Scavenge Free Electronics, Food, and Help the Environment

Ok, so you're short on money, and you need free stuff, or maybe you just want to get some free electronics equipment and food.

So we're going to show you how to scavenge free stuff!

With a little practice, scavenging and recycling waste can become lifelong habits. It's truly amazing how much money you can save. You don't need to do everything we mention (and we've just scratched the surface of what's possible when truly desperate), but if you've been eating instant ramen for as long as you can remember and would kinda like to watch TV someplace more private than the bar down the street, this one's for you.

In fact, if you'd like to get free equipment and lower your cost of living, read on, McDuff!

• And a special thanks to my collaborators!

All who collaborated - Rishnai Skunkbait Plasmana Thermoelectric JellyWoo

Talk to your friends. Maybe someone you know has got a VCR they want to get rid of. Maybe someone just came back from vacation and will give you the casings from their disposable cameras.

I have friends who have gotten 10's of bikes from friends, accumulating 30-40 bikes, and i can borrow/get a lot of stuff from my dad's lab... - AnarchistAsian

Why bother asking strangers when the answer may be right in your Rolodex?

Speaking of scavenging, suppose your neighbors haven't quite hit that point in their lives where they start getting rid of cool old electronic stuff. Whatever shall you do?

What you can get:

Never fear, we can trade! People get rid of a lot of furniture. Nice furniture. We've fully furnished the house a few times with curbside finds. Believe it or not, not everything that's on the curb is tacky, and it's not all in good condition, but if you don't need furniture and it's in good shape, it can become good money!

How to get it:

and we've all heard of craigslist
In fact, if you're trading, especially if you're looking for something specific, come up with something interesting and/or valuable to trade and post an offer to trade on there.

• "Will trade Class A 100W/channel amp for Moog Taurus II"

works if you have such an amp laying around. You don't even need to stay in the same train of thought. How about

• "Will trade fenders and tank from '55 Pan for Class A amp"?

trading is a great way to get rid of stuff you don't need, and get stuff you do need for free!

Re-usables-

Go to your local camera shop. A lot of them will have cameras that are too old to have parts support and are slightly broken. Folks essentially abandon them when they come in for a new camera, and the guy behind the counter really doesn't care that much about a 1973 Sears with a worn-down winder.

You can get these free or for a song. Unless they've got a screwed up lens, your camera won't come with a lens, and there might be some other little worn parts, but you can fix those... You will then have a free film SLR! (Lenses sold separately) Now, if you can find some solid lenses, you may even be able to sell them, or use them! Lenses for cameras are often worth more the actual camera!
And you can get:

• lenses to sell/use
• a free, fixable camera
• neodinium magnets
• springs

And whatever else you can find inside!

Disposables-

so for electronics parts from disposables so go to a film developing place, you know, the sort of place where a gum-popping ex-waitress calls you hun, takes your photos, and runs them through that gigantic machine of awesomeness that develops them.
so just ask for some used-up disposable cameras. tell them you're re-using them for a science project. and remember! they aren't for coil guns or shocking people!!!! never,EVER tell them that.

What you can do with them:
so why do this? Inside there's a high-voltage charger circuit, capacitors, leds, and other wonderous things. THAT'S WHY.
You can use those parts to:

• make a coil gun
• make a mini-shocker
• make a ring flash

Or whatever other electronics fun you want to use them for!

And don't attempt this unless you have experience with high voltage and electronics...
the last thing we need is another stupid teenager who thought they were badass for shocking people at school....

What you can get:

I got an:

• 8-track deck/amp,
• two really nice 7-inch speakers
• mid-quality amp
• 14-inch speaker
• five VCRs
• 36-inch color TV

And could have (if I'd had the space) gotten an analog keyboard, all within five blocks of my house. - Rishnai
Anything you don't need, you can just sell on ebay

How to get it:

Look around on and around trash day. People get rid of all sorts of nice stuff. Tape decks that eat tapes just need a small belt fixed, VCR's, lamps, couches... People who have a larger budget don't have the attention span for that, so it ends up on the curb. That's where you come in.

