When I first started getting our finances in order I was looking for any little way that I could trim our budget. Everyone is issued the same standard-size trash bin. I noticed some people had larger ones, so I wondered if they had smaller ones. I called the city and found out that you can save $5 with a smaller receptacle. We only go through 1-2 kitchen bags of garbage every week, so I figured it would be fine, and it has. It helps that around the holidays, they allow an extra bag of garbage that doesn't have to fit in the receptacle.
We live in a duplex, and I've noticed that the way the city works is that they just leave the same receptacle from the previous tenants for new tenants, and it is the tenant's responsibility to call and change if they want to. I know this because our next door neighbors have had an upgraded size the entire three years we've lived here, even though there have been large and small families that have lived there. A young couple lives there alone now, but they still use the same large one from the previous occupants. I doubt they even fill it half-way. They just inherit whatever size (and bill) the previous tenant left. The city will actually not charge you at all the first time you change sizes.
I added it up, and I've saved $190 since I switched sizes. Not a ton of money, but certainly worth one five minute phone call.
2 comments:
Interesting.. I never knew
hey, I didn't know that! I think I will call too. We never fill up our trash bin - and it only gets picked up once a week. Now our recycling bin gets full :)
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