Live Cheaply in Vancouver BC
Bartering, Dumpster Diving, Craig's List & Exchange Parties
Living in Vancouver is expensive - unless you know how to get free stuff like furniture, clothes, tickets to comedy shows, & even haircuts! Live cheaply in Vancouver BC.
Vancouver, BC is only an expensive place to live if you don't know how to get free stuff. Living cheaply in Vancouver BC - the second most expensive city in Canada - is possible if you know where to look. Craig's List Vancouver BC is one excellent place to start!
This article is a sister to Live on Less in Vancouver BC. If you're interested in learning more about Vancouver, read Vancouver BC trivia for information about stuff like the unsolved murders in Stanley Park!
Here are four ways to get free stuff and live cheaply in Vancouver BC (the "Jewel of the Pacific"):
Barter: Consider bartering your service or skill for someone else’s – both informal and formal opportunities exist. Could you paint someone’s living room in exchange for a typed and edited resume or business letter? To live cheaply in Vancouver BC, consider the First Canadian Barter Exchange. It's a formal system; participating members trade their skills or services for barter dollars, which they then redeem for other people’s products. A variety of services are offered, including car tune-ups, haircuts, tickets to comedy and fashion shows, cooking services, pianos, snowboard boots, photocopiers, water heaters, etc. . Bartering is a great way to live cheaply in Vancouver BC.
Classifieds: Listed in most local newspapers is a Free Stuff section – sometimes people even deliver items right to your door. Craig’s List is an online list of local community classifieds and forums with hundreds of sites all over the world from Humboldt, Saskatchewan to Hyderabad, India. Once someone advertised free peacocks on the Vancouver BC site; people also barter, organize ride shares, advertise jobs, offer shared accommodation and apartment rentals, list artistic gigs, swap houses and more. The website is www.vancouver.craigslist.org - and it's a great way to live cheaply in Vancouver BC! Another online organization offering freebies is www.secondhandsavvy.com, which also lists garage sales, rummage sales, thrift sales, fundraisers, craft sales and antique/collectible shows.
Dumpster Dive If this is also known as “picking up something that’s obviously set out for the trash” then I’ve taken the plunge! Jogging through my neighbourhood, I once found a coat rack next to a garbage can. Not only did it keep my hats and jackets neatly organized, it was also an effective post-run cool-down exercise as I pressed it above my head all the way home. Living cheaply in Vancouver BC can involve lowering your pride. Sometimes unwanted items boast a sign declaring it “Free”, and other times you know it’s up for grabs because it’s been clearly abandoned in a lane, lobby or next to a dumpster. Evidently there’s an art to it: The Art and Science of Dumpster Diving (by John Hoffman) has been described as the dumpster diver’s bible.
Exchange Parties: The last Clothing Swap I heard of was at the local pub on Bowen Island; at least a dozen women participated. Take your gently or never worn clothes to an exchange party and bring home an assortment of new-to-you outfits – for free! If you haven’t heard of any exchange parties near you, consider hosting your own – the Secondhand Savvy website offers a step-by-step description of planning one. Living cheaply in Vancouver BC can be a social activity!
Almost Free Stuff
Borrow or Rent Planning a party? Instead of buying a hundred plastic plates and cups, borrow from friends or rent from one of the many party rental organizations in the Lower Mainland -- and share the expense with friends or roommates. If you're invited to a costume party and still want to live cheaply, shop at a second-hand store for a clown outfit to piece together – or considering borrowing one from a friend or renting from a costume store.
Vancouver’s Buy & Sell – the world’s first free ad newspaper – lists an average of 30,000 classified ads each week, totaling about $90 million in value for goods listed. Offering everything from Aircraft to Zinnias in 800 categories, they’ve advertised many oddities such as an animal described as a “cross between a dog and a monkey” and a “BC railway complete with rolling stock.” Living cheaply in Vancouver BC is all about finding bargains.
To live cheaply in Vancouver BC, consider other common rentals such as tool and landscaping equipment, karaoke machines, forklifts and more. Renting an item helps you decide whether you need and like the item enough to buy it outright. Same with borrowing, whether it be a book from the library or a slow cooker from a friend; hands-on experience is priceless when it comes to decision making. Consider bartering or trading items with friends, like you did when you were a kid: “Let’s make a deal: I’ll trade you my twice-used treadmill for the gorgeous peach tree in your back yard…”
Living cheaply and getting free stuff in Vancouver, BC is easier than you think if you know where to look. You can save your money for the best parts of life when you live cheaply in Vancouver BC!
If you liked Living Cheaply in Vancouver BC, you might like to read High Self-Esteem Equals More Money to increase your earning power!
