Metroplex Savers: Financial Friday - Did You Know...Aluminum Cans

Friday, July 16, 2010

Financial Friday - Did You Know...Aluminum Cans

So I had something else planned for Financial Friday, but something cool happened this week and I thought I would share.

I am going to title this post "Did You Know..." I would like to start a series of these posts to talk about random things that you might not have known, that hopefully you can go do yourself and try it out.

Well one night, I was researching ways we could make a little extra money here and there. We've already put on a garage sale, sold things online, and made a fairly good profit from it. But I wanted to research it more in depth. In my research, I found "selling aluminum cans." I had attempted this once before, as there is a little doo-hicky near my old apartment that paid for cans. But it is SO old, when I went there and threw my cans in, it gave me nothing back. I just assumed that paying for cans was a thing of the past and they weren't paying anymore.

So I "swagbucks-ed" recycling centers in DFW, and found a place that pays for aluminum cans. Hot dog! There are a whole bunch of scrap yards that pay for aluminum off Main Street in Fort Worth. I made a few phone calls to find out the details. Just bring in your cans, they will weigh it, they pay $.50 per pound and they pay cash.

Over the last few weeks, I contacted family and friends about their cans. Yesterday I collected & bagged over 155 pounds of aluminum cans. I dropped them off at the scrap yard, and came out with over $79.00 in CASH!

It seems like a lot of work for so little money - BUT here's how I look at it. It takes about 32 cans to get 1 pound. 1 pound = $.50. So 1 can = ~$.015, more than a penny! So collecting 1 can at a time is like picking up a penny off the ground.

If you are looking for a little extra money in the pocket, consider this route. It was super easy and quick - and they paid me in cash right then and there. Contact your family and friends to see if they would start collecting their cans for you. Put up can donation boxes in their house, your house, your work, etc. Over time, it will be well worth it!!