Free stuff is everywhere, if you know where to look! Using the 10 resources outlined in this article, you could save a lot of money on clothing, furniture, food and more.
Find Free Stuff Near You
From social media to consumer-conscious community recycling services, there are several ways that you can locate freebies in your area. Try one or all of these suggestions!
Join your local Buy Nothing group.
There are Buy Nothing groups all over the world that help people connect to give, receive and exchange all sorts of items from clothes to furniture, games, kitchen appliances and more. There are over 6.5 million Buy Nothing community members around the world who participate in this. It’s truly incredible.
Buy Nothing is guided by some very specific rules. Within their groups, you can offer or request anything that you’d like as long as it’s legal. There’s no buying, no selling, no bartering or trading. It’s just a simple give, or a simple ask, with no strings attached. It’s simple – and that’s beautiful.
Buy Nothing is my favorite way to find free stuff near me. I have personally given and received clothing, furniture, crockpots, all sorts of things through my local Buy Nothing groups. Since I tend to move around a lot, I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of many different Buy Nothing groups over the years. In every place I’ve lived, the Buy Nothing groups have been phenomenally helpful resources.
So, how do you join? The easiest way is to find the local Buy Nothing group for your local community on Facebook. If you don’t use Facebook, that’s okay too because the Buy Nothing Project has developed their own app as well. You can download the app and use the service that way too.
Check Freecycle.
Freecycle is very similar to Buy Nothing. It’s all about reusing and recycling items within your local community. They strive to keep things out of landfills by helping people offer their used items for free. Unlike Buy Nothing groups, you’ll be able to browse offers in other nearby areas because the focus is on recycling free stuff and not necessarily on building community relationships. You can get started with Freecycle at freecycle.org.
Try Facebook Marketplace.
Wondering how to get free stuff near you on Facebook Marketplace? It’s so easy! In fact, there’s a FREE category in the marketplace where you can find items that are being given away near you. It’s a very easy way to connect with freebies in your area.
While you’re on Facebook, don’t forget to join the Low Income Relief Community group for more ways to save money and get free stuff!
Search OfferUp for free listings.
As far as I can tell, Offerup does not have a free category. However, you can type “free” into the search bar to find what people near you are giving away for free. Be careful, though! Sometimes the search will return paid listings that include the phrase “not free” as well.
However, when I quickly did this search, I was able to find a lot of free stuff near me! There were mattresses, moving boxes, porch lights, furniture, lawnmowers, glasses, even a beautiful like-new baby changing table.
Sign up for Next Door.
Next Door is a social media app for neighborhoods. Many people give away items here, especially when they’re moving. In the sidebar, there’s a tab that says “For Sale & Free.” You can click the “Free” button in the submenu that appears so that you can quickly and easily see the free items available in your community. A quick search in my area included pets, plants, frozen food, furniture, books, and even free lawn care services. I highly recommend checking out what’s available in your own local Next Door group.
Craigslist is another option.
Craigslist has always had a free section in their For Sale categories. This is a great way to find free stuff near you as well. Typically, you’ll find a lot of larger items here – pianos, lawnmowers, furniture, that sort of thing.
You have to be careful because there are often a lot of items here that aren’t really useful. Many of the posts I saw required you to disassemble or move heavy equipment. For example, there was a post offering free river rocks if you gather them out of the landscaping or free firewood if you split it yourself. In other cases, there was heavy machinery that was not operational that would have to be moved.
These things could be useful, but it’s usually not going to be as easy as picking up a bag of free clothes from your local Buy Nothing group.
Check alleys around thrift stores for great finds.
I asked our audience where they like to look for free stuff near them and some of the answers surprised me. Many people mentioned dumpsters or alleyways, especially dumpsters near thrift stores.
In fact, one member of our Facebook Group told us, “If people are nice, when they want to get rid of something worthwhile, they won’t put it in the dumpster, they will place it next to the dumpster, in a clean bag or a clean box.”
I hadn’t thought of that before but it’s actually a really great idea, so I wanted to share.
Get Free Stuff Sent Right to Your Door
If you’re looking for free stuff near you, don’t forget to claim the freebies that will be sent right to your door! After all, it doesn’t get much closer than your front porch.
Claim monthly freebies from PinchME.
You can claim free samples from PinchME. Every month, there’s a Free Sample Tuesday where you can pick free offers from brands that are offering freebies. It’s usually the second Tuesday of the month.
There’s no credit card required and you can claim the deals for free, but you need to watch out for those sneaky upsells. PinchMe will offer extra benefits and perks while they try to steer you toward paid-for deals and discounts. If you remember to click past those, then you won’t have any problems claiming your freebies. Get started with PinchME now!
BzzAgent also sends free samples through the mail. You’ll need to sign up and establish your profile in order to be matched with relevant brand campaigns. Watch your email for those invites and then follow the instructions. After you receive the item, you’ll need to follow the included instructions to make a social media post about the items you received.
Check Hey It’s Free for new freebies!
I love Hey Its Free and I’ve used it since before Low Income Relief became a viable business. This is a nationally-recognized service that helps you find the best, legitimate, safe freebies on the internet. They are very careful to avoid spam, junk and dangerous fake deals. You can visit their monthly freebie roundup to see a list of all the accurate, fact-checked and verified freebies that are available to you.
Get your Daily Goodie Box.
If you’re looking for free stuff near you, Daily Goodie Box will send it right to your door. The site promises that you’ll never have to enter a credit card and that they don’t charge you anything. However, they do gather some data about you which can be shared with their business partners. This is pretty standard, but it’s always important to read the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of any site before you register.
Nicole Thelin
Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.