How to go 'shopping' for free

Your friends' junk could become your new treasures.

By Donna_Freedman Nov 2, 2009 1:08AM

Want to get a head start on your yearly spring cleaning by de-cluttering? Try a tactic recommended by a Smart Spending message board reader posting as "AwakenedSpiritHawk1." Twice a year, this reader and her friends have a "shopping party" with food, fun and freebies.

Got a stack of books you've read? Home decor items given as gifts that simply aren't your style? A shirt you rarely wear? Here's your chance to clear closets, bookshelves and tabletops. Think of it as your own private Freecycle. After all, one person's discard is another person's great find.

This isn't regifting because no one's forced to take anything. Everyone brings food and drink to share, and everyone has fun, the reader wrote on a message board thread. "We hang out, enjoy each other's company, eat and shop for free."

Bing: How to organize your closet

The key, of course, is to bring only items that are in decent condition. It's not cool to trade a threadbare T-shirt for someone else's nearly new belt.

Another reader, "Cronewitch," calls this "playing Goodwill" -- a family member gives relatives first pick before she takes usable items off to that charity. Cronewitch has another suggestion: Have the shopping party first, stage a yard sale with what's left and donate any remainders to charity.

The idea of a shopping party could be tailored to specific interests, such as gardening, parenting, outdoor activities, knitting, etc. Before you start, have a tactic for dealing with two people who want the same item. I'm not talking about toddlers fighting over a firetruck, but rather two weekend mountaineers tussling for a particularly nice camp stove or set of crampons. Have them cut the cards, or something.

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Published March 11, 2009

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Editor Bev O'Shea lives and works in the foothills of the Appalachians. A former copy editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Orlando Sentinel, she joined MSN Money in 2007. She's a fan of sunsets, college football and free shipping, among other things.

Having worked as a writer, reporter and editor for more than 25 years, Editor Julie Tilsner is the sort of person who can't help but correct grammar in Facebook postings and on billboards. She's written for BusinessWeek, the Los Angeles Times, Parenting, Redbook, AOL and others. She lives in Los Angeles County with her family and loves to drink wine and practice yoga, although not generally at the same time.

A writer for MSN Money since January 2007, Donna Freedman won regional and national prizes during an 18-year newspaper career and earned a college degree in midlife without taking out student loans. She also writes about smart money tactics for magazines and on her own site, Surviving and Thriving.

Mitch Lipka has been warning people about scams and shining light on questionable business practices for more than 20 years. Mitch, the consumer columnist for The Boston Globe, has also been a reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Consumer Reports, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and AOL. He won the 2010 New York Press Club award for best consumer reporting online and was honored in 2011 for his reporting on child product safety.

Marilyn Lewis is an award-winning writer with a passion for getting readers clear, straight information that helps them stay out of financial trouble. A former reporter for The San Jose Mercury News, she works from her home in Port Townsend, Wash. Contact her at MarilynLewis@Outlook.com.