A thrifty stay-at-home mom’s revealed she’s found $13,000 worth of brand new items, including make-up and even treadmills, whilst dumpster diving.
Megan Godinez, from Dallas, Texas, has managed to get her hands on almost everything from beauty products to expensive sports equipment.
The 30-year-old mom-of-four claimed she has spent the last three years diving into to bins see what she can find – a hobby she dedicates up to five hours a week, reported Mail Online.
Thanks to her ”thrifty” finds, Megan no longer needs to spend money on hygiene products or even seasonal decorations, as she always manages to stumble across different ”gems” whilst dumpster diving.
In the list of her finds, the stay-at-home mom revealed she’s bagged shampoo, food, a few coffee machines, clothing and even six treadmills.
”It started out as a hobby at first after I watched a video of something similar on YouTube.”
”I was intrigued to go and see if any of the big stores near where I lived had anything interesting in their bins.”
”From there, I started rummaging through the bins of retail stores, bakeries, and clothes stores.”
”I make sure to avoid restaurants and places like doctors’ offices.”
”I’ve found loads of stuff over the past three years, 75 percent of which I donate and the other 25 percent I keep for myself and family.”
”I always take what I need, and never take too much.”
”I try and leave enough items for the next picker to come along and have.
”The bins are always so full of useful things, that I tend to leave every dive with a full car boot.”
While there have been many great finds, her favorites include a Smeg Coffee Machine worth $266, Shark vacuum cleaners worth $379, a Wii U worth $299 and an Xbox One worth $479, which was gifted to her son, Donovan, 11, who loves gaming.
”I’m genuinely so shocked by how much waste big corporations have, from little things like shampoo with broken caps, to brand new consoles that have a squished box,” she continued.
”A local pet store was selling soft toys for $5 and would donate money from each sale to a local shelter.
”A few weeks later, I went dumpster diving behind the store and the bins were full of the soft toys they were selling.
”It was awful, I literally filled the back of the truck with them and donated them to the shelter they were using the toys to donate too.”
Megan’s thrifty hauls have also seen her come home with bags filled with seasonal decorations, children’s toys, part and even a pair of brand-new Hugo Boss leather sneakers worth $190.
Megan also documents her dumpster dives on TikTok and YouTube (@megantheddmvp) and has received a mixed reaction from both people online and from family and friends.
She said: ”My family were very on the fence about it at first, but they have slowly come around and have been supportive since learning about the waste that big corporations create for no reason.
”My husband is sometimes a bit grossed out when I bring home perfectly good wrapped up snacks like crisps and biscuits, so he does need some encouragement to eat them sometimes.
”People on social media just seem to be shocked at how much stuff gets thrown away, and I do get a lot of people asking me what shops it is that I dive at or have interest in doing it themselves.
”Companies just throwing items out because there’s a dent in the box or a crack in a bottle is a huge problem, all of these perfectly good items are just going to waste.
”I’m hoping that by documenting my finds, it will lead to some change, or maybe more people will be able to rescue perfectly fine binned appliances and goods.’
This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.
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