Sharing the Recycling Bin

I should have known that I wasn't the only person with great ideas. I did know actually, but it's still just a tiny bit frustrating to see someone getting to the trash ahead of you! AAAAARGH!
Have you ever been there? When you stop at a tag sale, and you see a great looking dresser, solid wood, dove tailed drawers, for just $5 and a BIG SOLD! Sticker on it. AAAARGH!
Or you see the item you've been looking for... in the arms of another shopper!

Well, we've been having great fun and great luck digging items out of the recycling bin and selling them online. We've dug out hundreds of coupons (my daughters have now been given the job of cutting all of these out, checking exp. dates and organizing them - for a small fee, of course); we've collected hundreds of magazines, some of which have sold for as much as $7.95 online (many sell for $1 or even in a penny auction, but we are certainly making money at this little venture.

I know I'm not the only person who does this; it wasn't even my idea, I got it from someone else's blog who actually makes a living selling magazines and magazine clippings (we aren't making that much money... YET). But, we've been having a lot of fun looking for treasures, and seeing how much they'll bring, if anything (sometimes we take as many items back to the recycling center as we took out).

But, here's the rub! We went over there the other day, actually our son was part of a workshop in a nearby building. It was our intention to head straight over to the bin when he was done. However, we arrived to find two women already actively digging in the bin. AAAARGH!
I wasn't mad really, but more like, "Hey! That's what I was just about to do!" Just like when you show up at the yard sale to find someone leaving with the item you really wanted and think, "Hey! I was going to buy that!"
I kept catching myself peeking out the window across the parking lot to see if they were still there. The longer they stayed, the more convinced I was that they were getting all the good stuff ahead of me. AAAARGH!

However, it was not as bad as I thought. Nothing ever is! I was sure that going to the bin now was a waste of time, but my husband insisted that we should check anyway. We went over to the bin when we were done with the workshop and the other garbage pickers were gone. We did have to dig a little deeper than normal, but we found many good items that they either didn't see or saw and didn't want.

In the end, we still found some good items, and were reminded that there are others who have the same idea as us, no corner on the market here, and also reminded that while we got a good haul that day, it would have been better to get there first.

So, if you are hoping to live off the items you find in the trash (and it can be done), be sure that you are digging early and often! And, don't give up even when you sometimes get there late!

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of five, almost six; a help meet to her husband in his online sales business and the author of Vacation Education Books: travel guides for families who love to learn; unit studies for families who love to travel.
Learn more at www.vacationeducationbooks.net