‘Dumpster Diving‘ is a subreddit dedicated to urban foraging — searching through the trash for usable items.

Members of this online community share their experiences and tips for finding valuables, talking about both their successes and failures, as well as discussing ethical and legal considerations surrounding the activity.

Overall, it’s a supportive and informative subreddit, full of support and encouragement for everyone who tries to live at least a bit more sustainably and reduce waste.

So in an attempt to contribute to spreading the message, we at Bored Panda put together a new publication, featuring the subreddit’s most popular posts. Continue scrolling to check them out and fire up our first one for the older ones.

#1 My New Biggest Score

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#2 Found In The Dumpster Tied In A Trash Bag. What A Sweet Soul As Well. Poor Thing

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#3 Found A Completely Unused Art Set

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#4 Thought This Was Worth Saving

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#5 I Have Never Felt So Happy From A Dumpster Find

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#6 Dumpster Diver Needed A Little Help Out After Getting Stuck Down There

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#7 Anyone Know A Good Recipe That Uses Like 80 Red Onions And 60 Bananas?

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#8 I’m Excited About This Find, I’m An Elementary Teacher And Next Year I’ll Have All My Kiddos Write Cards To Their Family/Staff! They Were Sealed In A Trash Bag Untouched On Top!

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#9 Built Myself A Desk Out Of Some Mahogany Base Boards Taken Out Of The Dumpster! My Gaming Chair Was Picked Up From The Curb Side

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#10 My Curbside Cast Iron Haul!

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#11 Antique Apothecary Scales Thrown Out By Neighbors

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#12 Someone’s Old Marble Collection Got Put In The Trash And Rescued By Me.

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#13 Found This Painting In The Trash, Looked Like My Cat So I Grabbed It

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#14 Ok This Is Epic

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#15 Found This Boy By A Recycling Dumpster Today.

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#16 I’ve Never Felt The Need To Post A Haul Until This

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#17 There’s A Dumpster In My Town That Regularly Blesses Me With Bicycles. This Was Today’s Find

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#18 I Was Just At The Recycling Centre And A Bloke Was About To Put This In The Scrap Wood Skip!

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#19 Did I Find 30 Pairs Of Brand New $120 Boots In A Shoe Store Dumpster? Do All Of My Friends Now Have Said Pair Of Boots? Yes On All Fronts 🙂

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#20 Two La Creuset’s Left At The Dumpster By My Work Today.

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#21 Best Dumpster Dive Ever

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#22 Found This Disco Ball – Expected It To Be Flimsy, Made Of Styrofoam But Its Actually Very Heavy & Nice!

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#23 Did I Really Find A $500 Almost Perfectly Functional Aluminum Bike In The Trash And Take It Home?! Yes I Did!

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#24 Pert Smert If My Favorite Dumpster By Far. Very Aesthetic, Brand New $150 Cat Tower, In The Box? Score. P.s. They Love It

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#25 Another $500+ Haul From My Favorite Dumpster. Haven’t Purchased Groceries In Years!

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#26 Not Dumpster Diving Per Se, But This Antique Hand Painted French Cabinet From The 1890’s Was A Part Of The “Junk” I Was Hired To Remove From A House Yesterday!

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#27 Saw Someone On Here Say They Found A Bunch Of LED Lights Once. I Thought “Omg I Want To Find Some”… Well I Found 25 Boxes Last Night

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#28 I Found This $90 Dress In Perfect Condition In An Apartment Dumpster. It Has No Damage, Rips, Or Stains And Is In My Exact Size And One Of My Favorite Colors. The Dumpster Gods Smiled Upon Me Apparently. I Need An Occasion To Wear It To

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#29 Someone Didn’t Feel Like Cleaning Their $800 Espresso Machine. I Found It Sitting On Top Of A Garbage Can Out Diving Last Night.

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#30 I’ve Died And Landed In Dumpster Nomad Heaven

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#31 Past 2-3 Weeks I’ve Found And Melted All Of This Aluminum Copper And Pewter. I Found 4 Cameras 3 Power Tools And 2 Bikes. For A Grand Total Of 340$ Not Including All The Metal In This Picture. Also Found A Few Computers And Laptops That I Will Be Scrapping Since They Do Not Work

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#32 Lawnmower Found On The Curb On Garbage Day, Didn’t Run, Had Water In The Fuel Tank, Put In New Gas And A Newish Spark Plug And It Runs Fine. Sold For $250

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#33 Curbside Find! This Couch Was Too Cool

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#34 Curb Find!! A Working E-Bike. Unbelievable

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#35 In An Open Dumpster Behind My Target…

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#36 I Love These Little Free Pantries I’ve Been Seeing Pop Up Lately. They Give Me A Great Opportunity To Practice Mutual Aid With My Neighbors By Filling Them Up With A Bunch Of Perfectly Fine Non-Perishables I Score From Dumpsters!

