As one person has wisely pointed out- Sydney is a very expensive place to live… to help battle that, here are a couple more suggestions for moving to Australia and setting up house on the cheap. Council Clean Up and Garage sales baby! On the North Shore of Sydney and in several on the south shore I am sure, the garage sales and council clean up piles are a wonderful redistribution of wealth. They are also the potential cause of many car wrecks due to people looking at the piles on the side of the road to see if there “is anything good.”
Cremorne, Mosman, Clifton Gardens and Balmoral definitely offer some of the best options for this second hand extravaganza. Most of you should be familiar with the concept of a garage sale, however, Australia has a phenomenon I’ve never seen before. Horrifying yet incredibly useful- ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the Council Clean up. Sydney is divided into tons of tiny little suburbs- in fact “Sydney” is only a couple of blocks square. Anyway- Each suburb or collection of suburbs belongs to a council which governs things like zoning laws. Once or twice per year- they allow a curbside “free for all” anyone can throw away anything. Couches, bed frames, dressers, clothing racks, heaters, TV’s- anything! Granted some of it is actual trash- but Some of it is in perfect condition and works.
People move, get a new tv, just don’t like the color…so they put it on the side of the road. It is pretty funny during these times- people on their morning walks can be seen walking home …with a new fan….. The horrifying part of all of this- if people don’t claim the discarded goods- they do actually take it all to the dump! I always figured the councils must give some of the items to charities…NO! Whole couches and chests of drawers go into a trash truck and are crushed before disbelieving poor travellers eyes. Save yourself some dosh and look out for garage sales on the north shore as well as council clean ups. Notices for both are in the papers and usually at ferry wharves or other public forums. Happy dumpster diving!
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Thank heaven for council clean-ups. I have furnished my apartment quite comfortably from other people’s discards, and I feel rather smug for doing my part to keep perfectly serviceable items out of the landfill. I felt a little dodgy at first, but then homeowners would come out and offer me stuff they had not yet put out and then tell me where the best neighborhoods are!
Among my treasures are a full set of dishes, coffee table, floor lamp, computer desk, side tables, pots and pans, patio furniture, heaters, heaps of framed original art-work, and my favorite – an official US Mail mailbox (which makes me homesick!) I drew the line and bought a new mattress, but since I saved so much, I felt I could lash out on that!
Hear Hear San Diablo! I did the same thing! It cracks me up! It’s like a free garage sale! All of the items I have are wonderfully servicable and in good shape. In fact I just picked up 2 more matching bed side tables In Mosman this week.
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