I look for quilting magazines at yard sales, thrift shops, or local quilt shows where they will commonly have a members table. I then have a three ring binder that will organize the patterns in after I pull them out of a magazine or photo copy.
I also recently discovered Jordan Fabrics on YouTube. They both do a very good video that I find are easy to understand and follow. Their website is also a great resource for patterns.
And Pinterest. If you search for free patterns you'll find plenty. My Pinterest page To many quilts, not enough wine has so many free patterns and links, I'll never begin to make them all. Quilt inspirations blog spot which is on my page has 100s of free patterns and you can link to them from my page.
I buy very few patterns and books, I do buy all my paper piecing patterns because I love the quiltworx line the best and those I never find free on a blog or the internet. Which I understand why.
Hope this is helpful for you, good luck and quilt on....