Of course, some of you college students must have done this at one time or another...

When living on the cheap ceases to be a hobby and becomes a way of life, you have to step things up a notch. The next obvious step is dumpster diving.

What you can get:

I've gotten:

• amplifiers
• TVs
• bicycles
• lawnmowers
• weed-eaters
• ice-chests
• clothes
• books
• furniture
• dorm-size fridges
• tons of lamps and clocks

I've sold literally thousands of dollars worth of this stuff. I even sold the vintage amp on ebay to a guy in France! Some items I give away to the truly needy. Other items find their way into my home and workshop where they are put to good use.

How to get it:

It goes beyond the usual "trash day" scrounging and occasionally requires that you get a little dirty. I recommend a good pair of coveralls, steel-toed boots and a good pair of gloves for this pursuit.
Personally I steer clear of dumpster food, but that's just my preference. There are other cleaner, safer places to scrounge for good surplus food, but I certainly hate to see ANY food go to waste.

One word of caution, "Be polite". There are others who dumpster dive, and I've run across a few who are quite territorial. Use your people skills, and be willling to share!

-Skunkbait

Buying electronic parts may be very expensive, but I know a few tricks on how to get free electronic equipment which has lots of valuable electronic parts!

Getting free electronic stuff is easier than you thing, you just need to look around...

General-

• Schools - If you nicely ask your headmaster that you can have the electronic stuff they might throw out, they might give it to you...
• Computer Repair Store - If you ask the manager nicely for blown electronic equipment, they will usually give it to you. If you get a blown DVD/CD burner, you are very lucky, you had got a laser that cost several hundred bucks! Check out this instructable if you do get a burner.
• Skips - For those Americans that does not know, it is an english word for huge trash containers, what you would call dumpsters. And that is where I thrive, I find not only electronic stuff, but a lot of other great stuff as well. In England it is legal to collect stuff from skips, you just only need to watch out for the territorial people, you don't want to see them...
• Trash Days- Go for a drive or walk around on your trash day, you can find a lot of great stuff as well. I had even found a still-working 400 british pounds ($800) pressure washer!

- Plasmana

CRT monitors!!!

What you can get:
They have a variety of parts inside them for example:

• Crystals
• Microchips
• Capacitors
• Resistors
• Diodes
• Mosfets
• Transistors
• Relays
• VGA cable
• Electromagnets
• Potentiometers/Variable resistors
• Fuses
• Inductors
• Buttons/Switches
• Bridge Rectifiers
• Transformers

Dont' know what any of those are? Then you probably won't need them...
Though if you are into electronics and high-voltage, they can be very useful!^ahem AND FREE

How to get it:
Have a look around, If you see a CRT monitor (the one that isn't a flatscreen) be sure to pick it up. They are usually found at landfills, in dumpsters/garbage bins, outside places with lots of computers etc. They may not be as easy to find as other stuff on this site, but keep looking! They'll be well worth it!

If you wanted, you could modify it to be a oscilloscope, Use it for parts, Use the screen as a vacuum bomb (don't do this at home, not enviromentaly friendly either) and you can even make a high voltage powersupply out of the flyback transformer here's how

-Thermoelectric

Can you live without it? it think not..

FOOD

There are many ways to get free food. Besides making friends with people who have money and possibly bartering (will drum for food), here are some tried-and-true methods.

• Bakery and restaurant waste, or other people's unclaimed (if you are the hobo type)
• Roadkill (ewwwwwwww)
• Hunting/trapping
• sneaking into a business conference for the free cookies and pizza...
• mooching at parties...
• Picking free apples...

COMERCIAL WASTE

Spoiled fruit and veggies from the grocery store can be had if you ask the right people. Find that person at your local supermarket. Make them your friend. The unsaleable fruits and veggies they can provide you with are often some trimming and possibly thorough cooking away from being perfectly edible, safe, and delicious.

