KATU Special Report: Free Stuff
PORTLAND, Ore. - Whoever said "there is no such thing as a free lunch" may have to rethink that idea after hearing about this. There is an easy way to find just about everything you need for free - all you need is a computer, access to the Internet and a way to haul your freebies home. Michelle, who is getting a divorce, is starting over, but buying her new home left her with no money to furnish it for her and her kids.
Michelle was already a dedicated user of Craigslist, the rapidly growing Web site that offers free local "for sale" ads for just about everything.
But within the "for sale" section is a listing area for free stuff. When you click on the listing, you find all kinds of items listed, which made us wonder, could you actually get enough free stuff to furnish a home? We challenged Michelle to find as much free stuff as she could in two weeks to furnish her place. Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is amazed and gratified that the free stuff page is the fasted growing part of the site. "People generally are very good to each other," said Newmark. "People generally believe in this thing where you treat other people like you want to be treated."
It didn't take long for Michelle to score big off the free section. Here is a list of some of the items she ended up getting:
Michelle even got a goldfish, which she is thinking of calling "Freebie."  A quick tally of the major items would have easily cost Michelle $475. To buy them new, based on ads in the Sunday paper, would have cost her $2,050. 
There are some tips if you are thinking of claiming some free stuff of your own:
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