dreaming of a smallholding part 2.. how we made ends meet by making money out of recycling
67
It Can Be Done.
To catch up with the journey so far, read my hubpages, dreaming of a smallholding, and savvy shopper, this will give you a bit of background for this hubpage.
Now we were on the road to getting out of debt, and putting ourselves on the road to saving for a smallholding...... Ok that road is very long, and feels never ending... maybe a bit like the old route 66 just one straight road, with no end in sight. but boy you get to see some sites and learn some things on the way......
Metal Recycling
The first thing we went back to was recycling empty metal drinks and food cans. We used to do it before, but got out of the habbit when the local council started a kerbSide recycling scheme, which was very convenient from a recycling point of view,BUT then we wernt getting paid any money. So we started again.....I allways carried an old plastic carrier bag with me, and when i seen an empty drinks can on the floor i would pick it up, and take it home with me to be crushed and added to my stash. We also started to put any metal objects or old car parts to oneside too, to take with us. Dont get me wrong..... this isnt going to get you loads of money quickly, the price of scrap metal changes from day to day, and has seen a global crash in the prices, but at the moment they have been pretty decent. But at the end of the day it is MONEY..... and in my eyes FREE MONEY.... no matter how small amount it is.
I weighed some cans in last week and got a huge sum of £8, so now i have started again....
I love ebay........ even though it has changed over the years, and is getting more expensive to sell things etc, but at the end of the day.... what ever i make its EXTRA money that we wouldnt have had....You can sell practically anything on ebay, clothes, cars, furniture, plants etc....I mainly sold my stash of books, vintage clothes, toys, etc... i used to go through the house, and anything that wasnt worn or used for a while was listed on ebay, somethings sold, somethings didnt, and hte things that didnt we tried to sell elsewhere.
The things that wernt good enough, or didnt sell on ebay, we took to the boot sales.. and what ever we got for them was a bonus..Now car boot sales you either love them or hate them...I love hem because you can sell your unwanted stuff, and buy some great bargins... but i really do hate it when you get all the dealers swarming over the boot of your car when you first arrive, and are trying to set up....Now... when i turn up, i set up my table, and go and sit down in the front of the van and make myself a cuppa, by doing this all the dealers have moved on to the next car that has just pulled in, so leaving you alone....We allways used to take our own food, and flask for a nice hot cuppa, as buying food from the burger vans etc can work out expensive, and its all about making as much money as you can.
We still do the bootsales and specialist markets now, and have invested in a gas camping stove, so we can make our own bacon rolls........
Clothes/textiles..
apart frrom ebay, and carboot sales you can also sell your clothes and textiles to rag merchants, I sell my unwanted used towels, shoes,clothes ect to a local textile recycler who buys them by the kg.... the best way to find them is to look in your local business directary under recycling, not all of htem buy off the general public, but it is worth checking out...
BOOKS, CDS, DVDS
we also sold these items on Amazon, so it is best before you list these items, do a quick price check on the main sites...
Recycling is big business now, and i must admit i have turned a hobby into a recycling business.
If you are a gifted person who can create beautifull handmade items out of recycled or used products, you can sell these on websites, handcrafted markets etc...
Recycling/reusing is a key word when you are trying to get out of debt, or even trying to save/make money. There is things all around us that we throw away everyday that is worth money.... maybe not alot, but it is worth something. its all about being preapred to recycling it, and make money regardless of how little you get for it, as the way i look at things...
IT'S MONEY I WOULDNT HAVE HAD!!!!!!!!!
And believe me.... making money this way has put food on the table.. when we had nothing....
