Haha @sidney....that's a really novel way of doing it! I've never known of anyone doing it this way. I'm glad it works for you, but I think I'd be a tad bit wary of letting all those people onto my property because it could potentially become a security risk. IDK maybe I'm just overly cautious?
Over here we have gates, so we just place them outside our gate in a plastic bag on top of the rubber thrash can. They get picked up the same day by those thrash-scavenging people who look for bottles, newspapers, cartons, etc. so that they can sell it to junk shops. How about there, are gates popular or not like in the US?
@sidney...yes we do have gates LOL I don't think there's a property without a gate. I live on a sort of small gated community with 24/7 security, actually. But I still don't think I'd be comfortable with giving anyone ideas. I don't know about over there, but here, what you do would likely say to would-be criminals I have more money than I actually do. They'd think I was rich and that there was a lot stuff they could nab from my house. There I would be trying to help them, and next thing I know, I'd be being burgled and cleaned out. It's crazy!
Have you considered posting a free ad on Craigslist? Having recently moved, I had a perfectly good couch that I did not have space for. The couch was probably not worth selling, as it was older, but still in fair condition. We hauled the couch out to the curb, took a photo of it, and posted an ad on Craigslist in the free section. The couch was gone in only a matter of a few hours! There are people willing to take your free items, even if the thrift stores in your area will not accept them. Keep in mind, it may be that the thrift stores do not have space for those particular items, or do not take them as a part of the store policy. The people who shop at those stores are not necessarily to blame.
@Lushlala, Well over here it's not that dangerous to leave out your unwanted stuff since it's a common practice anyway, but yes, it might encourage the wrong people to break in your home, although the squatters usually do it on the village residents. We have been victimized before!
You're so lucky to have a low crime rate @sidney! I'm sorry to hear that you've been in that situation before. It's weird that squatters seem to harass people out in the sticks, as opposed to the cities. Here it's the other way round, there's way more crime in the cities and towns than in the villages. But I guess it's all relative, because Botswana by comparison, has nowhere near as much crime as even our neighbouring countries.
I never dispose of them. It makes no sense. I'd rather sell them for any price acceptable. Charity organizations are also kind of a good option. Some people really need something we don't even remember having at our own houses. If can't just sell or donate something = ask your friends if they need that. I'm sure, some of them actually do and will be happy to get it from you.
When the Goodwill stores began posting that they don't allow their employees to buy its inventory I always wondered why. After thinking about it for a while even though it's difficult to accept, it's to the advantage of these organizations once tax season rolls around. Such an expense is a write off and probably a very huge one.
@Lushlala, The funny thing is we live in a city inside Manila, so I had to google the definition of village. It is related to rural places, lol. Over here "village" is the term that's used for the homeowners and the place they live in, and squatters are the ones who don't own or rent their homes and live in the slums. The crime rate over here is mostly high during Christmas season.
Oh that's very interesting, @sidney! It's so heartbreaking isn't it, to see the clear divide between different people? So tell me, these squatters; do they actually move into and take over properties that are lying empty too? Or do they just simply stick to their slums? I know that there's that sort of problem in neighbouring South Africa too, where people who live in abject poverty live in these makeshift 'houses' made of sticks, plastic bag and other bits of material they can gets their hands on. But they don't move into unoccupied houses like is often the case in the West. They are called squatters here too, because they basically illegally set up roots wherever they can, until the government moves them on. It's sad. We don't have that sort of problem in Botswana. Yet.
@Lushlala, If there are no slums in Botswana then the government there must be doing a pretty good job in the housing department. Over here the squatters don't really break in and live in abandoned houses, they squat in abandoned places, and I know of 4 squatters area in here. They do also have a name for the slums, like proper names were given to it like in villages. my aunt lives beside a slum area, when you peep over the cement fence, you can see the land occupied by squatters, but in fairness some have cement houses, but looking unfinished because it's all hollowblocks with no paint, I guess they have saved enough to build a cement house.
@sidney....I'm not sure I can credit the government with that though. But I'm not entirely sure why the problem is not non-exixtent here. I mean, it may also be down to the fact that Botswana is only a very small population of 2.1-million. People also tend to only come to cities and towns to find work, nobody is really from the cities. We all come form villages or towns and mainly make the move due to work. So there wouldn't be any reason to be stranded in the big city. If it doesn't pan out quite how you planned, you just go back home rather than hassle it out. But obviously the more industrialised and developed a country becomes, you see these types of problems cropping up. In the whole of my city for instance, I know of only 2 beggars; it's just not the done thing.
There are a few of us around here who don't want to just throw perfectly reusable items into the trash. So we take them to our local charity shops, donate them to local women's shelters, or if they are big, we leave them outside on the pavement with a note saying “hello, I am in good working order, will you take me home?”
I am currently in the same boat and because I place a lot of sentimental value on just about any item I own - a great percentage of which are still functioning - I end up looking like a hoarder. In truth, I just do not want to let go of the memories. I am in the process of reprogramming my view of things so that I can finally get organized and donate stuff I no longer need to those who need them more.
@Lushlala, Well we are overpopulated, so it makes sense why we have TONS of squatters since we are already 101 million in population! Most people in the city do come from the provinces, my parents included since they worked here, but those who were not sucssessful in looking for work sometimes tend to stay here and squat, contributing to the problem. We have tons of beggars and street children here.
This isn't something we have to deal with in my family. Usually, such functional items have someone to take care of them. Our relatives love getting used but functional appliances from us, whether it's television, refrigerator or gaming consoles. We don't even have to give them to charity because most of our relatives in the province are unfortunate. My MIL's siblings, not all of them, maybe five of them, doesn't have work and rely on her. So yeah, it's quite easy to dispose off such appliances since there are takers all the time. Have you thought about giving such items to unfortunate relatives? Maybe a distant relative who might not have such appliances. Ask your mom or your dad, maybe there's a third degree relative that you might not know about. Or you could try giving the appliance to junk shops. They do use such items and recycle them. You get some money as well after giving them your old and unused items. There are also secondhand or surplus appliance stores that might accept your item. You will also get paid for giving them your appliance, although you can choose not to get paid as well. Good luck!
OMG 101-million's huge LOL So basically Botswana's population is probably the size of a town in your country! Botswana is a large country in size (comparable to France, but with a fraction of the population). Of course, a large portion of Botswana is the Kalahari desert, and is inhabitable, but we certainly don't have the problem of overcrowding. I guess this could go some way to explaining the lack of squatters, street children and homelessness. But I strongly believe that the more industrialised we become, the more likely the problem will become.
@Lushlala, Well your citizens are quite lucky, since there is no shortage of living areas in there. More recently, the government has been calling these squatters "informal settlers", maybe to soften the stigma, hehe. Well, 2.1 million is quite a long way to go to being overpopulated, so Botswana will be squatter-free for more years to come.
