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(1) If you have specific types of crap that you're looking for, set up Craigslist or eBay RSS feeds (and e-mail filters, if you get Freecycle listings) to make it easy to patiently wait for just the right crap at just the right price. This is especially important when just the right price = free, because you need to find out about and act quickly when good stuff gets offered up on CL or FreeCycle;

(2) Be eager to take crap from other people. In fact, become known as the person who will gladly take crap! The best person to take crap from is your boss's boss (it's a little weird taking too much crap from your boss, and your boss's crap may not be that much better than your crap). We got a very nice, not too old stainless steel Meile dishwasher from the owner of the company my husband works for. Insert yourself insidiously in conversations when you hear the word "remodeling" or "redecorating."

(3) If you have a taste for big crap, you gotta have the wheels to haul it. We have easily a $1,000 worth of free landscaping materials sitting in our driveway right now, which we never would have been able to score if we were driving around a Prius, sorry to say. "Free delivery" is the privilege of those who can afford to pay retail for new crap.

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