Would you buy from your local dump? In my last post, I talked about the pros and cons of buying things second-hand. But would you ever considered buying something from your local refuse centre?
Until I became a parent, it had probably never occurred to me to buy something from a refuse centre, not even – I’m ashamed to admit – when the Frugal Blog was at its height and featuring on MSN UK.
But when you have kids you find yourself living on a much smaller budget. Plus, you also find that you – and other parents – only need certain toddler items for so long as they grow out of them quickly, which is why it makes sense to reuse and recycle.
I’m often at our local dump in Hoddesdon dropping off things to be recycled and there they often have a good selection of things for sale you can pick up for a song.
I’ve found a number of useful things for Stellan there, including a cool red Sharna ‘Ranger’ car for £3 and even a toy John Dere tractor for £5. The Ranger has kept him amused for a couple of years so far – he drives it around our downstairs – while the tractor lives in the garden. He still can’t quite pedal yet so I’m hoping they should be good for a while.
True, the Ranger did develop a problem with the steering wheel – the screw dropped out – but my husband soon fixed it. Stellan has been showing an interest in boxing recently – I bought a pair of handwraps after researching an off-beat feature idea – and he keeps wearing them and pretending to hit a cushion and/or the lounge door… Er..
While I don’t necessarily want to encourage boxing at such a young age, I’d wondered if a punch-bag might be a useful thing to acquire. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a child-sized one during a dump run! Bought for £5.
There are often furniture items, mirrors and pictures for sale that are also still in good condition. Certainly, if I were furnishing a home on a budget now it would be another port of call along with charity shops.
Initially when friends asked me where I got the vehicles for Stellan I was a bit embarrassed – it’s silly really. But now I have no shame. The only problem is that my husband complains that I leave the dump with more stuff than I took there in the first place…
Do you scour your local refuse centre for stuff or is it not for you? Leave a message and let me know.
The Frugal Life - with Piper Terrett 