Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips!

Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment.

If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.

This infuriates me about "demo day" on those hgtv shows. Like, yeah, Jarod, it's great to hit cabinets with a sledge hammer but don't ya think maybe someone could, ya know, use them?

I posted a whole ass gazebo that was in the backyard of our house and a couple drove 3 hours and carefully disassembled the whole thing and took it away to rebuild it on the land of their animal sanctuary. The alternative plan was to pay a landscaping company to demolish it and haul it all away. The previous home owner’s daughter had been married in it so I was thrilled that it’s living it’s life out there still.

Edit to add: the lovely woman also walked around with us and explained what plants we had in our garden and identified that unbeknownst to us an area of viney flowers would soon turn to hundreds of strawberries. We posted the gazebo on OfferUp from memory

You never know what someone needs.

Join your local "buy nothing" group. We give away tons of stuff plus grab things for ourselves.

Is that on Facebook, or an independent website?

The one I'm on is Facebook. There may be others on different websites. Our local FB group got so popular they had to split it up into quadrants.

Even my area has one in FB. Joined just now.

Freecycle.org still exists too.

I feel this tip doesn't work for everyday items.

Forks, plates, half-empty cleaning products, etc. can easily find a new life. The difference is that you need a facilitator of some kind. Posting a few odd items on FB Marketplace won't get you great results. Using a platform like Geev, no waste groups, or, best, give boxes/stores really works on the other hand.

Hord it all in a shed, Then throw it away a week before you need it. Be a man

Those items I take to a thrift store.

Our apartment building runs a freecycle ‘boutique’ in its laundry room. Always a few decent-condition items there free and looking for a new home, and things rarely sit more than a day or two.

They do have a rule against perishable items, though.

Just found one for my area. Appreciate the tip!

When my mother had her Tuscan style kitchen redone to be a boring all grey kitchen, one of the workers asked what she planned to do with the cabinets and counter tops being removed. She informed him that she'd paid to have them taken to the dump. He asked if he could have them and she said sure. He saved her the dump fee and apparently his wife was very happy to get completely wood cabinets and marble countertops in great shape.

Those demo shows make me cringe.

[removed]

This is a great tip if you have more time than money. If you have more money than time, there is still an option - look for disposal services that donate usable items instead of just landfilling everything.

Friends of mine recently moved and needed a new kitchen. They got one that was only a year old and looked new because the previous owner didn’t like the style anymore. It was great, especially considering they moved because of baby number 4, so between that and the move having to spend a lot of money on a kitchen would have been a problem.

My #1 rule with it is is has to be easy. I have left stuff by my mailbox and posted it before as well, but I was confident it wouldn’t last long

I got my daughter a wood playset that way. It had some rotting pieces but overall was good. I replaced the rotten pieces. Eventually it was converted into a treehouse, then a shed, then a chicken coop. It really pulled its weight.

Yeah I stopped doing this because people wanted me to deliver all of it for them too. I work and have a family. Twenty different people all asking if I deliver isn’t worth my time.

I won’t stop you from taking it at the front of the street if you want it from my trash, but I’m not going out of my way to make sure everything gets reused. People are too entitled IMO.

I have a whole disclaimer I attach to all adds. Basically states I don’t reply to “is this available”, I send my address when you’re on the way, pick up only.

95% of the problems are solved by simply not replying to those stupid auto generated messages.

None of mine were solved by that. People don’t read.

Working by myself trashing out foreclosed properties, I could often give almost anything away on Craigslist and they'd come help me move it in the process. Even a broken old dresser is perfect for someones garage or shed, people will take tires just for the rim, and anything gas powered is worth something to someone.

Yeah if you have things that can be up-cycled or re-used this is vital. Can even make a little bit of cash.

I sold I-beams and doors from a demo job. Even old window frames can get a few bucks from someone wanting to do a craft.

Sometimes giving it away doesn’t work. When my wife and I moved into the house we’re currently moving out of, the previous owner left behind a rolling bar that we had no use or space for. Put it outside with a sign that said “free” on it. It was there for two weeks and nothing. Then I put a sign on it that said “$25” and it disappeared overnight. A lot of people think if it’s free, it’s junk. But if they think it has value, the local junkies/thieves will remove it for you free of charge rather quickly.

Every time I see them destroying cabinets, I always think, "Can't you just take them down and use them in the garage or have ReStore pick them up?"

Man, your mom really went from one trend to the next

She has too much money and too much time and is really influences by trends. It's like she doesn't have a personal style and just does what is trendy. She's one of those people that actually knows the color of the year for the major paint brands and orders expensive furniture from catalogs and magazines.

Her switching the beautiful ornate wood kitchen with gas stove to a kitchen that was stolen from economy class is a spaceship made me sad. But I'm glad the worker's family gets to enjoy the old kitchen woodwork.

I remember that story, except it was a washing machine

That always happens to me too!

Freecycle.org is a non- Facebook option, too! I just adopted a dog and got a used crate and car seat cover for free.

Just don't leave it on the curb and hope someone takes it.

We were all set to reno our kitchen and had guys lined up to demo the old one. We decided to post it on a Freecycle site instead just in case. Next day two guys show up, dismantle the old kitchen and take it away. They did a great job and I didn't have to demo anything. He wanted a kitchen in his shop and didn't care it was "dated" and not in the best condition.

You can also post things on FB Marketplace for free, and give away things that would cost you money to remove! That's a win-win trash to treasure, and c'mon. We love a good $0 transaction.

