for 3-4 people, and a half share is intended for 1-2 people.

Note that these are hungry people. If you eat a lot of meals out, and it’s just you, you’ll probably want to arrange to share it with someone. Ditto if you’re a kitchen novice, because cooking skills come in handy here. When in doubt, round down. CSA overwhelm is a real problem.

2. Positive ID. It’s sad, but true – we don’t all know what kale, or escarole, or chard looks like. When you first open your box, be sure you know what everything is. If you’re a kitchen novice, you might want to open your box upon pickup, while you can still ask one of the farmers/CSA staff. If you get something home and still can’t identify it, turn to Google Image Search or a resource like the Cook’s Thesaurus.

3. Be prepared. Once you know what everything is, it’s a good idea to get it ready to cook. You’ll be more likely to eat everything that’s in your box if it’s on hand when you need it.

At least at the beginning of a CSA, you will probably get a lot of greens, and these should be washed and dried (in a salad spinner or with a towel) before being stored with a damp paper towel in a plastic bag. My CSA’s newsletter recommended filling your sink with water and adding a little salt to it – to convince any insects that might be holding on to the goods to leave -  before soaking your greens.

Additionally, if you know you’re going to be making a particular dish already, you might want to start preparing that – boil the beets, macerate the strawberries, etc.

4. Plan your menu. While the greens are soaking is great time for you to put together a menu for the week. I put this 4th, but by priority it should be first, as your skills at planning will make or break your success with a CSA.

When planning a menu, I typically turn to my favorite cookbooks first – I especially like the Moosewood Cookbooks for this (I have the original Moosewood Cookbook and Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites), because they do a wonderful job of bringing out the flavors of vegetables with careful seasoning. Cookbooks that focus on seasonal cooking (such as Clean Food or Simply in Season) would also be especially appropriate.

Some CSAs have newsletters that will suggest recipes. Mine posts tasty recipes on its blog. And there’s always the interwebs. Of course, if you have a favorite recipe for peas/cucumbers/squash, that should go in, too.

Once you’ve got a list of dishes you’d like to make, start planning where they go in the week. I typically try to make a selection of soups, salads, and dips to eat as lunch foods or snacks throughout the week, and plan simpler, one-pot meals for dinner. I love Stonesoup’s “5 ingredients|10 minutes” for the latter.

Bonus points: Coordinate your menu not only with what’s in your CSA, but what’s in your fridge/pantry already, and your grocery store’s weekly flyer. I’m not that kind of menu planning black belt yet.

5. Use everything but the squeal. Did you know that beet greens are edible? In fact, what we call chard or Swiss chard is just a different variety of beet (Beta vulgaris). How about radish greens? – when I was living in France, I sampled a delicious soup made from radish tops. Celery greens make awesome vegetable stock. (Warning: be sure you look things up before you sample unexpected parts. Some of them – like rhubarb leaves – can be toxic).

6. Share the love. Is there stuff in your box you won’t eat? Then share it with people who will!

Me, I hate cucumbers. I love pickles, though. When I got a single cucumber in my last box (not enough to pickle!) I actually turned around at my July 4th party and handed it to my friend Vik. She looked at me weird, but she gratefully took it off my hands.

Another idea is to have a dinner party featuring your CSA veggies. As I learned at the aforementioned party – which featured local blueberries and strawberries, corn, and beef – everyone loves local food. I even convinced a vegetarian of four years to eat one of our local beef burgers!

At the end of the day, I think I’ve done a fair job of making the most of my CSA. I’m currently a month in, and the only thing I’ve had to throw out was a handful of lettuce that got lost in the bottom of the crisper. More importantly, I’ve added veggies to my diet, and built community with local farmers. It’s a win-win.

