This book describes my transformational journey from the middle class to the margins. It chronicles the story of the Free Store which is a place unlike any other. In a nutshell it is a place to give what you want and take what you need. It is literally a store where you can shop without credit and buy without money. If an item is on display and you need it, then it is yours to take with no questions asked and no qualifications to fulfill. The Free Store in a very literal sense is exactly what it says it is. It is a store where everything is free and every person is encouraged to freely give something and then take what they need without cost. Money has no value and status has no place here.

The Free Store is a non-profit organization which exists to connect people across economic lines. We encourage mutually supportive friendships in which people help each other in both tangible and intangible ways. Such support is achieved by giving and receiving from each other without the exchange of money. Even if there is an exchange involving money the focus falls on the reciprocity of giving and receiving. This is what makes it unique, what makes it work, and what gives it the potential to provide a new paradigm through which to view the world. The physical space itself and the free stuff just give people a place and a reason to connect with each other. The really awesome thing about it, which gives it a deeply satisfying aspect, is that it is a place where very different kinds of people actually form mutually supportive friendships.