Originally Posted By avromark For those of you who dumpster dive, curb, get stuff offered for you, find discarded stuff at work, receive free perks (Ie free food at work) What have you gotten? For example to start: - Multiple pieces of furniture (Including nearly new Billy from Ikea, wood desks, that just needed refurbing), etc. - Computers up to PIII's - Many CRT working good "A" grade to "B" grade monitors (15" to 21") - Boxes oh books/cassettes etc. - Some I keep, others I redistrubute (usually via my church) to others in need.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut I used to dumpster dive...... did you know that that anyone will buy anything if you tell the right story?
Originally Posted By ajnhollysmommy I am part of a yahoo group here in Spokane, I know it is in other citys too, it is called Freecycle. It is so cool. You post what you want or what you have to offer and usually within minutes you have what you needed or what you wanted gone - taken I have put up for offer 2 screen doors, baby clothes, stuffed animals and bunches of other stuff. I have gotten clothes for Andrew (name brand), computer games, homeschooling books and milk jugs - for a scout project
Originally Posted By Altadisdude I work as security at an apartment complex right now, and at 3 in the morning I check to see if anyone has thrown anything useful out. It's like an unwritten apartment rule that if you set something next to but not in the dumpster it still works and is free for the taking. My best find, that was surprisingly in a dumpster, was a 25 disk CD player. I plugged it into our stereo system at home and it worked just fine, but since we had a five disk dvd/cd player and didn't listen to music on it much anyway it was overkill. I gave it to my brother.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ We had some furniture we needed to get rid of. Goodwill said they didn't have room to accept the donation. It was all in excellent condition, so we set it on the curb. Within 10 minutes, someone stopped, rang the bell and asked if we'd mind holding on to the boy's dresser and desk while they went and got their pick-up. Within an hour or two, the recliner was gone, too. I'm not a fan of how furniture on the curb makes the neighborhood look, but I'm very glad someone was able to use the furniture!
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Thanks for reminding me about Freecycle, ajnhollysmommy. I have some old desks in my garage that I've been meaning to get rid of. I'd used the list before to get rid of some other stuff a couple of years ago. My boss back in Missouri raised dozens of foster kids in her home over the years. Yes, dozens. She had a huge collection of yard sale finds that those kids would use while they were getting set up in new homes or college or wherever. She started loaning stuff out to her employees that were just moving to town, too. I lived there for four years using a borrowed TV, microwave, dining table and couch.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer She rocks. One of the nicest people I've ever met. Karma paid her back pretty well - she hit $100K on a powerball ticket about ten years ago.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ Karma is an awesome thing. We should all strive to surround ourselves with as much good karma as possible. Think how nice the world would be!
Originally Posted By JazzCat Yes, I've done it a couple of times. I found an old headboard that was gold with porcelain knobs. I'm going to "marry" it with my old coffee table and make a bench with it. I also found a chair very similar to one I already own and recovered both of them.
Originally Posted By alexbook One of the "perks" of working around food is that there is sometimes "spoilage." Let's say, for example, that a cheesecake is past its sell-by date--proper procedure is to throw it out, but it still looks good and smells sort of okay. Free food for those with strong stomaches!