Additional resources:

• Developing a Monthly Menu Plan at Passionate Homemaking
• 10 Best Recipe Websites

5 Comments »

For all that I’m a self-appointed maven of frugality, I have a few areas of problem spending. The biggest ones for me are dining out and cosmetics.  By problematic, I mean they exceed our budget and aren’t in line with our goals – obviously spending $500 in a few months on perfumes isn’t a problem, if you have the funds and it’s in line with your values. (If you want some help determining your values, I recommend The Simple Dollar’s 31 Days to Fix Your Finances series).

I’ve examined my spending triggers individually in a couple of different posts (i.e., “Reigning in the Dining Out Budget” and “The Economics and Psychology of a Spending Trigger”), but around a year ago I started to put together a list of more general ways to curb impulse spending. For me and for you (because we all dig lists, amirite?), here’s that list.

1. Journal – privately, this time. This helps you to explore what you want and why you want it, and it helps you to “think on paper” about how you can avoid it. Every time I find myself spending too much on perfumes, I return to my journal and remind myself of the basics (i.e. “you already have more perfume than you can possibly wear,” “trying all of them is becoming a burden,” “every dollar you spend on perfume is a dollar you have less for your goals,” etc).
2. Journal – publicly, through a blog or the like. In addition to the above benefits, you also gain a bit of accountability. My favorite strategy, when I’m tempted to spend inappropriately these days, is to ask myself, “How would I feel admitting this to the readers of my blog?” If that fails, I opt for “How would I feel admitting this to Jacob of Early Retirement Extreme?” someone I admire for his thrifty lifestyle that aligns very well with his values.
3. Impose a waiting period. I can’t claim this idea is limited to me – search “frugality blog waiting period for purchases” and you’ll see it in a lot of places. Some recommend the waiting period should be based on the cost. I have to say, this is not a technique I use a lot. There’s a little of it in my wishlist recommendation (see below), in putting dates on items on my wishlist.
4. Shop with an accountability partner. If you have someone like this in your life, you know who it is. I’m very lucky to have a few. My friend Viktoriya probably wouldn’t describe herself as frugal, but she grew up in the Soviet Union and has a different mindset towards materialism. When I go shopping with her, she sees it as her job to dissuade me from buying things, reminding me of all the negative aspects. “It’s a nice scarf,” she would say, eyeing something I was considering buying at a fleamarket, “but do you really wear scarves?” (Very little). My friend Jess, too, is quite frugal, and even though we enjoy trips to Marshall’s together, she’s very good at reminding me of the possible drawbacks of any purchase.
5. Practice gratitude. Let’s face it, I – and probably you – have mostly middle-class problems. If the biggest thing we have to worry about is whether or not we should have breakfast out a couple of days a month, then we’re doing pretty good. I find I want to spend less when I remind myself, on a daily basis, of what I have and am grateful for.
6. Question yourself. If you don’t have an accountability partner, you can try being your own. Some of the questions I ask myself are:
   • Could I borrow this?
   • Could I “shop” my family and friends for this?
   • Can I get it on Freecycle?
   • Can I get it used?
   • Do I have something at home like this?
   • Is there a coupon? (Most effective for online shopping, as you can search for coupon codes)
   • Most importantly – Is this a need or a want?

   Along that line, New American Dream provides this wallet buddy (PDF download).

7. Keep a wishlist. In addition to the Amazon wishlist that nearly every middle-class person has, I keep a wishlist in Google Documents. Here I list the item I’m interested in and the date I added it. When I’m considering a purchase, I prioritize by what’s been on the list longest that I still want. One thing I’ve tried to do – but I have to admit, hasn’t succeeded – is to use this list when considering a reward for completing a goal or reaching a milestone in my life. Unfortunately, I usually end up treating myself whether or not I’ve reached the goal :)
8. Avoid places that encourage you to spend. For me, this means avoiding the perfume forums I frequent, or the websites of certain etailers. It means that when I go to deposit a check, I don’t go to the Big Lots next door – because I will almost certainly buy things I didn’t know I needed until I saw them. For some people, this might mean staying out of the mall, or certain stores.

