I have a confession to make…

…I come from a long line of roadside antiquers on my mother’s side of the family. Truth be told, I used to be mortified as a kid when we would be driving along and my Mom would suddenly pull over to inspect something interesting at the curb on bulk pick-up day. Now I understand why she always insisted on driving a station wagon! She’s found big wheels, strollers and other items that she cleaned up and gave away. And her recipients were happy to receive these “gently used” items. There was one time when I was a teenager that she made me help to carry a dresser from the neighbor’s curb down the street into her house. That dresser is still being used today, over 20 years later. Seeing that dresser when I visited my Mom recently got me thinking… maybe there’s something to curbside antiquing after all.

My Uncle is a curbside antiquer, too

His favorite finds are oak furniture and various metals. The furniture he disassembles to make into new items like planters and magazine racks. Then he sells them at craft fairs. He saves the aluminum and other metals until he gets close to Christmas and then sells it all at once to fund his holiday shopping. So with a little vision and some elbow grease, this is a way to boost your income with curbside treasures.

In fact, there’s a pick-up truck who makes the rounds in my neighborhood every Thursday morning…

When we first moved in I thought this was a neighbor’s truck. But we live on a dead-end street and they never parked here. The driver makes a slow drive-by to inspect what’s in everyone’s garbage piles on bulk pick-up day. This truck actually looks like the Beverly Hillbillies are moving in for all of the lamps, bikes, fencing and other items tied onto the truck. But this gal is onto something, (yes, it’s a woman who drives!) She must be a weekly visitor at the local scrap metal place, judging by what garbage she stops to pick up. At first thought you might say, how awful it is to pick the garbage. But it is another income stream to those who are willing and who have a truck or a lot of trunk space!

Take a look at your local garbage trucks too…

When our neighbors were getting ready to move they put out a lot of garbage for several weeks. I noticed that our garbage men were stopping every Thursday and looking through the bulk items. (Before you label me a Mrs Kravitz, I’ve made these observations while waiting at the bus stop with my sons!) What I also noticed is that the garbage truck has a wire bin attached to the belly of the truck. The garbage men place interesting items in the bin. I am guessing that they sell the items at the end of the day.

No overhead = 100% profit (minus time and gas, of course.)

So what do you say? I challenge you to look differently at garbage when it’s bulk pick-up day in your neighborhood. That old whatchamacallit may bring you some extra spending money. Trash or treasure… you decide!