Category: Recycling

Earth Day = FREE Stuff

#47 – Free stuff for you and the Earth on Earth Day – this Sunday, April 22nd

Celebrate Earth Day with free coffee and more!
 
You can get a free hot or iced coffee from Starbucks (select locations only) or Caribou Coffee this Sunday, April 22nd.  Just bring in a reusable mug.  Also, the Starbucks Foundation is giving $…4 million in funding to nonprofit organizations, and you get to help decide where it goes.  There’s still time to opt in through the Vote.Give.Grow. program.  When you do, your registered Starbucks Card becomes your Community Card, and you get to vote each week through the end of April on where you’d like the money to go.  I love that you can choose where your money will go! 
 
Below are some more freebies to celebrate Earth Day but to use all year long!
 
1. Free Reusable Bag From Target

Visit your local Target store on Earth Day, April 22, and get a free reusable bag at guest services.
This Earth Day freebie is only available while supplies last.

2.  Free Orgins Cleanser

Fill out the form and bring it into a local Origins store along with any current skincare product (full or empty) and they’ll give you your choice of two different Origins cleansers.
This is only valid on Earth Day, April 22nd and are only available while supplies last.
 
3. Free Reusable Bag From the Disney StoreBring in 5 plastic shopping bags into your local Disney Store on April 22nd and you’ll get a free Earth Day reusable bag.
 
4. Free Packet of Sunflower Seed From Pottery Barn Kids

Stop into a nearby Pottery Barn Kids store on Saturday and Sunday (April 21-22) and pick up a free packet of sunflower seeds from PBK and National Geographic.  There are many free events for kids at Pottery Barn Kids all during the year.

5. Free Tote Bag From Jo-Anns

Stop by your local Jo-Ann fabric and craft store and if you are one of the first 50 customers on Sunday, April 22nd, you’ll get a free tote bag.  No purchase is necessary and are only available while supplies last.

6. Free Entrance Into National Parks All Week – Love this one…get outside!

This Earth Day freebie will really help you celebrate the Earth!  Go out to almost 400 national parks this week (April 21-29) and you don’t have to pay an entrance fee.  Check with each national park as well because there are many free events happening this week.

7. Free Verde Energy Audit App for iPad until Earth Day

The application walks you through the process of listing your personal electrical usage,
and together with your local KWh cost found on your electricity bill, Verde will calculate your total energy consumption and make suggestions on how you can make changes to save money and energy!
 
Take everyday green actions to earn points, which add up to discounts, coupon savings, gift cards, or prizes.  Love savings, gift card and prizes!
 
 
Sign up for the Earthbound Farms coupon program to receive $50 in printable coupons via email throughout the year.
 
Enjoy all the great FREE stuff that is earth friendly on Earth Day and be part of making the world we live in a better place for generations to come!

Quick cash for the Holidays…Sell your old, unwanted or broken gold jewelry!

#57 – Sell your old, unwanted, mismatched or broken gold jewelry for immediate cash

I think I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but I thought it was worth mentioning again…if you have old gold jewelry that is broken, you don’t like it or maybe you’ve lost one earring…why not sell it to a gold dealer?  The value of gold is only going up and you just might be surprised by how much mula you can get for your old, broken and not worn anymore gold jewelry.

If you live in Colorad, I personally know a great gold buyer and will be happy to send you her information. She will even come to your house to weigh and inspect what you have.  If you refer to her to your friends, she’ll pay you a 5% commission too.  So just by spreading the word about how easy it was and how much money you made selling your gold, you make even more money.  If you’d like her info, please email me at:  littlemissidea@gmail.com and I will send it to you in an email.

Another thought about gold, is to host a gold selling party at your house and invite your friends over for a girls night in to socialize and make some money.  What a nice change, come over and make money instead of spend money!?!

Swapping…Instead of Buying Things New

#70 –

You can “Swap” just about anything instead of buying new.  You can swap books, CD’s, DVD’s, electronic books (for Kindles & eBooks) and gently used electronics online.  There are lots of different “swapping” sites out there, but one that I like is swap.com.  They connect  swappers and also let you know of “swapping events” in your area that you may want to take part in.  There’s sometimes a minimum charge for participating in the swapping events that they promote, so check the event page for that information when you are deciding if you’d like to attend a swapping event.. 

