When I moved into my current apartment, I owned a mattress and a folding chair. That was it. I had just paid first, last, and security deposit and had about forty dollars left for furniture. A friend told me to join my neighborhood’s Buy Nothing group on Facebook. I thought it would be broken lamps and stained couches.

Within two months I had a dining table, four chairs, a bookshelf, a coffee table, two lamps, and a set of pots and pans. All free.

What Buy Nothing groups are

Buy Nothing groups are hyper-local gift economies. Everything is free — no trades, no sales, no strings attached. You join the group for your specific neighborhood, not your whole city. The idea is that you give away things you do not need and ask for things you do, and the community takes care of itself.

There are groups on Facebook (the most active), an official Buy Nothing app, and offshoot groups on other platforms. Search “Buy Nothing [your neighborhood]” on Facebook to find yours.

How to get good stuff

Turn on notifications. The best items go within minutes. A leather couch posted at 2 PM on a Tuesday was claimed in eight minutes. You need to see the post quickly.

Write a real message. Do not just comment “Interested.” Say when you can pick it up and why you want it. “I just moved in and have no dining table — I could pick up anytime this evening” beats “interested” every time. Gifters read the comments and choose who to give to.

Offer things too. People who give are more likely to receive. I gave away a bookshelf I had outgrown and the person who took it remembered me when she posted a kitchen island two weeks later.

What you can actually get

Furniture, kitchenware, plants, books, baby stuff, clothes, electronics, moving boxes, paint, tools. My entire kitchen was stocked through Buy Nothing — pots, pans, a blender, a coffee maker, utensils, plates, bowls. Someone was upgrading their kitchen and gave away everything that did not match their new set. It all matched my set — because I did not have a set.

Plants are especially abundant. People propagate houseplants faster than they can use them. I have six plants now and I paid for zero of them.

The etiquette

Pick up when you say you will. Do not resell gifted items — the group is not for profit. Say thank you. Post a photo of the item in use if the giver seems like they would appreciate it.

My apartment looks nothing like the empty box I moved into. The dining table has a scratch on one corner. The coffee table wobbles slightly on uneven floors. But the total cost for all my furniture was the gas money to go pick it up. Hard to beat that.