Tried to give away dog stained carpet I had ripped out once, with serious doubts anybody would take it. Some people quickly came and took it. I asked them what they were using it for and they told me it was for the garage where their dogs hung out.

You just never know what people need and why.

If you need to trim branches off a tree, they might be good firewood. A lot of houses in our old neighborhood had fireplaces, and any logpile we left out was gone within a couple hours.

She was gonna toss slabs of marble??

Use your local Buy Nothing! I have both gotten and giving moving boxes and packing material, as well as more valuable things (side tables, shoe racks, a mirror, wall art)

[deleted]

I almost want to dislike her from your description, but she's not hurting anyone and sounds like a nice lady all in all.

If I'm honest with myself I'm probably just jealous of the disposable income really

Seriously! Call Habitat for Humanity! They will come and remove anything in your house you are renovating, kitchen, bath, built-in’s and haul them away and give you a receipt so you can write it off on your taxes.

Used moving boxes at the curb will go so quick in my area. Some people want for gardens, their own move, art, etc.

They were the wrong color/shade for the new aesthetic. Yes, it's ridiculous to me too

In the lobby in the building where I live there are 3 small desks. If there is something I don't want anymore but I think someone could use I put a post-it note that says "free to good home". That stuff disappears fast.

When I was in school years ago our neighbour was making a new fence, then a deck, then they reshingled the side of their house removing most of the old untreated shingles.

We were renting a house and we burned that scrap stuff for half the winter saving a massive amount on our energy bill.

It's ok to dislike her. I do too and haven't talked to her in 4 years though I occasionally see her Facebook posts which is how I know about the home renovations and her bragging about how generous she was to the worker. Any kindness she's ever shown has been to look good to others.

I'm not remotely jealous of her wealthy but shallow life. I love my little home that I'm renovating to be my oasis and my friends and partner that all love me deeply. I opted out of the vapid life of appeasing others and don't regret it.

I had issues with people being flaky for free items. I always put a price on items now and then I’ll just give it to the person who shows up and make them feel like they got a deal for something they really wanted.

[removed]

I had some ancient cabinets, some with beautiful glass fronts, and a Native American center came and picked them up! I was so glad. Even if your cabinets aren't great looking, they could be wonderful storage in someone's garage.

My Dad works in the construction business and he brought home a lot of cabinets and counter-length kitchen sinks (two of them are used in my house). Now that my younger brother is going into the construction business, he's also learning how to gently remove things so he can use it at home.

Agreed, my son built a new fence from really old fencing from our neighborhood. He had to toss about a 1/3 of them, and came up with a design that used shorter boards but it looks great. For free!

One man gathers what another man spills.

I disassembled my futon was about 12 2x8" that were gone in 2 hrs with a free sign... no CL posting...

Tree fell in my yard, a big pine. Tree company came out and quoted me $1500 to get rid of it. Neighbor who's yard it was in had a couple grown up kids with chainsaws. They came and cut it up. Posted it on FB as free wood and it was gone in 8 hrs.

Craigslist’s “Free stuff” section is fantastic for both ends of the problem.

Yes. Had a broken dishwasher and gave it away for free easily. Same with an old set of bedroom furniture that was not worth saving or selling. Years ago I ripped pavers out to put a deck in and piled them up in the back. Some dude came and hauled them all off the same night. Saved me a lot of effort in trying to dispose of them after all the work put in building the deck

Good god. If I could have marble counters for the cost of installation! Wonder if anyone would want my old Formica?

We are clearing out the house with plans to sell next year. I run a free table out by the road with stuff that is good to use but has no real monetary value. It has saved me hundreds in trash fees and kept a lot of stuff out of the land fill. Reuse is the purest form of recycling.

There is so much waste in this world. Excellent advice.

One of the best holiday gifts I ever got was a seasoned cast iron pan that was 50 years old. I still use it weekly, 20 years later.

Right? I almost fell over...

[removed]

You'd be surprised how quickly free stuff moved when posted online. Had a rear projection TV ears ago I needed to get rid of and slowly went down in price from $200-$25, not one response. Once it was free, I received like 5 responses in an hour

[removed]

For a workbench

I put lots of stuff out and people take it. Old ACs (for the copper piping) go in less than a day.

[removed]

[removed]

I move around a lot and hate throwing away stuff every time I go somewhere new. I haven't heard of this site before but it's exactly what i have been wishing for every time I plan a move. Very glad i came across your comment, thanks! :)

Evvverything gets taken on my local BN, were I to do this, I’d ask!

I’m currently soaking in a hot tub that was listed for free - the owners were soon going to pay someone to take it to the dump. $800 and a lot of my labor later, this thing is fantastic!

The free section of Craigslist works great too. I’ve given away heavy broken mirrors, old couches, old beds, etc etc.

My mom had a garage sale and had a box of free items- no one looked at them- she made everything 10 cents and the contents sold quickly

I love my buy nothing group. It’s nice to know something useable isn’t cluttering up my house but isn’t going to the landfill.

We got new living room furniture a couple months ago. I placed a Craigslist ad saying the old would be out on the curb at 6am. There was a guy there at 6:15. Recycling this way is VERY satisfying

My son runs a Tile Setting business. He does mainly custom work, and has many times ripped out his own work a year later and reinstalled the entire kitchen or bathroom because the 'color was off' or the 'feel was off' ... many times this was custom imported and/or hand made tile. These people don't even blink at the costs.