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#37 I Was Digging Through The Trash Of Someone Who Looked To Be Moving And I Found A Set Of Earrings Marked As 18k Gold And A Friend Who Is A Jeweler Tested The Stones And Said They’re White Sapphire.

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#38 Found This Costume With An Extra Head That Snaps Onto The Other Head In A Dumpster

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#39 I Make Blankets For Shelter Doggos/Homeless People And Their Dogs From Linen I Find In Dumpsters. Doggo In Photo Is My Little Weirdo. And No, I Did Not Find Her In A Dumpster:p

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#40 $700 Free Wine….i Asked The Dumpster God If I Should Quit Drinking. This Is Her Answer…. I Guess That’s A No!

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#41 Found This Guy In A Dumpster This Morning

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#42 Approximately 650 Pounds Of Aluminum Cans Collected At A Music Festival

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#43 Weather Finally Cooling But Grocery Store Waste Not So Much! …favorite Asparagus Recipes?

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#44 Found In A Box Of Books By The Curb

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#45 Someone Threw Out A Perfectly Working 40 Inch 4k Smart TV. Madness, But Mine Now

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#46 Pretty Good Haul

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#47 Phone In A Bread Box? Had To Save It!

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#48 This 30+ Year Old Monstera Deliciosa Would’ve Gone To The Dump. Working At A Moving Firm Has Its Benefits! Girlfriend For Scale

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#49 Tub, Surround, And Glass Door Were All Being Thrown Out At Blowe’s. No Leaks!!

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#50 Pulled This Recliner Off The Curb And A 3ds Was Lodged In The Back.

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#51 This Is A First… $450 Bouquet Of Roses

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#52 I Found 16,000 Scratch Off Tickets From The Convenience Store, Where You Could Win Snacks And Stuff. Some Jackpots Evidently!

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#53 Dumpster Diving Find. Sealed Bottle Of Vodka

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#54 This Is My Third Load Of This Size, And Much More Left.

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#55 It’s Not Much, But It Was My First Dumpster Dive And It Was Exhilarating!

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#56 Saved Before It Hit The Trash

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#57 9 Total

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#58 May I Present My Three Finds

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#59 Was Told You Guys Might Enjoy This. Found About 20 Tablets In The Trash Today. Mostly Old Galaxy Note 10.1 From 2014 But I’ll Take It With A Big Smile.

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#60 Moving Out Of College. Someone Threw Out A Working TV. It’s Just Missing A Remote.

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#61 Was Out Of Dogfood And Broke Af. Thought I’d Take A Peek In The Pet Store Dumpster. Score.

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#62 Neighbor Threw This Out, New With Box And Charger. It Works Fine, He Used It Once ??‍♀️

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#63 My Greatest Trash Find Of All Time Someone Threw Out A Ball Gown

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#64 Found A Lifetime Supply Of Knives, Spoons, And Forks At Party City

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#65 Pretty Rad Find. My Grandparents Paid Something Like 75 Cents A Months Back In The Day For One Similar. Little Work, And She’ll Shine

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#66 I Give To You, The Find Of A Lifetime. There Were A Bunch Of These Being Tossed, And I Had To Take One Because I Was Dying Laughing. How Does That Even Happen Lol

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#67 Found A Ouija Board Next To A Trash Can Walking Home From Classes. The Cool Thing Is That It Is A Vintage 1960’s One That Is In A Rare Larger Size. In Perfect Shape Other Than The Planchette Missing The Plastic Window

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#68 Scoreeee. First One Of The Season

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#69 Coffee Grinder Over 100 Years Old Found In The Alley!

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#70 Couldn’t Believe This Thing Wasn’t Broken!

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#71 Idumpster

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#72 32 Ft Ocean Kayak Dad Scored At An Apartment Dumpster

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#73 I Got All Deez 242 Bananas From A Dumpster. Banana For Scale

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#74 I Found This Sealed Bottle Of Don Julio In Some Rich People Garbage. Also Got To Get Chased Off By Their Security.

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#75 My Local Gamestop Can Be Pretty Nice…

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#76 $300+ Retail Groceries: I Got Busted. Details I’m Comments.

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#77 Found A Pair Of Balenciagas Sneakers While Dumpster Diving At My University’s Rich Kid Dorm, In My Size

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#78 The Second Day Of Christmas Did Not Disappoint!

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#79 Curbside Find

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#80 My Best Haul Ever. Good Sized Xbox 360 Collection.

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#81 Found A Brand New Samsung Galaxy Note10+ And S10 In A Dumpster Last Night

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#82 Was 160 Chocolate Bars A Good Enough Valentines Day Present?

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#83 $695 Of Ground Beef

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#84 My Brother Found 3 Perfectly New Screens At Aldi

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#85 Over $100 Worth Of Chocolate!

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#86 Dinner Fit For A (Dumpster) King!

