Book excerpt: This essay sheds light on what is the Buy Nothing movement, demystifies why people engage in the buy nothing movement, and explicates how to engage in the buy nothing movement. The Buy Nothing movement refers to a movement in which people strive to obtain items for free by having items donated to them from people who are apart of buy nothing communities. Donors who are apart of buy nothing communities are able to perform charitable deeds by donating items to other people. Donors who are apart of buy nothing communities are able to elevate the standard of living of the people who they donate items to in contexts in which the items that they donate to other people have tremendous utility. Donors who are apart of buy nothing communities are able to serve as benefactors in the lives of the people who they donate items to. People are keen on having items donated to them from the donors who are apart of buy nothing communities since it allows them to avert expended money to acquire certain items. By being able to receive certain items for free via donations from donors who are apart of buy nothing communities, people can have more fiat currency on hand. A person can bolster his financial health when he is able to receive certain items for free via donations from the donors who are apart of buy nothing communities that he would have otherwise purchased from retailers if he did not receive them via donations from the donors who are apart of buy nothing communities. The items that people are able to receive for free from people who are apart of buy nothing communities are often items that people would have otherwise purchased from retailers if they were unable to receive them via donations from the donors who are apart of buy nothing communities. The items that people are able to receive for free from people who are apart of buy nothing communities often have utility. Some of the different types of items that people have been able to receive for free from people who are apart of buy nothing communities encompass televisions, garments, and furniture items. By being able to receive items for free from people who are apart of buy nothing communities, people can also save a substantial amount of time acquiring items. Purchasing items at brick-and-mortar retail stores from retailers can be a highly time-draining process. On the other hand, receiving items for free via donations from the donors who are apart of buy nothing communities is often a swift process that drains scant time. “The Buy Nothing Project” launched in 2013. “The Buy Nothing Project launched as as a Facebook campaign and has built up local groups in the US and other nation, claiming over 4,000 volunteers and 7,500,000 community members”. A mobile application has been developed for the “The Buy Nothing Project” which is the BuyNothing mobile application. “The Buy Nothing Project” has expanded the gift economy. The gift economy is an economy in which products are furnished to people for free via donations from the donors of the gift economy. The people who receive products for free via donations from the donors of the gift economy are the beneficiaries of the gift economy. By furnishing products to people for free via donations, the donors of the gift economy are not only able to perform charitable deeds, but are also able to declutter their homes. By decluttering their homes, the donors of the gift economy of the gift economy are able to liberate space in their homes. It is easier for the donors of the gift economy to maneuver around their homes when they are not metaphorically filled to the brim with items. The gift economy is a stark contrast to a controlled market economy. In a controlled market economy, people who work real private sector jobs based on voluntary demand expend their fiat currency to be able to obtain products. In a controlled market economy that has no basic guaranteed income nor any iota of safety net in spite of there being over 13,000 evisceration fees imposed bureaucratic apparatuses that people who work real private sector employee jobs based on voluntary demand pay into and do not receive anything for paying into, people who work real private sector jobs based on voluntary demand often have a low standard of living. In a controlled market economy, a person needs to have a substantial amount of wealth to be able to afford to attain a mediocre standard of living. In a controlled market, a person needs to have substantial wealth to also be able to afford to attain basic needs, such as the housing need and transportation need.