Dumpster Diving
It’s a pretty great term, right? It sounds almost exotic—maybe even hipster cool these days. I mean, Mary-Kate Olsen’s even made running around like a Hobo look hot. Hear me out though — I’m not recommending that you jump headfirst into your smelly neighborhood garbage can, but welcome to the Christmas of moving season.
May 1 is primetime when it comes to both kicking off the summer moving season as well as D-Day for large garbage collection. I know friends who have gotten everything from couches to coffee tables by being vigilant when walking around their neighborhood around now – and while the large garbage pickups do only happen once a year, the ‘I need to move out ASAP and can’t bring it with me’ season of giving goes straight through until September.
However, while freebies are totally awesome, do beware of certain things when bringing fresh meat er furniture into your apartment.
1) First, of course, watch out for bed bugs. Dateline actually just did another investigative report on these mangy creatures in terms of recycled mattresses, but bed bugs can crawl into couches, sofas, anything with fabric so beware. Inspect your finds carefully lest you invite a can of whoop-a#& into your home.
2) Secondly, before you lug that TV up three flights of stairs – try to determine if it works. This might take a bit of guts, like, ringing the doorbell of the apt/house and asking, but that 10 seconds of awkwardness is definitely worth the amount of man power it takes to lift heavy things.
3) Finally, for those really looking to make a killing, you might want to gather some fellow searchers and rent a van. Does that sound totally ghetto? Well, with the price of food, gas, and even beer (Ack!), there is no shame in being thrifty. And, free is free. Usually, you can find out about the large garbage pick-up days by a quick google search. Of course, what this also means is that the week after this pick-up is a *GREAT* time to go to the Salvation Army as they’re sure to be ripe with fresh donations.