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#87 Over 2,000 Pounds Of Fresh Pork Being Rejected By The Walmart Distribution Center Because The Sell By Dates Occur When Their Stores Are Closed For Thanksgiving. This Product Will Still Be Safe To Eat For The Next 15 Days But They Won’t Even Attempt To Sell. This Will End Up In A Dumpster Today

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#88 Well, I Guess This Is My Magnum Opus Of Dumpster Diving…

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#89 Found A Perfectly Fine Bass Guitar In The Garbage. On My Birthday!!

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#90 Back With More To Report. I Thought I’d Retired, But Last Night I Checked The Dumpster Again. Diapers, Storage, Heaters, Toys And Cases Of Cereal Later ($785) Sticker Price, I’m So Glad I Went. More Donation Trips To Make Next Week!

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#91 I Saved This Store Mannequin Leg For Months To Bury It In My Neighbors Yard As An April Fools Joke. Worth It.

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#92 The Trash That Smiles Back!

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#93 This Is The Kind Of Thing That’s Great To Find But Its Also Sickening (No Recalls And Not Expired Until February)

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#94 Went Dumpster Diving For The First Time! What A Steal!!

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#95 Butter For The Year!

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#96 How Do I Store 60 Avocados?

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#97 Just Discovered This Sub. Found This In Someone’s Trash Earlier This Year

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#98 This Week’s Haul! Second Raid Of The Garden Center And Huge Surprises From A Sports Clearance Store!

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#99 My Coworkers Are Gonna Be Happy Tomorrow

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#100 There Was Twice This Much, But We Shared It Before We Got Home

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#101 Just Found The Exact Desk I Wanted For My Art Studio In The Alley By The Dumpster!

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#102 Well I’m Hooked… Went From How Am I Gonna Eat To What Do I Feel Like!

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#103 Let’s Gooooooooo. Best Snag From The Bins So Far

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#104 Here’s A Haul I Lucked Out On Last Week

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#105 And Again…brand New

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#106 Found A Big Box Of These Tonight. Definitely The Coolest Find Of The Night

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#107 So Much Meat! This Haul Definitely Helped Us Stock Our Freezers. We Smell Test Every Meat And Repackage It Before Freezing. Everything Passed The Smell Test. Ground Beef, Steaks, Roasts! Along With A Lot Of Fresh Fruits And Veggies. The Amount Of Money We Save From Diving Is Absurd

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#108 Found A Gorgeous Entertainment Center In My Building’s Trash—i Would’ve Paid Good Money For This!

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#109 Sweaters, Dresses, Shirts, Suit Jacket, And A New Backpack

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#110 It Was Sitting In The Rain, But So Far So Good!

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#111 Tonight’s Haul!

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#112 Yes There Is A Dumpster God. I Prayed, I Received!

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#113 Saved From The Junk Yard. Zenith X940 Stereo Cabinet. Got For Free On Fb Marketplace And Refinished The Top. The Mechanics Still Work!

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#114 My Kid’s First Night Diving With Me!

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#115 Mom Found The Witch Books

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#116 Todays Finds. I Still Don’t Know How I Found All Of This In The Same Dumpster

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#117 My Mom Found These In A Dumpster With The Receipt! Luckily, They’re My Size!

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#118 Just Saved These 15 Fairly Modern Intel Nuc (Mini Computer) From The Dumpster

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#119 Had A Yard Sale With All The Things I Found Dumpster Diving

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#120 Wtf… I Got Call From A Buddy Who Dives , She Said This Dumpster Had A Bunch Of Wine In It! She Wasn’t Lying, We Recovered Over 70 Bottles And A Couple Packs Of Hard Seltzer’s ?

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#121 Someone Asked What The Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Found Was: This Ancient Roman Ring In The Original Envelope With A Certificate Of Authenticity.

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#122 Neighbor Graduated And Moved Out

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#123 Found This In My Local College Dumpster! Love The Industrial Look

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#124 Well I’ve Got Breakfast Covered For… 96 Days

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#125 Found These 2 Beauties On The Side Of The Road!

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#126 College Move Out Haul!

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#127 Ha, I Can Afford Avocado Toast Now!

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#128 Found This Mcm Coffee Table Next To The Trash Bin Today! Just Cleaned It Up And Sold It For $350

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#129 Found A 65″ Tcl Roku TV In The Roll-Off In Front Of A Renovation At The Mall I Work At. It’s Dirty But Works 100%

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#130 Found This In A Tote Full Of Barbie’s Being Thrown Away

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#131 Yea This Dumpster Diving Is For The Birds! Lol, Free Wine, Fruits And Veg At Aldi And Panera Ain’t Too Bad Either! They Are Next Door To Each Other For Convenience

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#132 New Mini Golf Course Threw Out Extra Grass So I Snagged It

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#133 Kept All This From Going Into The Dumpster. Luckily I Didn’t Have To Dig It Out Lol

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#134 Found This Cool Little Dude Today. He’s Probably 2″ Tall

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#135 Hole Foods Employee Took A Picture Of Me While I Was Pulling Out This Haul

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#136 Mind Blown! Handmade Leather Boots Near New And In My Size!! Boots Are Diplomat By The Company Thursday

Source: boredpanda.com