I'm a poor somewhat newly married (almost 2 years) college student.  I'm proud of the examples some of my friends have set - we live in a poorish neighborhood south of campus and it seems that everyone tries to sell their things on Craig's List, or we have big yard sales before everyone moves out/graduates/etc and give the items that don't get sold to charity or DI.  Our friends have passed down old desks and chairs to us, and we've passed down furniture and computer parts to friends who can use them.  I think Craig's List is the most amazing thing, and I hope more people use it in the future!

We try really hard not to buy "cheap" things we know will break in the future.  We spend a lot of time saving up money so we can buy quality items that will last.  It's frustrating that items come in so much PACKAGING - that ends up being most of our trash.  It's also frustrating that most places don't offer recycling to renters, and it seems the only things renters can recycle easily are newspapers and phone books (and by "easily" I mean you have to drive halfway across town to drop it off at some center).  I hope that in the future my friends on the city boards will help pass incentives that make recycling easier.  I think many new young people have the desire to recycle but the world is designed to make it difficult to do.

my son moved out on his own last summer. i was driving thru a rental area as the college kids were tossing out stuff to go home for the summer. i found a wonderful couch and matching love seat. i snatched off the cushions and made arrangements for the items to be picked up later. figured no one would want them without the cushions. perfect condition..no rips stains odors..and along with the couch and loveseat was a solid oak end table. so he got that for his first place for FREE. abouta month later a friend was tossing out a perfectly awesome easy chair. i called my son and he drove over annd picked it up. furnished his livingroom for FREE with good stuff .

We just moved this past week from our house to a very small apartment because we're getting ready for a cross country move next month. In one day I was able to get rid of about 2/3's of our furniture and other things that we won't be able to take with us. All that was required was to take about 30 minutes to list on craigslist and freecycle and a few emails and calls later it was all gone or promised to people. It was SO much easier than it would've been to find a truck, load it up and take it to the dump or a donation center. Not to mention we made quite a bit of money. How can anyone not realize that this is the way to go? There's always someone who can use your old items. I would've taken our things with us, but it would have cost way too much money to do so. I plan on using the money made from craigslist postings to find new furniture on craigslist when we get to our new home.

I just had my first yard/white elephant sale.  The space rental was for charity which was great.  The best feeling I had about getting rid of my stuff was my ability to release ownership and let someone name their price.  It was great to see the light in their eyes and their faces shine. The "One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure" is so true.  I got rid of all my stuff that day and came back with two antique chairs that the owner didn't want to have to haul back with her. We all collect stuff and forget where we put stuff so it is a good exercise in discipline to get rid of the confines of "too much stuff".

I don't get it either. I garage sale before I move and then I donate the left overs to charity. I used to fish books out of dumpsters at college -- books thrown out really bothers me, as a teacher.

A lot of kids' parents buy them the stuff, so they have no concept of what it really costs or is really worth. I still use the fridge I got for college for sodas or bulky items that do not easily fit in a normal fridge, and the microwave, though unused, is stored in the garage.

Many also attend school hundreds of miles from home and the items they equip their temporary home with exceeds their capacity to bring home at the end of the year. In truth, it would probably make far more financial sense to simply rent a local storage facility for those between-school months and store their equipment there. That way they could retrieve it next year. Most don't think of this, though. When you factor in the cost of renting a U-Haul for a day and a storage facility for a few months, it would take only a few items to totally offset that cost vs. the cost of replacing them.

Sometimes Dumpster Diving is a bad idea! I recently had a horrible experience with bed bugs, and found out that they don't just live in beds, furniture, electronics, and books are also favorite hang outs. Anywhere the edge of a credit card can fit, a bed bug can hide. There is really no effective way to decontaminate, and even exterminators will tell you this. We had to toss everything, televisions, stereos, desks, chairs, everything. At first I taped signs on everything I threw away warning other people, but dumpster divers still took items. I finally had to result to smashing items so that others would not contaminate their own homes. Bed bugs are making a comeback, be careful fishhing things out of the trash, they may be there for a reason!

I am an avid freecycler, University Scavenger and general Dumpsta Diva. At my old co-op we use to go cruising neighborhoods when the city has it's free oversize dumping day though I did feel a bit of shame being "caught" pawing through "trash" that was intended for the city dump.   People would scowl at you as if  they'd cleaned out their garages so that the items could be buried in the earth.  I intentionally try to limit my participation in consumerist culture however I often feel self conscious about being perceived as poor.  As a kid who grew up poor I definitely understand how people get caught up in status symbols like designer purses, shoes and cars.  But in others trash I have found swanky velvet couches, vintage clothing and jewelry, countless refrigerators, coffee pots and alarm clocks.  I definetly feel the societal pressure to consume.  People try to pressure me into buying new things all the time when the things I have are perfectly good.  My phone, my car etc.  It's a crazy consumerist culture!

The college I attended and serve on a board for offers the students who live in the residence halls free storage for the summer as long as they're returning to the res halls the next year.  They allow the students to rent the microwaves and refridgerators.  Yet it continues to amaze me how many of the students will throw away the area rugs they had in their rooms, or they will get rid of lamps etc.  It's not that hard and if their friends banded together they could rent a storage unit for the summer and be done with it.  I found it interesting when one lady said she shipped her son's stuff home.  What does he need at home but his clothes for the summer? I would encourage other parents to set limits with their kids about what they will pay for and what would be unacceptable for them to just toss.  

I frequently just give stuff away that I don't need anymore or that I've decided to upgrade from.  Craigslist is great when you put a listing of something that's free.

My experience a couple of weeks ago changed my outlook on giving to charities.  My wife called the Salvation Army to come out and pick up a lot of things that could be used by anyone.  However, after finally arriving, late of course, they handed us a list of things they didn't accept.

It did not depend on the value or conditions of the items.  All in all, it was clear that the "charity" was cherry-picking only the stuff they wanted, and we could "keep the rest".  Life must be rough out there for people who supposedly can use some help.