A Recession Survival Guide for Recent College Graduates

Unemployment is the best time to redecorate.

I have a challenge for you, but more on that later…

I have returned to blogging with some tips on how to spiff up your surroundings for free.  Between writing cover letters, “networking,” and crying yourself to sleep on your air mattress, unemployment might be a great opportunity to decorate your apartment (or, with your parents’ permission, your room at home).  Redecorating provides a change of scenery without having to move as well as an involved task that will get your mind off of your financial woes – as long as you don’t spend any money.

Furniture

Beyond the obvious option to raid the garages, attics, and backyard sheds of your loved ones, scoring rad furniture for free can be a task.  Luckily, Craigslist has thoughtfully included a “Free” category in their “For Sale” section.  Through luck and circumstance, you may be able to find someone who spontaneously decided to move to a monastery in Tibet and must dispense with all of their things immediately.  This is what we call a gold mine.  Short of that, you might be able to pick up a couch or dining room set as long as you can pick it up and carry it away from its previous owner.  Also, if you have a couple of your own worldly belongings that you don’t mind dispensing with, check out the “Barter” section of Craigslist.  This way, you can get rid of that dinette set you have been tired of looking at while also gaining a new (old) loveseat.

If you are lucky enough to live in a college town, then you must take the opportunity to capitalize on the Great Purge that occurs on sidewalks and trashcans at the end of every semester.  Check academic calendars for the schools in your area and get ready to hit the streets of your local campus mid-May or mid-December.

For all others, you should remember one holiday: Labor Day weekend.  This weekend serves as a sort-of changing of the guard moment when new tenants replace old ones, keys change hands, leases change names, and stuff spills out of apartment buildings and onto the street.  My former roommate Katie combed the streets of Boston over Labor Day weekend a few years ago with nothing but a minivan and a dream.  That dream was realized in the form of the most wonderful paisley-covered, reclining wingback chair I have ever had the pleasure of sitting in.  She also got a rug and some decorative accents for our shared abode.  Joy and comfort for zero dollars.

For furniture and other decorative treats, Freecycle offers a network of people in your community who have stuff to give up and puts them just a few mouse clicks away.  Freecycle also reminds me that this exercise is not just about personal satisfaction, it is also a way to reduce waste.  Who knew unemployment and a recession could be good for the environment?  Well, not exactly, but reducing waste and recycling are still good ideas allthesame.

Other decorative touches

If you happen to have access to a printer, then the world is your oyster when it comes to throwing together some aesthetically – and financially – pleasing wall art.  Showcase your favorite photos or create some homemade wallpaper.  The possibilities are endless – all you need is a creative spirit.

Reach out to your creative friends if your creative spirit has been too traumatized by the economic downturn or suffocated by lack of funds.  Take your friends’ art that has been sitting in their closet and put it on display.  This will also give you the pleasure of saying that you have original art in your home.  Being poor does not mean that you have to sacrifice your pretentious nature (although I think most of us would be relieved if it did).

For “new” pillows or textiles, gather up all of the old sheets you can find, but pay special attention to ones with interesting design elements.  To make a pillow:

1. fold the part of the sheet you want to make into a pillow so that the pattern faces the inside.
2. Cut into a square, rectangle, or parallelogram if you so choose.
3. Sew the two open sides and part of the top, leaving a space to stuff filling into.  (The bottom should be where the fold is, so no need to sew)
4. Turn right side out
5. Stuff with whatever soft goods you have lying around – like perhaps the rest of the sheet you just cut up.
6. Sew the opening shut.

Now that I have provided you with a starting point, I issue you a challenge: Redecorate your room/apartment for zero dollars, no exceptions.  Find a way to make sure that you spent absolutely no money on the beautification of your space.  You may send before and after pictures, along with tips and hints to no-money decorating, to brokemillennial@gmail.com.  The winner of this challenge will get absolutely no prize except for the satisfaction of knowing that no money was spent during the process.  I’m sorry, but I’m broke and that’s all I can offer.  You have until March 15!

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