I won’t lie – avoiding spending unnecessarily is still a struggle for me. Part of the reason I’m writing this is a reminder to go back to my values to determine what I need, what I really want, and what’s in line with the kind of life I want to lead.

4 Comments »

Sometimes I love my house. I’m getting to the point where the labor has all begun to pay off, and it’s starting to feel like home – the maple tree, the garden, the pine floors, the sun room, are all cozy and familiar. It’s a sanctuary for our four cats, my husband and me.

But I’ll be honest: sometimes I hate it.

Sometimes I get to thinking that without a ~$3,000/month mortgage, I could do a lot more with my money. Without all the maintenance that needs to be done, I could do a lot more with my time.

It’s not realistic to consider moving/downsizing. For one, my husband is against it, and marriage is, if nothing else, a compromise. For a second thing, try finding an apartment that will let you have four cats. Moreover, try living in a small space with four cats. No way. For a third thing, selling my home – let alone selling it for enough to cover the remaining mortgage – would be challenging or impossible.

But that doesn’t stop me imagining it.

I hadn’t read all of Early Retirement Extreme’s 30-Day Makeover, so I became engrossed in that this morning. In Day 1, he explains his method of finding sustainably-inexpensive housing. Here’s a quote:

I think there are three things that matter.

1. Location relative to your work.
2. Location relative to your grocery outlet.
3. Cost.

Jacob then walks you through using Craigslist and Google Maps to find some housing options that meet these three criteria. I read the article with interest, but feeling a little crestfallen that none of this was really relevant to me. Then I read his little note at the bottom of the article: Even if you are not going to move, try going through the craigslist/google maps exercise anyway just to realize that it is possible.

Well, sure, why not. Here I am killing time until my next assignment, anyway.

Since I currently work in Bedford, New Hampshire, I went to NH Craigslist to begin my search. I went to housing, typed in “Bedford,” and entered in the parameters of $400-$700 that Jacob recommends (I have to admit, I was very skeptical about this limit, since I don’t live in a particularly inexpensive part of the country, but again, killing time). I didn’t specify a number of bedrooms or the need to allow pets. In this imaginary downsizing world, I don’t have four cats, and pets do significantly limit your housing choices.

One of the first acceptable listings I found (i.e. not for a single person, not furnished) was this one, a walkout basement in someone’s home with a bedroom, living area, and bath. I had no idea if it was anywhere near where I worked or not, so I turned to the power of Google Maps. Jacob recommends that if you live somewhere where you can bike to work year-round, you should limit the distance from work to 6 miles; 3 miles if you live somewhere with a winter, so that you can walk the route if necessary. I, of course, live in the cold Northeast, so 3 miles was the limit.

Good news! Google Maps’ walking directions to my workplace clock in at 2.4 miles. The most difficult part, I knew from experience, would be the walk along Rt. 3, which is a divided highway with scant sidewalks. It was doable, though. Ironically, the walk would take 49 minutes, which is exactly the amount of time Google estimates it takes to get from my current home in Massachusetts to my workplace by car :)

Total time elapsed in doing this search? Five minutes.

What’s my point? Jacob’s way of doing things is feasible. It’s not for me, right now, but it was an interesting thought experiment. Maybe some day the markets will perk up, I’ll have paid down more of my mortgage, I won’t have four cats, and my husband will be sick of stacking wood and changing air filters. Such a move might be more reasonable then.

But for now, I’m content.

6 Comments »

Where I live, picking your own apples is part of a complete autumn experience. I’m no exception – I went apple-picking with my husband and his parents last week, and emerged with a bushel of Cortland and Macintosh apples for fall baking.

I’ve often wondered if picking your own apples is a good value proposition.This past week I shelled out $44 to fill two bags with apples in about 15 minutes. That seems like expensive entertainment! But the question remains if it’s a good value relative to how much you would usually spend on apples. Are you paying for the experience, or just the apples?

