The local classifieds at Craigslist.org include a lot of junk, but they’re also home to a lot of good deals. Here are some items that won’t cost you anything, and some wanted-to-buy holiday items you may be able to help out with.

For free, you can get 4 pairs of Wrangler jeans in Plant City ("they have a skoal ring on the pocket"), a leather couch in Crystal Beach, or a cottage (with all of its contents) in St. Pete.

Free holiday-season items include:
* 7-foot artificial Christmas trees here and here
* Firewood here and here
* A 4-foot Christmas tree, missing one branch ("We just turn it so that side is to the wall.")
* A palm tree ("You dig up and you take.")

Or maybe you’d be willing to sell one of these holiday-related items, listed in the “Wanted” section:
* Wanted: Big red bow for top of car
* Wanted: Buzz Lightyear doll for a little boy in Brandon
* Wanted: CD of “The Squirrel Nut Cracker Medley” for use in a gymnastics routine

If you don’t have any of those items, there’s a woman in Dunedin who will pay you to bake her a tray of Christmas cookies ("Willing to leave a deposit"), and a Bay-area wife who doesn’t want to go to a Christmas party, so she’s trying to find her 52-year-old husband another date ("He’s a terrible dancer” but “quite funny,” she says).

You can find more laughs (and maybe something useful) in the Free stuff and Items wanted sections of Tampa Bay-area Craigslist.

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