Hosting your own “Swapping event” is also really fun and won’t cost you anything if you organize it yourself. I have participated and organized many clothing swaps in my day.  The one thing to note about clothing swaps is making sure that you invite multiple people from different size ranges to make sure you have a variety of clothes to swap.  A rule of thumb for any swaps you might organize or participate in is make sure that the items you are swapping are gently used, still in good condition, clean (for clothes, make sure they really are clean and don’t have stains or holes), and things like zippers work on pants, coats, jackets, skirts and handbags, etc… 

Some people organize the swap to be fair and efficient, especially if there are many people participating, by setting everything out in piles separated by size or category and then let participants walk around and take a once over to see what’s available.  Then allow each person to choose one item they like and then allow them to keep choosing one item at a time until everyone has a good amount of items selected.  This can be very slow if your group is large.  

Another option is to have the rule, that everyone can take the same number of items that they brought with them.  I, however, like to have the swap flow more naturally and allow people to choose things they really like.  Most clothing swaps aren’t hard to manage, because the clothes need to be tried on and things may be tried on several times before someone decides they love it and want to take it home to add to their closet.  Whatever is left over at the end of the swap is normally donated to a local charity like Goodwill or ARC Thrift Stores so that everyone is only taking “new to them” items home.  This is a great way to clean out the old and replace with “new to you” without spending a dime!

Need cash…now?!

Times are tough…I hear it every day.  I’ve even, recently lived it myself after being laid off from a full time job at a company that I worked at for almost six years.  I am recently back to work full-time as a “contractor” for the same company that laid me off.  Crazy…I know…but in this economy sometimes it’s more cost effective for companies to hire contract workers than have full time employees with benefits on the payroll.  I’m not complaining at all…I’m very thankful to have work and to be getting paid a decent wage again.  Times were definitely tough as little as just a few weeks ago.  So that being said, while I was laid off, I changed many of my habits and started doing things differently and even did some of these to make some cash right away.

#81 – Recycle Cans & other Metals for Cash

I know my friends and family in New York already do this, but instead of recycling your cans and other metals on the curb in your recycle bin, why don’t you bag them up and take them to a recycling center that will pay you cash?  It’s done by weight, so the more you take the more you’ll make.  Last time I checked aluminum was at almost 40 cents a pound.  If you crush the cans you’ll be able to take more and get more mula.  Collect cans at work, or just keep a bag of crushed cans in your garage or trunk and make a stop once a month or so…it could fill up your gas tank or be enough money to pay one small bill a month.  It’s definitely worth seeing if there’s a recycling center that pays cash for metals near you.  Copper and other metals are worth quite a bit right now too, so if you’ve recently remodeled or have scrap metal laying around your yard or garage, this might be the thing to do with it.  I recommend that you check the recycling center’s website to be sure the kind of metal you have is they kind they need and also pay for.  Some places might recylce the metal but not pay for it.  You will also be helping the environment by recycling the metals, so it’s a win-win for sure!

#82 – Gold & Silver Jewelry…even old, broken or mismatched work for this one

I took some of my old jewelry that was either broken or I only had one earring left in a set to a jeweler and had them inspect and weigh it, then they paid me for it.  I got more than $300 for things I was considering throwing away.  That was a bonus for sure!  Gold is at an all time high right now and there are lots of places out there that are willing to pay you for your gold.  Silver is fast becoming more valuable, as well.  I would recommend that you do your research and go to a reputable “Gold for Cash” place or take your old/out dated or undesirable jewelry to an actual jeweler and ask them if they buy gold and silver.  A jeweler may give you a bit more if your pieces have gem stones in them.  A jeweler that designs their own pieces might be able to re-use or re-purpose those stones.  You will get paid cash right then and there for your pieces.  Never do mail order or leave your jewelry with anyone without being paid for it, there’s no guarantee they will pay you for it when you come back.

#83 – “End of Summer Yard/Garage Sale”

Fall is a great time to clean out closets, garages, basements and attics.  The weather is cooler and people like to be outside on the weekends.  The saying “other peoples junk is someone else’s treasure” couldn’t be more true.  If you didn’t have a yard or garage sale this summer, fall is the perfect time to have one.  Most avid yard/garage-salers are experts at negotiating and haggling, so be prepared to sell many of your items for a dollar or less.  If you feel things are more valuable than that and definitely worth more, you might want to consider selling those items on Craigslist or eBay instead.  If you take the time to price things before hand and have cash for change (quarters & dollar bills) it will make your life much easier the day of your sale.  Happy haggling for cash!