I just raided Garbage....

[lcsmom]

Mostly we rescue stuff for the house. My first time was the wall sconces my neighbor tossed. All the houses in our neighborhood were 1920's bungalows. Someone had spray painted the sconces, put little plastic "candlesticks" and tiny shades on them. They were ugly. I stripped the paint to the original bronze, had 'em rewired, and put wax-look "candlesticks" on. They looked great on either side of our fireplace. The neighbors husband was a little green when he saw them at our next Christmas party.

 

[L107ANGEL]

Bravo to all of you!!! I recently was at an auction and there was an old Singer machine. The wooden box type previously described. We were actually there to look for a vanity table for DD. It did not even sell for $3.00. While I was in line to pay for previous items, DD spoke to the auctioneer and asked if she could buy it. He said once an auction is over he is no longer allowed to accept bids. Well my persuasive 12 yo said, "but my Mom really wanted this". The kind man commented on her school shirt and how his son goes there etc.... Dd was so excited to tell me he gave it to her for free!! Little did she know that my intentions were to re-furbish this to make a unique vanity for her!!

 

[tinaluis]

DH just found a lawnmower yesterday that is in better shape than our current one. He was riding bikes with our DDs and saw it in the alley. They went over to take a look at it and, it was in such good shape, he was sure that someone would be coming out to claim it at any minute having forgotten it out there. They hung around for 1/2 hour and no one came out. He couldn't believe someone would throw it away. He cleaned it up, put on a few bolts and it started instantly. It even has a full tank of gas!

Our favorite find of all was a Little Tykes Country Kitchen which was in the garbage at the end of the school year. It had never been outside before the day they threw it out. It was immaculate and my DDs have loved it ever since!

 

[summersfam4]

Ok, you caught us! My DH is named Dan and we (the girls and I) call him Dumpster Diving Daddy! His first find was a 2 seater Barbie Power Wheels jeep for the girls, it runs great. The second time he found a Power Wheels jeep and a Kawasaki Ninja Powerwheels, the jeep was pretty old looking but the Ninja was brand new! We later found that one of the gear boxes was shot on the Ninja, so DH took the gear boxes from the old jeep and used those to restore the Ninja. Grand total almost $400 worth of free Powerwheels thanks to our local DUMP! I'm willing to bet there is another dive in our future

Kelly

 

[ceecee]

I'm enjoying this thread!!! I always put things out for large item pick up (dump day) and hope someone will take it. I recently put out a table and 6 chairs, padded seats needed replaced. (veneer top was totaled) heavy furniture, bought it for $4000.00 new. I was hoping someone could get some use out of it. Sure enough....within 20 minutes it was gone! Old picnic table, computer moniters, mowers and lawn chairs also went previously. Our neighbor had her old wall to wall carpet out and someone actually saw me outside and asked if she thought they'd mind if she took it.

 

[CheapMom]

We have a Barbie Power Wheels from our neighbors trash too! My 2 year old son drives around on it all the time. Neighbors must think we are crazy- picking through trash- PLUS our male child playing with Barbie toys

 

[imsayin]

PLUS our male child playing with Barbie toys

As long as he is confident in his masculinity - no big deal

I used to put DS in his sister's primarily pink coats until he was 3 or 4. Then for a few years, I bought her boys coats (luckily, her favorite color was green at the time). I saved some $$$! I also let him play in her dress ups, with her dolls, etc. Now, at 8, he is all about sports and wouldn't go near her stuff.

 

[Aidensmom]

We have a Barbie Power Wheels from our neighbors trash too! My 2 year old son drives around on it all the time. Neighbors must think we are crazy- picking through trash- PLUS our male child playing with Barbie toys

You are not alone! Our latest "trash" find was a pink doll stroller that some people the next block over had left at the curb along with several other large toys. Our 3-year old son insists on pushing that stroller with a stuffed animal or baby doll inside whenever we go on walks around the neighborhood. We have always taught him that there are not "girl toys" and "boy toys", but that toys are for all kids. I have even heard him repeat that to others in his preschool class when they try to tell him he is playing with a girl toy. We were taught the same thing in our family when we were kids, and we all turned out just fine.

 

[CheapMom]

My kids are all like that- they play with everything. My DD is very athletic and goes worm hunting one day and then the next she is dressed as a princess with her nails done...
My DS, 8 is the most nurturing big brother to his 2 year old brother. He is very sweet and tender, but when he is out on the lacrosse or soccer feild- look out- he's tough.
My little one will probably be the same way.
The funniest thing is some of the boys (age 8-9) on the lacrosse team have been coming to school with their nails painted in the team colors. It is only the very toughest (most confident) boys. (My DS won't do it.)

 

[scouthawkk]

we "recycle" too. dh is a building engineer and is always finding stuff that tenants are throwing away. most recently he brought home (in several trips because of size) a 9 foot all cherry credenza someone decided they didn't want anymore. beautiful! it has 4 good sized drawers and a large 2 shelf cabinet in the center. well, instant new dresser! we also have two other really nice cabinets just waiting for him to install as built-in cabinets in our bedroom. he comes home with all kinds of great stuff! when we redo our kitchen, he already has the new marble counter tops waiting for us.

it is amazing to watch people go through trash, too! when my mom died 5 years ago, we cleaned out her house. had a big estate and yard sale. the larger/nicer left over items that didn't sell got donated to the local resale shop that bennifits the hospice there. the other "junk" was taken to the curb. we literally filled the tree lawn like 8 times before people stopped coming by to take things. we even had 3 women fighting over one book shelf unit we took down! it was the funniest thing i had ever seen. we even had people slicing open the garbage bags and going through them. we had to put up a sign saying that anything worth taking was not in the bags (the bags literally only had trash and left over food stuff in them. but we were tired of having to clean up after them)!