It's only 10 cents.........

[leera]

OK,I don't know if this is where this should go,but this is where I'm putting it for now.........

I have been collecting and turning in the soda bottles my co workers are too lazy to deal with and throw away,I have a box for them to drop them into instead of the trash.

The assistant manager says "it's only 10 cents".......

It's only 10 cents to him....but his added to the others nets me anywhere from $7.00 to $10.00 about every other week.Sometimes more.

I decided while emptying the box last night at work that I am going to start taking every $$ of the bottle money and putting into savings........

Have been just using it towards groceries........but we're good there for the winter,and probably about a year now.

So we'll give it a try and see what we end up with.

[MYellowRose]

That "it's just 10 cents" attitude helped me ride the city bus to and from school during my senior year! Fare was a dime plus a penny for the transfer to get on the second bus. Many times I'd walk about 10 blocks from school to the closest stop for the bus to my job/ home. Otherwise it would have been about two miles, maybe more for all I know.
I'm still trying to collect aluminum cans but not having much luck as everybody's out doing it during warm weather. I've also picked up a couple of heavier metal items to see how much I can get for them.

[preliator]

I have been doing the same thing for a while now.... on the jobsite i have anywerefrom 8-35 guys per day at a nickel a can here in NY thats anaverage of $1.75 a day if they all just drink one can or bottle.
i have been throwing that change as well as the extra change i have in my pocket at the end of the day into a can for about the last 8 months. I know at last count have over 50 bucks from soda cans and bottles and near 200 bucks fromthe pocket change.
I add it to the general homesteader can (i call it) my wife calls it my hillbilly savings deposit box.....lol..... i figure it this way, all the items like books or small things i want in reagrds to self sufficency get bought from that fund......makes it sort of like a challenge to save for these little items.
anthony

[Quietgentleman]

Leera

There was an article in the local paper here a yr or so ago about a couple that when Iowa went to can redemption they started to pick them up. They had what people call go nowhere jobs made just enough to get by is all. Well they started pick up the cans and bottles and taking the money they got from them and invested it into a retirement account. Well after 20 yrs of collecting peoples just a nickle they were able to build a nice modest house to replace their 70 something trailer home on the acreage they lived on. They still are the simple couple that took advantage of peoples waste and funded themselves a better life in retirement.


QGM

[MYellowRose]

Had an article a few year back about a man who goes around to stores with soda machines outside and digs out the change people drop that rolls under and behind them. He also goes to car washes and opens up the vacuum cleaner trash area and digs through it for loose change that people vucuum out of their car. He set up a regular route and made a pretty good amount of money doing this.

[MNMOM]

I know that when my daughter lived in Michigan they were paid 10 cents per can brought back. Here in MN they pay you by the pound and it can vary. About once a year they take it all to the place where you redeem the cans and it can run from about $100.00 to $125.00, we put this toward birthday presents for the grandchildren which is given in cash and they deposit it into their college funds.

[kawalekm]

There are other things to think about besides just the "10 cents". You are also keeping that much waste out of the next landfill that has to be made. You also are slowing the digging of the next strip mine for new aluminum. Each item you recycle just adds up to additional waste that is prevented. Keep it up!

[sma]

when my dh thinks of it, he takes the change out of his pockets and puts it in our daughter's piggy bank. every few months, we deposit it into her savings and right now she's got over $100 in there and she's not even 2 yet! i also have what i call my tip jar down in the laundry area of the basement. when i find money in the washer or dryer it goes in there. we've lived here about 3 months and i have about $7 so far. i'm going to see how much i can accumulate in a year. dh never counts change and doesn't realize how much it can add up. once, when we were dating, i was using his car and decided to clean it out for him (it was a disaster zone in there). i found about $20 in change! i used part of it to take the car to the car wash and the rest was used for gas. :)

[leera]

SMA:

Here's a story you'll enjoy.

My brother's car broke down to the point of no repair.He asked to me clean it out for,telling me that I could keep any money I foud in it.

I took him up on that,found over $75.00 in CHANGE in that car.

Never did tell my brother just how much I found in it.He's got a wife and two kids now,and still hasn't gotten any smarter about his money.

[mangyhyena]

I work overnight maintenance in a retail store. Each and every time I find a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter I pick it up. I've been dumping everything I find in a 5 gallon water bottle when I get home each morning.

After two and a half years it's getting heavy. My wife counted the change a year ago and there was just under $300 in there. To me, it's like a hobby. I almost always come home with at least a few pennies. Often times I come home with .35 or more. I think we'll count it up at the 5 year mark.

I believe we'll use it to buy junk silver.

[leera]

I've got a big bottle that we throw our change in,but I think I may have to empty it this week.Got more bills than money right now.

BTW: while I was gone from work last week on vacation,the assistant manager actually put effort into NOT throwing his bottles away,and saved them for me!To the tune of $7.30.

