Living as a junior scientist comes with a tight budget. It is rare to see someone living on a generous student stipend. And even for a postdoc, the range of salary is tight. It is just enough to live in that area. So if you have a family to support or paying back some student loan, financial issues always follow you.
Also, we tend to move around. So buying some everyday items such as furniture for your flat does make you wonder whether it is reasonable to do. You want some quality but you might not use it for the long term. Time like these days, working from home is essential for you. We can face a conflict of interest here, money vs. needs.
So I share some neat ways to save some money and, you can also contribute some good action to the environment at the same time.
- Olio
Mainly focused on reducing food waste, but you can also find decent other non-food items. Non-commercial. Free donation between users. Lots of supermarket chain staff are participating to reduce the waste. They added the ‘made’ section, in which people can sell and buy homemade food and sustainable handmade crafts.
Platform: app/web
pro: app, distance-based search, profile with picture and rating
con: you want to use the exact keyword. with ‘duvet’ you cannot find ‘duvets’. The app-based interface can be a barrier for the older generation, who has more potential to share.
where: currently 108 countries in the world (including North Korea?) https://olioex.com/food-waste-in/
- trashnothing.com
https://trashnothing.com/beta/browse
The website offers a combined search for ‘freecycle.org’ and ‘freegle’, which I explain below. It is a nice independent project which can help users better navigate these two free sharing websites. Some communities may not include in the list provided by this website.
- freecycle.org
Volunteer organized communities sharing items. More on non-food stuff. Non-commercial. Only free donation to each other. Town-based communities.
Platform: web
pro: well established and long history, attracts more older generation locals.
con: lots of ads are without pictures, distance-based search not possible. No function for review, more anonymous.
where: about 140 countries in the world https://www.freecycle.org/browse?noautodetect=1
- freegle
Similar concept as freecycle, also the app is supported. Seems like only in the UK.
- geev
It seems like a similar concept app.
- too good to go
When restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets have some unsold items, they usually have to throw them away. So this app tries to connect potential customers who want to participate in reducing food waste with these sellers. Normally the Price is much reduced from the usual price, but you cannot choose what you get.
platform: app
pro: You can get restaurant-quality food. This means the quality or the safety of food would be guaranteed. Food is already packed in a suitable container. app-based reservation system, review and scoring of customer satisfaction, distance-based search, category based search, pre-announced price.
con: you don’t know what you get
where: 15 countries Netherlands, France, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy and the United
Kingdom and most recently the USA.
- summary
It seems that freecycle.org has been and still is the most popular one of this kind. So I guess you could google search in your region with ‘similar freecycle’ or ‘alternative freecycle’. And find something most reliable and widely used community in your area.
Also, you can search ‘food waste app’ to find something similar to ‘Olio’ or ‘too good to go’ and save some grocery budget.
Why not? it is also good for the environment too!
Coffee Break Special 