At the place where I pick apples, Doe Orchards in Harvard, MA, a 1/2 bushel bag costs $22 each, or $44 for a full bushel. A bushel is a volume measurement, not a weight one, and each individual bag will vary, but by the U.S. Federal standard, a bushel of apples contains approximately 48 lbs of apples. (I believe that, having tried to carry some of those bags).

Let’s compare this to another pick-your-own place, Lanni Orchards, which is just down the street from me in Lunenburg. Here, pick-your-own apples are 75 cents/lb, meaning that those 48 lbs of apples would cost me $36 there. This is less than Doe Orchards, admittedly, but part of the reason I choose Doe Orchards is that it has more trees and a greater number of apple varieties.

Let’s compare it to apples sold at a farm stand. Dick’s Market Garden, also close to me, sells Macintosh and Cortland apples for 99 cents/lb, or $47.52 for 48 lbs. If I had to buy apples on my own, this is where I would buy them – paying $3.52 more than pick-your-own at Doe Orchards, and a full $11.52 more than pick-your-own at Lanni.

And finally, to a grocery store. Macintosh apples are sold for 99 cents/lb at my local supermarket, although they’re marked down this week to 59 cents/lb. At the 99 cent rate, you’d be paying $47.52 for those 48 lbs of apples; but at the 59 cent rate, you’d only be paying $28.32. But at that point, you’re not necessarily buying local produce, which is one of the strengths of pick-your-own and my favorite farm stand.

In conclusion: pick-your-own is not a bad deal for food, but it’s probably a bad deal for entertainment. If you’re the type of person who likes to do a lot of fall baking or canning, it’s a better choice than buying apples at a local farm stand. I guess that makes sense, since you’re doing most of the work yourself.

2 Comments »

Earlier this week, I blogged about my experience using The Complete Tightwad Gazette‘s universal crust-less quiche recipe. Today, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about the universal casserole recipe.

First of all, here’s the original recipe:

Universal Casserole

1 cup main ingredient
1 cup second ingredient
1-2 cups starchy ingredient
1 1/2 cups binder
1/4 cup “goodie”
Seasoning
Topping

Main ingredient suggestions: tuna, cubed chicken, turkey, ham, seafood.
Second ingredient suggestions: thinly sliced celery, mushrooms, peas, chopped hard-cooked eggs.
Starchy ingredient suggestions: thinly sliced potatoes, cooked noodles, cooked rice.
Binder suggestions: cream sauce, sour cream, can of soup.
“Goodie” suggestions: pimiento, olives, almonds, water chestnuts.
Topping suggestions: potato chips, cheese, bread crumbs.

Thoroughly mix your combinations of the above ingredients. If it seems dry, add 1/2 cup milk or stock. Place in buttered casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

- The Complete Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyczyn, p. 625

As Ms. Dacyczyn suggests in the surrounding text, I most frequently use a basic white sauce, found in any recipe book, as a binder in this. Another favorite trick of mine is to use panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), when I have them. But I guess I just have yuppy tastes like that ;)

Here’s one of the yummier casseroles I’ve concocted:

Salmon & Veggie Casserole

1 cup smoked salmon
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup grated carrot
1-2 cups of cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups of white sauce
1/4 cup of fresh dill
Bread crumbs

Thoroughly mix the above ingredients, except the bread crumbs. If it seems dry, add 1/2 cup milk or stock. Place in buttered casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

My notes:

• I happened to have a leftover pouch of smoked salmon from a Harry & David gift box I’d received. Canned salmon or tuna would probably work, also.
• The herbs you can use are entirely up to you. Dill works especially well, but I have also used cilantro.
• The finished casserole can be a little liquidy. You can reduce this effect by thawing the peas as much as possible beforehand (or using fresh peas), and by using the full two cups of cooked rice.
• As mentioned above, panko makes everything better :)

I hope this discussion of turning leftovers into casseroles has inspired you to branch out in your cooking :)

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One of my favorite parts of Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette is the universal recipes. These are generic recipes (i.e. “1 cup of ingredient #1; 1 cup of ingredient #2, etc) that allow you to pull together leftovers or scraps of food into delicious meals.

