Sometimes, your paycheck might not be enough. If you are looking for some easy ways to make some extra cash, however, you should know that you have options. These are just a few ideas that you can try out if you would like to bring in a little bit of extra cash.
1. Sell Scrap Metal
If you’re like most people, chances are you have some scrap metal sitting around your home somewhere. Even though it may look like junk it may be worth more than you think! Â You may also have friends or neighbors who have metal “junk” that they want to get rid of. If you gather up all of your scrap metal and take it to a scrap yard you can often pick up a nice chunk of change. If you have a truck you can even get paid to haul it away and then get paid again when you sell it to a scrap yard!
When I was downsizing I cleaned out my shed and garage, sorted all the scrap and got over $300 from the scrap alone. And that wasn’t counting all the stuff I could have scrapped but donated to Habitat instead since it was still useful.
The key to recycling for cash is to clean and separate the types of metal. By “clean” recyclers aren’t talking soap and water. What they mean by clean is separate the different types. For instance, wires with insulation on them are not “clean”.  When most people think about scrap they think about big things like washers, refrigerators, dryers and water heaters. But even though they are big they actually aren’t worth very much. Most scrap yards post their prices online, so if we look at a typical price list  from a place like Big Daddy Scrap, we can see that as of today “sheet Iron” pays $140.00 per ton.
The typical mid-sized, top-loading washer weighs about 150 pounds so it would take about 13 of them to get you $140.  To haul 13 washers you would need a good sized truck. Front loading washers weigh a little more (you might only need 10 to make a ton) but dryers are roughly the same size but weigh much less. However there are better options available. The same page of the Big Daddy Scrap site tells us that they pay $0.35 for Aluminum cans (which can be squashed) to take up much less space so you can easily haul them in your car. For comparison if you could somehow amass a ton of aluminum cans you would get .35 x 2000 or $700! But that isn’t even the best one. How about clean copper for $2.57 a pound i.e. over $5,000 per ton!  They also pay $10 each for car batteries, $0.15/ lb. for electric motors (remember that washing machine it has an electric motor and “harness wire” @ $0.85/lb). Simply by disassembling it you could get much more per pound. Old house wire pays $1.69/lb. Once you learn the types of metal you will know what to look for in your travels. If you see some copper or aluminum on the side of the road waiting for the trashman you can save it from the landfill and pick up some cash at the same time.  In the following video “Scrapper Girl” gives you a few tips on sorting your scrap.
2. Sell Old Clothes
If you have clothes in your closet that you just don’t wear for some reason or another, consider selling your old clothing items for cash. You can have a yard sale, or you can take them to a local consignment shop. There are also a lot of websites and apps that you can use for selling your used clothing. It’s a great way to make room for clothes that you actually will wear while helping you pad your pockets at the same time.
3. Drive for Uber or Lyft
If you have a car and enjoy driving, consider downloading the Uber or Lyft apps on your smartphone. You can go through a process to get approved to be a driver for one of these services. Then, you can make extra money by driving people around.
4. Write or Edit Articles
If you’re a good writer, consider getting online and checking out your options for writing short articles and blog posts for cash. Some people like to pay others to create content for their websites or other needs. You can also look for online editing jobs that will require you to edit other people’s work.
As you can see, if you are looking for a way to make some extra cash, you have a ton of options. If you give one or all of these ideas a try, you might be surprised by how much extra money you can put in your pocket. Plus, you’ll have the chance to experience something new at the same time.
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