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FeedFrugal Living: Daughter of a Pickin' Man
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You've seen the show American Pickers, right? Well, I lived it. I am the daughter of a picker (as in trash pickin' not nose pickin'...totally different thing there).
On occasion, I work from my parents house. They have an office and there are no little people plus, they have a refrigerator stocked with Diet Coke. It's a good combination. Last week, my dad was at the house and told me he was leaving to run errands. About 10 minutes later, I heard the garage door open.
My dad loudly yells, 'Look what I got!'
I walked out into the garage to see his truck filled with miscellaneous items like a swing set, a power washer, an outdoor umbrella and many more things. A normal person would have replied, 'Whoa, did you find a sale at Home Depot?'
Not me.
I knew it was not from Home Depot. My dad then proceeded to explain to me that a man was moving up the street and all of this was on his curb for the trash guys. My dad spotted this with his oh-so-keen trash to treasure eye and asked the owner of the house if he could have it. Then, dad loaded up the truck. OH but he wasn't done, he jumped back in the truck later and picked up another load.
When my husband and I were first married, he worked late nights. My best friend came over to our apartment and she and I took some trash out to the dumpster. We discovered a gold mine. Someone was moving and had thrown out a ton of stuff. Quickly, we took the items out of the dumpster and put them in our apartment.
My husband came home. Shock.
We had to take everything back to the dumpster. Not fun.
A few weeks later, my husband and I were walking past that dumpster and noticed an antique fan. I told him we could fix it up and sell it, he was convinced, we took it to the apartment and I worked my magic. Within 24 hours, we sold that fan for $50 on eBay.
Trash to treasure, my friends.
Am I trying to start a movement of dumpster divers? Nope. Am I working on a new show for TLC called 'Extreme Trash Diggers?' Nope. (Although, that would be cool.) Just trying to spark a little creativity in the land of frugal-ness. I grew up selling at flea markets (see below), pawn shops, auctions and I watched my dad buy storage units long before the show 'Storage Wars' ever aired. It's certainly a different lifestyle but I love it.
Being frugal doesn't mean you have to make your own toilet paper, but it is all about being open to saving money and making money in all sorts of ways. One of my favorite things in the world, as a kid, was to see some of the things my dad would come home with. We always had toys, clothes and all that sort of 'stuff' but the way we got it was a bit out of the norm for most. Think outside the box.
Disclaimer: If you do plan on taking someone's trash, ask first. It's just the right thing to do and don't tell them the Queen sent you. That would be odd.
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Reader Comments:
You're singing my tune! One of our favorite shows....we were just watching it yesterday! When I was little my mom would limit my dad's trips to take stuff to the dump.... because he would always come back with more than he took! ha! Just this week, I scored a wooden pallet....left in my front yard by some street workers. If they don't want it back I've had my eye on a Pinterest project...a wooden American flag. I LOVE FREE STUFF!
Darling photos, my dear! Anna Marie
I love that show! But be careful about dumpster diving....my friend and I found some great toys in one once, and a policeman drove by as we were diving. Apparently, it's illegal. I ask, why? They're just trashing it anyway. But, we weren't up for a visit to jail that day.
Sounds like my childhood. My grandparents instilled in me that I "waste not, want not" and taught us how to get by with little, but comfortably. My grandmother was a shopper by profession and would talk to the store managers to find out things that they may be putting on sale, or be willing to "give her a discount" on if they couldn't sale. She was also big on freezing and canning or just growing it out in your own back yard. My dad was much like yours. He would bring home all kinds of treasures and in fact, my first college apartment had a lot that he found, fixed or polished up and repurposed.
What a great story! And the pictures are priceless!