It looks like we’re going to be saddled with $700 billion in debt – that’s roughly $2,500 for every man, woman and child — to rescue investment banks and their CEOs from bad decisions. So as we tighten our belts even further, now’s a great time to get accustomed to the second-hand economy of getting stuff for free or nearly free. On a retail salary, it’s the only way to get by!You may be doing this already; I know I have been. My wife and I furnished most of our apartment using these resources, saving the money for only a few choice things, and we have a pretty swank pad.There are a lot of great resources out there. For those of you who don’t know about them, here’s a brief list to start you off.

• Craig’s List (specifically the free section)
• Freecycle
• OurSwaps
• SwapTree

So start trading, giving and receiving your stuff with others, because you know you have too much of it as it is. And remember, you can always get something crappy and fix it up, or make it for yourself from scratch with materials, or even get a bunch of broken stuff and mash it all together into a new thing.