College students on tight budgets are hard-pressed to save money, which means they have limited funds for decorations and furniture to spice up their dorm rooms or apartments.

When students move into a residence hall most find a bed, a desk, a lamp and a set of drawers — the bare essentials. Trips to Target or other stores to buy extra light fixtures, storage units, fans and any other cozy comforts often prove costly.

But some students said they look for ways to avoid spending their hard-earned money on new furnishings and appliances by embracing the credo one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

“People put stuff that they don’t need or want in the hallway and anyone who wants it can take it,” said Rachael Bauman, a Music sophomore and resident of Willard Residential College. “I put a lamp that I didn’t need in the hallway and someone came and used it.”

When students empty their dorm rooms to return home for the summer, some students leave old furniture that they do not want or need in the hallways. This is a perfect time for bargain hunters to find perfectly good bookshelves, cabinets or any other furnishings that they may need in their dorms or apartments for the following year, students said.

Some students do not want to leave the furniture that they built or bought for others simply to take. They often will sell these items to neighbors in their dorms or to the person living in the room the following year.

Last year Weinberg junior Jason Cassidy bought a set of homemade cabinets from the previous occupant of his dorm room in South Mid-Quads Hall.

“If nobody had bought (the cabinets), then he would have thrown them out,” Cassidy said. “I gave him some money because I knew he had spent time on them.”

Bauman agreed that selling certain items to other students is beneficial for both the buyer and the seller.

“I think it’s a good way to recycle items and a way to conserve resources and save money,” Bauman said. “If there’s something useful that someone else has and doesn’t want, and they offer it to you, then take it.”

Some students are willing to go further than their dorm hallways to avoid paying high prices for store-bought furniture.

Known as “dumpster divers,” these bargain hunters will search through trash to decorate their rooms.

“We wanted a nice rug for our dorm room because the carpet provided is too institutional, and we thought having soft carpet would be more comfortable,” said Christian Larson, a Weinberg sophomore.

Larson said that he and his roommate called several carpet retailers for low-priced options. One retailer told Larson the store was relocating, and the management had disposed of much of the inventory in a dumpster.

“We drove to the warehouse and went ‘dumpster diving’ for carpet pieces and found several large pieces rolled up that were like new,” Larson said. “So we took them back and shampooed them, just in case.”

Reach Jason Prager at [email protected].