4 Questions I Ask Before Bringing Home a Freebie or Buying a “Good Deal”
This frugal chick has a hard time passing on a good deal, but I’m slowly realizing that free stuff can become a burden. Â It takes up space in my home and eventually I need to use it, pitch it, sell it, or store it.
A good friend of mine is going overseas for full time mission work. Â For months Donna has been cleaning out her house and attempting to shove things into my car when I’m not looking. Â (Joking. Â Kind of…)
It has been so hard to tell Donna no! Â The combination of helping her, getting a good deal on something she is selling or getting it for free, and wanting to have a little piece of Donna in my home has been difficult to resist. Â At times it has seriously stressed me out in a way that only fabulously frugal folks can understand.
I’ve started asking myself 4 questions when I consider bringing home a freebie or buying a good deal:
1) Do I need this?  I mean really need it.  Donna gave me a beautiful blue flower pot that has been sitting empty on my deck for weeks now.  I don’t need it.  I should have said no.
2) Do I have a place to put this? Â I bought lots of kid clothes from Donna that my children will grow into. Â Clothing is a necessity, but buying clothes that they won’t wear for 2 years isn’t a significant need right now. Â However, I have a place to store clothes and I have a system already in place for organizing them.
3) Would I pay full price for this? Â Donna gave me some art supplies that I eagerly said yes to. Â Grace loves all kinds of art and I value that enough to pay full price for the supplies.
4) How long will it be before I need/use this? Â Donna was selling a white night stand and I struggled to decide if I wanted it. Â In the end I decided to pass. Â We could use the night stand for Noah, but we wouldn’t need it until he was out of his crib. Â I’m not sure how his room will be set up at that point and if it would even work. Â It seemed silly to buy something that would sit in my attic for awhile and even then I’m not sure if it would be used. Â I’ll be honest though, even as I’m writing this I’m wondering if I made the right decision.
Do you struggle with turning down a freebie? Â How do you decide if a good deal is truly worth it?
Great list of questions! “Do I have a place to put this?” Is a question I had to learn, no, force myself to ask every time I saw something I “could use” on Freecycle. I had to learn the hard way.
I love this list to reflect. Like you, I also have a hard time passing up a good deal or freebie!
I have a very hard time turning down a good deal. I think I need to start asking myself if I have a place for it. Might make some of my choices easier.
I feel your pain, Mandy!
I’d like to add one: How much packaging does it have?
Also, let’s talk about how people react when you turn down a freebie.
YES!!!! Only freaks would turn down a good deal, right??? (Of course I’m probably guilty of thinking that about others in the past.)
When considering something for our home, my first question is always this: “Do I really want to dust this?”. Very seldom is the answer “yes”. I then follow up with the same four questions you’ve listed here. However, I’ve not always applied this practice to freebies. Thanks for the encouragement.
I don’t want to dust ANYTHING! Asking that question would clean my house out pretty quick. 🙂