You’ll be surprised at what you can get for nothing
With the current economic crisis in full swing and expected to get worse, now is the time to start hunting down all that lovely free stuff. There is so much that’s available for $0. Here I cover free education, books, furniture, restaurant food, and pick-your-own-fruit.
#1 Learn for free
There’s no need to get into $50,000 debt to attend university. Take these completely free courses instead.
Open University has a whole range of free courses. These include introductory, intermediate, and advanced topics. Subjects include:
- Health, Sports & Psychology
- Education & Development
- History & The Arts
- Languages
- Money & Business
- Nature & Environment
- Science, Maths & Technology
- Society, Politics & Law
Coursera.org has 2,562 courses listed as free.
Many of these courses come from some of the top universities in the world, including Stanford, Yale, and the University of London.
Udemy.com has 539 courses listed as free
There are plenty of other sites that also offer free courses. A quick Google search should uncover them.
#2 Read for free
If you’re on this platform then you must be a reader. So reading for free should be a no-brainer for you.
Amazon Kindle always has free books on offer. These change daily, so check often. Many websites also provide up-to-date lists of what’s available.
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. You’re bound to find something worth reading there.
Open Library has millions of books available through Controlled Digital Lending.
There are also libraries in villages, towns, and cities all around the world where you can borrow books for free.
A Google search for free books will lead you to many more sites that offer books to read for free.
#3 Furnish your home for free
This will only work in some larger cities. The way to get free furniture is to head to the “free” section of Craigslist.org.
I just checked this section for London and found the following free items — a couch, a petrol lawnmower, a Star Wars collection, a large trampoline, a king-size mahogany bed, dinner plates, a clothes dryer, and a fridge.
You may also find free items on some dedicated websites. These vary depending on where you live.
Freecycle.org is a popular UK & US site for free items.
#4 Eat restaurant food for free
In the UK, Europe, and the US, there are apps that will tell you which restaurants will either give away or sell reduced-price food that’s leftover.
Download Olio (mainly UK) and TooGoodToGo (UK, US, Europe) to see what’s available in your area.
Don’t forget that in the UK there are many food banks available that offer free food to those that are living on a low income.
#5 Pick fruit for free
If it’s fresh fruit you want, there is a handy website that has a map showing where there are orchards, trees, and bushes where you can pick fruit for free.
Head over to Falling Fruit, add your location, and see what’s available. You’ll be surprised at what’s available, even in dense, urban areas such as East Village in NYC.
For more ways to save money, be sure to check out the following:
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