We all know the old adage "A dollar saved is a dollar earned", this rule of thumb is great for everyone looking to rent a dumpster for upcoming projects.
Any kind of home renovation will put a dent in the piggy bank, so why face the risk of paying extra fees for your dumpster rental. Here, we will go over the proper steps to take in order to make sure you aren't putting any additional dents in the piggy bank by saving money on your dumpster rental.
Pick the right size!
The most important step to take in order to avoid extra fees is to pick the right dumpster size for your needs. Most people ignore the importance of this step because they think that getting the minimum suitable dumpster will save them the most money in the end. This is wrong!
Let's say that you are doing a small project like cleaning out the garage and you're debating between the 5 yard dumpster and the 10 yard option. The 5 yard runs at about $275 and the 10 yard costs $300, a $25 difference.
You think that the 5 yard is a better price and will fit your needs, so you go ahead and order it.
It comes and you start cleaning all your junk and you realize that you don't have enough space to fit all the garbage in the 5 yard. This sucks because you have more trash you need to throw out so you go ahead and order another 5 yard box which allows you to finally clean out the whole garage.
By having to order the 5 yard twice, it turns out that you just spent $550 for a job that a 10 yard could have handled. So you essentially just wasted ($550-$300) = $250 by trying to save $25 on the smaller option.
In that scenario, it would have been cheaper to get the bigger size instead of having to buy the smaller option twice. The lesson learnt there is that it's better to spend a little more on a bigger size than buying the smaller size twice!
Don't Go Overweight
Each dumpster size not only gives you a different amount of space to place your garbage, but also gives you a different weight limit depending on the size of the container.
A larger container will give you a higher weight limit on the rental, that makes sense. But people forget that when they go with a smaller container, they still might be able to fit all of their waste but it might weigh a bit more.
Let's say that you are throwing away some piping, and that you know that you can fit all of it in a 5 yard container, so you decide to order the 5 yard dumpster.
The dumpster comes, you throw away all that metal piping and the truck comes to throw it all out. Then a few days later you see an additional charge on your card from the dumpster company siting that the dumpster was overweight by 1000lbs.
Dumpster companies will charge you if you go overweight on the rental. So that 5 yard rental had a weight limit of 1 ton, or 2000lbs and you went over it by 1000lbs. Let's just say that the charge was $35 for every 1000lbs over the weight limit.
Now your total charge for renting the dumpster was $275 for the 5 yard rental plus the overweight fee of $35, after doing the math ($275 + $35) = $310. So again, while trying to save $25 by getting a smaller size, you actually spend an additional ($310 - $300) = $10 on the total purchase.
Even though its only $10, remember, a dollar saved is a dollar earned.
Don't keep it for longer than needed
The last fee that you need to keep in mind is extension fees for holding a dumpster for longer than the rental period. Usually dumpster companies will have 7 day rental periods, and will charge roughly $25 every additional day over the rental period or an extra week for $100.
With this savings tip, it is more about preparation rather than choosing the right size.
Even though a week seems like a long time, but if you are really busy working on your project, then that is not a lot of time. So the best thing you can do to avoid extension fees is to be prepared for throwing away your garbage.
There are some projects where you need a dumpster on site so you can remove the waste from the work site immediately. But if you are just cleaning out the garage or remodeling the bathroom, make sure to be prepared.
This means that you might want to have all the waste ready in a pile so that you can dedicate a morning to just throwing it away. Order your dumpster once you have all the garbage in one pile.
If you need the dumpster for longer then a week, make sure you're
So if the terms are as mentioned before, 1 extra day for $25 and 1 extra week for $100, you might want to choose the week option if you need it for longer than 3 days.
Why is this the case? Let's do the math. If every extra day is $25, then after 4 days you are already paying $100 which is equal to the cost of an extra week. After 4 days you are paying more than the week, i.e. 5 days = (5 * $25) = $125, and so on.
Conclusion
If you take anything away from this post is that it's better to buy a size up due to space and weight reasons, and to try and prepare before the dumpster gets dropped off.
Just remember that a dollar saved is a dollar earned!
Here at TrashBox, our goal is to help relieve the stress of your garbage disposal needs, whether you're cleaning out your garage or renovating your house. We are here to answer any of your concerns and deliver your dumpster in a timely and safe manner.
Call us at (630)-450-3960 and our team will guide you on what dumpster is best fit for your project!