You wake up one day and your attic, basement, or garage (or even all three) is stuffed to the gills with junk. You’ve got great Aunt Betsy’s old refrigerator, lawn chairs you’re sure your mother remembers using as a child, magazines from 20 years ago – just a roomful of junk! Getting rid of it seems daunting, and paying someone to clean out your junk hardly seems worth it. Luckily, there are several easy and free ways to get rid of your unwanted junk.
Metal Collectors
There’s some good money in old metal. So much so that many people run businesses with the sole purpose of collecting other people’s old metal junk and recycling it. Those old aluminum lawn chairs or that broken down washing machine may seem like worthless junk to you, but your local metal collector will be chomping at the bit to take it all off your hands – for free! Most metal collectors will only take metal items, so you’ll probably want to separate the non-metal items before he comes to pick things up. Look for ads in local papers or online for people advertising these kinds of services.
Antique Dealers
Remember that old fridge from great Aunt Betsy? Someone out there may be looking for just exactly that style to fit into their retro kitchen. And those old magazines may get the heart of a collector beating like a drum. You may not know the difference between what is genuine junk and what is a marketable collectible item, but your local antiques dealer will.
This method of getting rid of junk for free can go a couple different ways. You can have a dealer come and appraise your stuff and either pay you upfront to take it or offer you a commission once it sells. Some may even be willing to haul away ALL of your junk for free, knowing that within that pile of stuff are some treasures that will make it much worth his while. You can find auction houses and antique dealers in the yellow pages as well as local newspapers or publications specifically for antiques.
Curbside Clean-Up
Many communities offer curbside pick-up once or twice a year for junk items. Call your local government offices to see if your community offers this service. However, even if they do not, a tried-and-true method of getting rid of old furniture, bikes, or appliances is to set it curbside with a large sign that says “FREE.” Odds are, your ‘junk’ will be picked up by someone within the hour. Use common sense with this method of getting rid of junk for free. If your items have sat on the curb for longer than 24 hours, it may be time to haul it back in and deal with it a different way. This will keep your neighbors from referring to your home as the junk yard!
Online Scavengers
My mother is using this method to clean out her basement. As she sorts through her things, she creates a list and then posts it online letting people know it is available for them to pick up for free if they want it. She’s using a popular website designed specifically for this purpose, known as freecycle.org. Freecycle has different forums broken down by region to make it user friendly. The caveat is – everything offered MUST be offered for free. Which is fine for our purposes – we just want to get rid of old stuff and free means the price is right!
Another popular arena for posting unwanted items online for free is craigslist.org. Like freecycle, it is broken down by region. In my experience, freecycle is the faster venue for unloading free junk, but if you don’t have a freecyle board in your region, craigslist can be an alternative. Use caution when communicating with people online about your stuff – remember, these are complete strangers. Don’t share vacation plans or say that you’ll be out of town during a time they want to pick up your stuff. Again, common sense rules the game!
Using these methods of getting rid of junk for free will give you a lot more free space in no time flat, with little effort and (best of all) for free!