I don't pick up bottles and cans here where we live,because there is a guy we know here locally as "bottle Billy" who goes around picking them up.........it's his only income besides his disablilty that he gets monthly.........I don't want to be competing with him,it wouldn't be very nice to take away his only source of extra money.

I do however stop at carwashes on my way home,and look around parking lots when I stop anywhere.

[MYellowRose]

Spotted two pennies in the park while I was waiting to catch the bus to the library today, picked them up. Found 40 cents on the bedroom floor on Thursday while I was picking up and sorting through things. LOL Love that found money!

[Bones]

I have done the alum can thing for three years that we lived here. *But after a year of collecting I was only getting between $20-30 for a whole year of saving. *And the space they took up. *I did not want to store them outside because the plastic bags rot and then there is the bug issue with the water that will collect in them. *I did not walk the road so maybe could have made more but when you look at the price of alum it seems to have stayed the same for the last 20 years and in some cases gone even lower. *So I decided it is not worth my time and SPACE its the space that was the real killer. *Copper prices are up so that I will save as I find it. *

[Pigzzilla]

Every little bit adds up. We have an old 5 gallon water bottle we keep change and the occasional dollar bill in. When we bought our home 3 years ago we emptied out the jar and were amazed to find there was over $1400 in it. That was saved up in 4 years. We had to purchase refrigerator, stove and splurged on a microwave for the house. And still had a bit left for "starter-change" to feed the jar. It definatly adds up.

[Northwoods]

Twice a month when I go get groceries, I take whatever cans have accumulated with me....(in Michigan at 10 cents a can)...yesterday I saved $8.80 off the total.
We have a change jar and I roll between 20 and 50 dollars a month from that and put it in savings.
It does all add up and is worth the effort.

[Bones]

For those states that a have deposit program a person can make some money. *But only if they find the cans along the road or something like that and turn them in. *If you are buying soda you are paying a deposit on the cans and are not making any money.

[AlchemyAcres]

I live in PA (no deposit)...12 1/2 miles from New York State (deposit)...many cans sold here are deposit cans...some folks cash in BIG TIME!!!!!


~Martin :)

[edward_4576]

The wife and I save our aluminum all year and when we take it in we can usually make between $135 to $175. *I all goes in to our penny jar. *Our jar was an old bottle that they used to keep acid in years ago. *It got so full that the weight caused the jar to break. *We decided that one of those medium sized popcorn canisters that you see at the yard sales would work. *It hasn't burst yet but it has two drawbacks. the first is those little handles on the sides can hurt when you pick the durn thing up. *Secondly, unlike a jar it's real easy to pop open and grab some change if your in a rush.

I fixed the problems though. *I'm using smaller cans so that they don't weight as much and I'm also popriveting the lids on so you can't get them open without a fight.

;D

[figgfamily]

LOL I thought of this thread as I was picking up refundable beer bottles in the public parking this morning. Scored 30 cents but better in my pocket eh!

[edward_4576]

I was coming back from the store the other day. I counted at least a half a dozen cans along side the road. My wife and I were talking and came up with an idea. If you own property with some type of road frontage, put up a piece of plywood with a bullseye painted on it and a hole in the middle. Put a trash can behind it and post a sign enticing folks to try and hit the bullseye with thier cans.

I know you might get some other things but it might pay off. ;)

[ryanmercer]

I've been seriously thinking about going out on warmer evenings and weekends and just scouring parkings lots and what not for cans... the best thing about here is... It is Speedway (Indianapolis 500) so 2-3 times a year we have TONS and TONS and TONS of cans just tossed all over the place from drunk out-of-towners. Hrmmmm

[edward_4576]

It kind of reminds me of that scene in the movie "In Cold Blood" where they pick up the hitch hikers and they start picking up bottles for the deposit and one actor sez something about finding the treasure of the Sierra Madras..... ;)

[leera]

Well I hadn't been able to get anything put away before the end of the year,but so far this year I've already got $20.00 saved just from bottles.

My new goal this year is to not spend any of the money from the bottles and see what I have at the end of December.

When the weather warms up I'll put more effort into it,right now it's just the bottles from work.

[Funkhouser]

I always dump my spare change in a Mason jar every night when I get home from work... usually end up with anywhere from $60 to $80 or so after a couple of months. Then I take it to the bank and exchange it for dollar coins.

[madmarine]

It might be only 10 cents, but think of it like this. 90 more cents and you have a dollar. We are over the road truck drivers. Walking in and out of truck stops and on the fuel islands i am constantly finding change, mostly pennies but oaccassionally bigger coins. I always pick them up.
Also, as we have to spend money while on the road we keep our change and collect it. It is very surprising how fast it adds up. We manage to put up $200 about every three months. We are almost to the point where we will start seriously saving and when we do we plan to build up our savings as fast as possible to buy our mountain home and retreat.