While popular in our household, I had somewhat gotten out of the habit of pulling together leftovers in this way. However, my recently-painful dining out bills inspired me to get back in the kitchen and make something with leftovers from a party – five ears of corn, some Stilton cheese, and a mustard sauce for kabobs.

I’m happy to say I succeeded, thanks to the universal crust-less quiche recipe. Here’s the original recipe:

Universal crust-less quiche

I cup plain yogurt (milk, cottage cheese, or other substitutions are possible here)
1/4 cup water
2-3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/4 cooked, chopped meat
1/4 cup chopped, cooked vegetables
Seasoning to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9″ pie plate Bake for 30-35 minutes or until set.

- The Complete Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyczyn, p. 763

A couple of my own notes:

• The consistency of this quiche may not be what you’re expecting in a quiche, but don’t let that deter you. It’s good in its own right.
• As suggested, there’s a wide variety of dairy options you can use for the first ingredient – milk is always perfectly acceptable, and sour cream also works well.
• I find the quantities of meat and vegetables to be pretty small – you can definitely increase those if you happen to have more lying around.
• I usually bake this in a casserole dish rather than a pie plate – most pie plates seem too small to me. Muffin tins also work to make mini-quiches!

This flexible recipe has been the basis for dozens of meals in our house. Heck, sometimes we even buy ingredients especially to make this quiche, rather than piecing it together from leftovers.

So here’s what I made last night:

Corn & Stilton Crustless Quiche

1 cup sour cream
Honey mustard
Finely chopped onions and peppers
1/4 cup water
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1/2 cup crumbled Stilton (or any bleu cheese)
1/2 cup corn

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9″ casserole dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until set.

The top three ingredients were part of the mustard sauce for the kabobs. I figured, hey, it has sour cream as a base, why not? I’m pleased to say it worked well. The corn I sliced off the cob; since I didn’t have any meat to put in, and I figured the eggs provided enough protein, I just put in what I had of the corn, which was about a half cup. And, finally, Stilton is obviously not an inexpensive food item, but I happened to have it lying around, as I said, so in it went.

Try it yourself sometime – as with any universal recipe, substitution is half the fun :)

5 Comments »

I have a confession to make.

I am a bad frugal blogger. I’ve spent over $350 this month on dining out.

To be perfectly honest, restaurant meals regularly make me a liar when it comes to frugality. Every month I tell myself, “Okay, Lise. You can’t afford to spend more than $100 this month on dining out.” Every month I fail.

Back in October 2007, I even set a goal of not eating out for a month. I met it… then when to Outback Steakhouse the very next evening for dinner.

I hate this habit of mine, not only because it’s a budget buster, but because a lot of the restaurants near me aren’t even that good. Considering that I live in throwing distance of several farm stands, in the right season, I can easily create my own meals out of high quality ingredients.

… well, except for that whole hating to cook thing. Oh, I suppose I don’t hate it. But I don’t derive joy from it, either. When I cook, my only goal is to get out of the kitchen as fast as possible with something edible.

My husband does a lot of the cooking, and often he aims for the extravagant. He’s been perfecting a coconut-lime cheesecake recipe for a month and four iterations now. Man cannot live on cheesecake alone.

Plus, what I like about eating out is more than just the food.

Let’s take the Breakfast Issue. I’d say probably 85% of our restaurant expenses involve breakfast. Breakfast, in addition to being my favorite meal, is one of the least adultered meals. There is only so much you can fake eggs, bacon, toast, etc. On the weekends, it’s not unusual for us to eat breakfast out both Saturday and Sunday, usually at Bickford’s or the local cafe, The Ugly Omelet.

There are added benefits to these meals, however. If I get out of the house in the morning, I’m less likely to nap later in the day. I love the opportunity to sit across the table from my husband and have somebody else wait on us. I like to support local businesses. In the end, breakfast out is more of an event than it is a meal.

