Frugal Living in Detroit

It's just a week away, so best to prepare. Saturday, October 4th is International Frugal Fun Day. In these tough economic times, the best way to celebrate is to take action:

• Freecycle: Freecycle.org started a concept that has spread across Michigan and communities in the Metro Detroit area. To freecycle is to turn trash into treasure. In other words, it is a virtual group through which you can find a taker for items you would otherwise stick in the trash. To that end, you can either list an item or search for an item through an e-mail group set up for the purpose in a specific, local region. The place to start in Detroit is the MotorCity Freecycle Yahoo Group. The group also lists other more specific neighborhood groups, such as freecycle groups in Clinton Township, Ferndale, Novi, the shoreline communities, etc.
  
  
• Frugal Tips: Another online group, Michigan Tightwads, is an e-mail venue that allows participants to trade local frugal-living tips.
  
  
• Local Coupons: The Detroit Free Press keeps a current list of coupons to use toward local products and services.
  
  
• Resale: In addition to Yellow Book’s list of local resale shops, Detroit also has an Architectural Salvage Warehouse that sells recycled components, such as doors, copper pipes, wood flooring and sinks, from deconstructed homes in the Metro Detroit area.