Check behind bakeries, especially. They have to get rid of a lot of bread-like goods. Why let the seagulls have it? Even better, make friends with an employee. Most of my freshman year, I survived on stale and sometimes oddly misshapen (when they had new hires) honey whole wheat, pumpernickel, and raisin breads from the local Great Harvest.

Back in the day, when they barely had a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, my dad and his siblings ate well for a whole winter on millet and steak. How, do you ask? They knew a guy who worked at a local steakhouse, who would get a shipment of steak in the morning, serve it throughout the day, then freeze whatever they had left over in case they ran out the next day. After the second day, they'd throw it out. Their contact made sure that the frozen steaks found their way over to their freezer instead of the dump. The millet was from the pet food shop.

- Rishnai

Sounds nice, huh?

DRINK

most resturants, coffee shops, and grocery stores will either have drinking fountains, or be required to give you free cups of water if you ask. Some places will even just give you free soda if you drop by! A place near my friend's house does it, and we always bike over there when we're thirsty. - AnarchistAsian
^{oh yeah, and drinking strait out the soda fountain never hurt anyone...}

If you are thirsty or in need of free calories to the point of having no shame, you can grab a cup out of the trash at McDonalds or some such, rinse it out, and get refills. It's tacky. It's not filling. It's qutie possibly unhealthy. But it's free, and one can only drink out of a garden hose for so long, y'know? Now go get some solid food.
YEAH, IF YOU'RE AT THAT POINT, GO AHEAD ^{but only if you're at that point...here's hoping you never are}

Do you ever see all of those beautiful apples ripens on apple trees in public area and want to pick them? But don't know if it okay do it or not? And just watch them fall off the tree and rot away?

Well, you can pick apples from public areas, but you need to obey the law first...

• You can ONLY pick apples from trees if its branches are growing over or growing in public areas, like along the road, pavement (sidewalk), and areas like that. However, it is illegal to pick apples that are within somebody's property line.

Note: Some people may complain at you if you pick apples from a tree or a branch that is over the public areas, they have no right to do that. However, they DO have the right to complain at you, or call the police if you pick apples that are within their property...

Important note: This rule is used only in United Kingdom, and in most parts of USA, in some states of USA, it is illegal to pick apples from trees in public places, check with your local authorities first. Also, I don't know if you can pick apples in public areas in other countries.

For more information, check out this instructable.

- Plasmana

Walmart has a webpage where you can get free samples. Just sign up to get free cereal and other food items and enjoy a couple meals on someone else's penny. Some of you may consider walmart as the evil giant mega-corporation store, but you may just change your mind after you get some free stuff from them. Notice i said Free.

What you can get-

Stuff like:

• cereal
• lotion
• cookies
• potato chips
• granola bars
• candy
• neosporin
• band-aides
• soap

Mostly house-hold items, and food.

How to get it:

All you have to do is go to http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-Free-Samples-And-Trials.aspx and enjoy free items now! From there you can get free samples, free trials, discounts, and free music. It is quick, easy and from a trusted company. Enjoy and happy sampling.

- JellyWoo

(From my Forum Topic):

There's this great site called http://www.swagbucks.com, and it's a search site powered by Google and Ask search engines. Every few searches, you get swag bucks which you can redeem for prizes on the site, including digital gift cards, and you can use swag bucks to buy ANYTHING on the internet, so when you sign up, you don't even have to put your real address.

You can also get swag bucks by using swag codes you find on blogs, by trading in items, and even by shopping.

Another thing you can do is get referrals, and you can get up to 100 swag bucks from each person you referred, so if they earn, you earn. My referral link is: http://swagbucks.com/refer/MeatBall but you don't have to use my referral of course.

get your friends together, get some free food, sit on free furniture, play with free electronics, and PARTY LIKE IT'S 1929!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VOTED FOR ME!!!!!