So where does the solution lie? One meal out per weekend isn’t going to break the budget… but more than that probably is.

Anyone have any experience with or advice about keeping dining out bills in line?

7 Comments »

Do you keep hearing about Freecycle, and how easy it is to exchange goods for free? Are you confused where to start? (Also: Do you happen to be one of my parents?)

This guide will explore the origins of Freecycle, how to find a group near you, and the etiquette of exchanging items on Freecycle.

What is Freecycle?

Freecycle is a movement whose mission is “to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.” The origin of the word, is, of course, “recycle,” and the verb “Freecycle” is often used itself.

Freecycle.org acts as the hub for the Freecycle movement but – and here’s the confusing part for some people – nothing much happens on the site itself. As stated on the site’s main page, “The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,661 groups with 6,287,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns…. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.”

So How Do I Find a Local Group?

Do start at Freecycle.org, as it is the central database for Freecycle groups. You can use the search box to search for your town by name, but I recommend “Browse Groups” as a better option. For example, if I search on “Lunenburg, Massachusetts,” I get a series of results for groups that are not very close to me (i.e., Quincy?) – this is what will happen if your town doesn’t have its own group, even if the next town over does.

If I browse groups in Massachusetts, I see all the towns that host a group listed alphabetically. This allows me look for any towns that might be near me. Here, for example, is the Fitchburg North and West CARES group, to which I belong.

Signing Up For a Group

Once you select a group, the page will redirect you to the group’s mailing list. Most mailing lists are run by Yahoo!Groups, Google Groups, or a similar service. If you don’t have a free Yahoo or Google account (or whatever provider the group is using), there should be easy steps to follow to get one. Do this first, as this is key to your interaction with your local group.

With membership in a mailing list like this, you or another member can send a message to everyone in the group just by sending an email to an address like Your_Freecycle_Group@groups.yahoo.com. In this way, no one has to know all the names and email addresses of everyone who belongs to the group.

In signing up, it is very important to follow the rules exactly. My Freecycle group, for example, has the following sign-up rules:

• You must disclose your email ID or you can’t be Approved.
• Please list your ZIP CODE in your request.
• Let us KNOW you read & will comply by our site’s rules.
• You CANNOT choose NO EMAIL in your Profile as Admin MUST be able to reach you, which is minimal.
• Please read our Rules as some are different on this site than others.
• Everything posted must be Free, Legal & Family Appropriate.
• Proper FORMAT in the Subject Line is MANDATORY for ALL Freecycle sites.

In some Freecycle groups, you may be required to submit a short paragraph that describes why you wish to join. This is to rule out people who are joining just to get free stuff to resell, for example.

Okay, I’ve Joined. Now What?

Once you’ve joined, Freecycle emails will start pouring into your inbox – okay, depending on where you’re living, they may dribble rather than pour. If you don’t start seeing emails within a few days, check your settings with the mailing list provider to make sure you have checked the option to receive emails.

The first thing you’ll want to do is acquaint yourself with the rules and etiquette of your particular group. Most often these will be emailed to you as soon as you sign up. This will specify things like what items can be offered for exchange (most Freecycle groups, for example, have a strict “no pets” policy), what the format for email offers/requests should be, how frequently you can request items, etc. Groups can be fussy about these rules, so it’s very important that you pay attention.

Once you’ve read the rules, it’s time to look at the emails you’re receiving. Most Freecycle posts are of one of three types:

• WANTED: Someone is making a request for an item that they want for free
• OFFER: Someone is offering an item for free
• TAKEN: Someone is announcing that something they posted previously has been claimed. Some groups allow the use of “PPU” (pending pick-up) to announce that an item has been claimed but has not been picked up yet, but others do not – again, check the rules of your particular group.

If you are new to this group, it is considered good etiquette to offer an item before you request anything. Some groups also cap the number of “wanted” posts you can make. Once again, refer to the rules.

