Friday, March 23, 2007

Tight-Fisted Miser & Dumpster Diving Tips



Dumpster Diving is a controversial sport in the frugal arena. Some folks swear by it and others turn up their nose at the idea of picking through trash. For Friday, I've put together a short round-up of Dumpster Diving strategies and philosophies.

Tight-Fisted Miser, for example, takes the clean approach to trash dives. He hunts for coupons in discarded mail piles. Here's his post, which I accidentally deleted from the 66th Festival of Frugality.

"I received a mailer of coupons from Chick-fil-a in the mail yesterday. The coupons included ones for a free chicken sandwich and a free chicken biscuit. What made these a really good deal is that no purchase is necessary. I don’t have to spend any money to get my free sandwich. This is where the dumpster diving comes in. Since this is such a good deal I wanted more coupons..." --Tight-Fisted Miser


This link from All Things Financial also provides some valuable info about bin picking.

"Dumpster Diving can also be profitable. You can make money with everything from aluminum cans to items that can be resold at garage sales. People have been known to give up their day jobs to do this!" -- All Things Financial



Dawn from Frugal for Life rates Dumpster Diving as her #1 Money-Saving Tip

If you aren’t in a hurry and have some patience, keep your eyes peeled when driving by apartment complexes or dorm area or trash day in the suburbs. You would be amazed to find what you need if you wait and watch. Recently my roommate and I fixed up a dresser that we found at the dumpster. And it’s one of those older,
better made ones as well. --Frugal for Life

My house has a few gently discarded items. I'll have my tips on Sunday.
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Digg!


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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for highlighting my post. I've made almost $60 selling coupons from the trash in the last couple weeks. Dumpster diving can definitely be profitable.

DINKs said...

Dumpster Diving! LOL!!!

ursusdave said...

Well now there are too many nice folks like James and Miel out there who have no idea what dumpster divers are truly like. I have been d-divin for over a decade and am fairly successful at it. To read my dumpster diving tips, facts, and stories go to my blog Duckin' and Divin' Techniques of A Recycle Ranger at www (dot) duckndive (dot) blogspot (dot) com

I do not want to leave an unsolicited link on this post, but you can find my blog through the link from my web name, ursusdave, that should show up when I post this.

I don't expect everyone to read what I write on my blog than go out and d-dive, but it may help you to understand that we d-divers are good people.

Nonna said...

TF Miser,

I have read it is illegal to sell coupons for money.

Trading them for ones you want is O.K. or just giving them away.

Couponers should be careful to be honest in all areas of couponing so they don't ruin it for the rest of us !