A mother-of-four who spends up to six hours a day scavenging through dumpsters revealed how she’s made more than $80,000 in two years by re-selling items found in the trash.
Tiffany Butler, 32, from Aubrey, Texas, spends her days searching through big brand store bins and has found everything from high-end cosmetics, furniture and even an antique armoire worth $3,000.
The mother – who is raising four children with her husband Daniel Roach – says she hasn’t had to buy makeup or hygiene products for the past two years and has managed to furnish her entire home with items she found in trash bins, including her children’s beds.
She has even managed to set up her own business selling items found in the trash including vacuum cleaners, headphones, rings, necklaces and even dog food.
Tiffany Butler, 32, from Aubrey, Texas, spends up to six hours a day scavenging through dumpsters and has made more than $80,000 in two years by re-selling items found in the trash
Tiffany spends her days searching through big brand store bins and re-selling items she’s found in the garbage
The mother has found hoards of high-end cosmetics during her dumpster hauls including Kylie Jenner lip kits worth around $33 each and NYX contouring palettes worth around $26
Tiffany has managed to furnish her entire home with items she found in trash bins and often sells furniture she finds in the garbage, such as this desk
‘I’ve probably found every kitchen appliance that you can imagine, but my favorite is a pressure cooker worth around $200,’ said Tiffany.
‘I’ve gotten Ninja Blenders, coffee makers, toaster ovens, pots, and pans, and lots of dish ware and cutlery.
‘Before they started destroying items, I’d get huge boxes of makeup from Ulta on a weekly basis, everything would be unopened.’
‘I’ve found Nars mascara worth over $26, Kylie Jenner Lip Kits worth about $33, and Morphe eyeshadow palettes worth more than $13.
‘I found most of my furniture in the bin like my Ikea couch which retails at $300 and a brand-new dresser worth $200.
‘I often go to a lot of pet stores too, and I’ve found everything from bags of premium dog food, and even live bugs which I feed to my lizard.’
Tiffany’s hauls also include 60 Xebec Tri-Screen monitors with a staggering retail value of more than $29,940.
Tiffany says her partner Daniel and her four kids – Kaylee, 18; Mia, ten; Blake, nine; Ruxton, eight – are all supportive of her endeavor
Tiffany, pictures diving inside of a dumpster, even managed to set up her own business selling items found in the trash
Tiffany is pictured separating trash and re-sellable items as she searches through a dumpster outside of a book store
She’s also picked up a range of seasonal items such as Halloween costumes, birthday cards and Christmas decorations.
The thrifty mother began searching through trash bins after noticing an advert for a garbage haul outside cosmetics store Ulta Beauty and decided to have a look through her local dumpster.
She said: ‘I’m a big fan of makeup and used to watch a lot of makeup tutorials on YouTube, until one day an advert for an Ulta dumpster haul came up.
‘I gave it a watch, and told my partner, Daniel, 38, that I was going to have a look in my local Ulta bins to see what I could find.
‘I was shocked to come away with boxes and boxes of makeup items, and it kind of spanned from there.
‘With the amount I was bringing home, it became overwhelming, and I filled the garage up pretty quickly.
‘I sold quite a few items on Poshmark and made about $5,000, but knew I needed a bigger space to store and re-sell items.’
Pictured, high-end beauty brands which Tiffany has found searching through the trash including products by Elemis and Shiseido
Tiffany has found various makeup brushes including one from high-end beauty brand BareMinerals in the garbage which has gone on to sell
The thrifty mother hasn’t had to purchase a beauty product in two years thanks to the surplus of makeup she finds (left various brands found in the dumpster) including high end brands including Becca cosmetics (right)
Tiffany has found a range of books and notepads while searching through the trash outside book stores
She has also recovered hundreds of dollars worth of beauty products from outside of Ulta stores – landing unopened items from brands like Clinique and Laura Mercier
Tiffany’s hauls also include 60 Xebec Tri-Screen monitors with a staggering retail value of more than $29,940
Tiffany now has her own warehouse to store items in, which she is currently renovating and slowly redecorating with items she’s found in the trash.
She added: ‘It’s crazy to think I’ve created a business from selling perfectly good items that I’ve found in the trash.
‘Companies are just so wasteful, and it needs to stop.
‘Everything they throw away is just covered by insurance, so they don’t care as they’ll get replacements. Their loss has become my gain now really.’
Tiffany documents her finds via social media, and even has her own website where she sells her items under the name DumpsterDivingMama.
Selling on her dumpster finds has become such a lucrative business for Tiffany that she revealed back in August 2021 that she had quit her job in order to focus on her hobby as a full-time career, which began in January 2017 when she saw a video of girls dumpster diving on YouTube.
After going out for the first time and finding a box of brand new makeup worth around $1,200 in makeup and skincare products she returned home to Daniel and showed him her haul.
The mother-of-four has found pricey baby products and electronics during her various garbage hauls
Tiffany came away from one of her garbage hauls with a large box of unused candles which she will re-sell
She raided a dumpster outside a Barnes and Noble book store to find a collection of unused books she could sell
Tiffany finds various products to sell during her hauls, including toys and food from Pet Smart
The next night, they went out together to see what they could find and since then they haven’t stopped.
For more than five years, they’ve consistently rummaged through their dumpsters locally and further afield to do everything from house decoration to clothing themselves and their kids, as well as selling their valuable finds.
‘Daniel and I went out diving together and since then it’s been consistent for almost five years now. A little over a year ago I quit my job to do this full-time,’ she said.
‘We’ve furnished at least 75 per cent of our house with dumpster finds, from couches to tables and chairs to décor and more.’
Despite dumpster diving being a controversial topic, Tiffany’s family, friends and following are extremely supportive.
Her four kids – Kaylee, 18; Mia, ten; Blake, nine; Ruxton, eight – as well as her mom, Pam, 55, and even her grandma Judy, 78, have all joined in with her dumpster hauls.
Tiffany added: ‘My family and friends love that I dumpster dive and are always the first ones to want to know my recent finds.
‘Whenever I have guests, the first place they want to go is the garage to have a nosey at items they may like to take.
‘Lots of my followers are pretty shocked by how much is thrown away and have actually been inspired to look through their bins for items.
‘A lot of them have bought items from me as well, which is nice.
‘It’s insane how much big businesses and brands throw away; I hope that I’m doing enough in my area to prevent more going to landfill.’