Offering an Item on Freecycle

If you have an item to offer, simply send an email to the whole group (at Your_Freecycle_Group@groups.yahoo.com, or whatever the address is) with a subject line of “OFFER: [My item]“.

Within a short period of time, if anyone wants that item, they will email you privately to request it. Usually they will tell you when they can pick it up. (Usual Freecycle etiquette dictates that if you’re getting something, you pick it up; if you’re offering something, you let the other person pick it up). At this point you arrange pick up instructions with the person who wants the item, such as “I’m located [here] which is at the end of ABCD Road. I’ll leave the item on the porch for you.”

Some other issues that frequently arise with offering items:

• Multiple people request the item. Most people simply take the first person who replies; other people give priority to charities or folks in need. You can come up with your own guidelines for who gets your stuff, but make sure they’re in line with the rules of your group.
• The person who claimed the item doesn’t pick it up. I usually give the person one or two more chances to pick it up, then I offer it to the next person on the list (assuming multiple people claimed it) or relist it. Chronic no-shows should be reported to the administrator of the list.

One major don’t in offering items: don’t just say, “There’s a pile of leftovers from my garage sale on my porch at 1234 ABCD Street; whoever gets there first gets them.” This is frowned upon by many Freecycle groups, and is just plain annoying in others.

Requesting an Item That’s Been Listed

So say that someone is giving away a Nintendo 64 system with the old skool Tetris game you’ve always wanted. (The Nintendo 64 Tetris is the best Tetris, after all!) Email that person off list - i.e., reply to them at their own email address, NOT the entire list – saying simply, “I’m interested in that item and I can pick it up at such-and-such time.” Some people put in a line or two about why they want the item, but frankly, I find that comes off a bit needy.

If the offerer decides that you’re it, they’ll email you back with a confirmation, i.e. “That time works. I’ll leave it on the porch for you. I’m at 1234 ABCD Street.” Don’t be offended if you get no reply back – if the person has a lot of responses, they may not be able to individually reply to everyone who requests it. If you don’t hear back promptly, assume you didn’t get the item.

If you’re requesting an item, the burden is usually on you to pick up an item. Be sure to pick up when you say you will! If you have to miss it for some reason, send a timely update to let the person know what’s up.

Requesting an Item That’s Not Been Listed (i.e. Making a “WANTED” post)

I recommend not posting a “WANTED” post until you’ve been participating for a few weeks to a month, and have offered other items. That said, a “WANTED” post can be very effective for both parties. I have only ever requested two things – an atmosphere oil burner, and a sari – and I got the first and was able to borrow the second. In the first case, the person was very eager to get the item out of their house, as she never used it!

When making a WANTED post, simply post an email to the entire list with the subject line: “WANTED: [your item here].” As outlined above, people will begin to contact you shortly if they have the object you want, and from there, you can arrange pick-up. As always, be courteous and grateful for the item you are getting for free.

Downsides and Alternatives to Freecycle

Asking my young, urban friends why they don’t use Freecycle more, I got a common response: because of transportation. Many of them don’t own cars, and as the burden of pick-up is on the requestor, that makes it difficult to participate.

Some people also dislike the strict rules of Freecycle. It’s true that to deal with a large volume of posts, Freecycle group moderators must sometimes slap people for things that seem trivial, like using headlines that don’t use the words “wanted” or “offer.” As in any human endeavor, too, management issues and bureaucracy creep in, such that some people have left Freecycle to start their own groups with similar interests.

If you’re looking for an alternative to Freecycle – either because it’s burnt you in the past, or you simply don’t have the transportation to participate – I recommend this wikiHow article, How to Find an Alternative to Freecycle.

In Conclusion

There are basically four steps to get involved with Freecycle:

• Find a group near you.
• Follow the rules.
• Give as much as you take.
• Find appropriate alternatives, when necessary.

If I’ve left anything out, I refer you to this wikiHow article How to Freecycle for more details.

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