Saving Freak

Some techno waste is worthless.  A good example would be the CRT monitors that people used to use and have given up for the smaller flatter LCD monitors.  These old monitors are hard to get rid of and I have heard of people spending as much as $20 to have someone dispose of them safely.  For that kind of techno waste the goal is to spend as little as possible.  For techno waste that is just outdated but still usable there are alternatives where you can make some extra cash for recycling those gadgets.

The first place I always tell people to sell things is on Ebay.  The main reason is you get cash.  No messing around with gift cards and special offers.  Just cold hard cash.  That being said Ebay is more difficult to deal with than many of the recycling programs with posting the item and shipping it to the winner.  For this reason there are three viable ways to get rid of many of your unused gadgets with another on the way.

Greenwise — This company does the recycling but it partners with retailers to do the pickup.  This is a great program because they have partnered with Staples and Costco to receive the items to be recycled.  They also have the largest variety of items accepted, but their payout is a little lower than the other two.  You receive your payout with gift cards to the retailer where you drop off the item.

BuyMyTronics –  CurrentlyBuyMytronics only gives money for MP3 players, cell phones, PDAs, and game consoles.  They are looking to expand what devices they will take so this may change in the future.  The payouts are even or better with the other two.  Of the three options BuyMyTronics is the only one that will pay out to PayPal of by check.

TechForward — Tech forward pays pretty well but there is a limited number of manufacturers it accepts products from.  The site is well planned out and easy to use, but if you are using generic equipment (like a home made computer) they will not accept it.  Their payout method is similar to Greenwise but is dependant on where you drop off/send the item.  As far as I can tell you can get a check if you send it directly to TechForward.

EcoNEW — EcoNEW is not currently recycling items but their business model looks to be similar to that of Greenwise.  For this reason, I expect them to try and partner with some major retailers pretty soon.  This would make them a fourth viable option.

So before you throw away that old computer why not recycle it, make life a little greener, and bring some green back to your wallet.

After seeing that I am almost able to cash out again with Cash Duck I decided it was time to do an update on the programs where I earn extra cash and gift certificates. After each program I will provide a link to a blog entry where I describe how the program works.

Cash Duck — Cash Duck is one of my favorites and I have been using them for over a year. I can usually cash out a $25 gift card every month and am on track to do that this month. Cash Duck info

Blingo — Blingo recently switched its search algorithm from Google to a combination of Ask.com, Yahoo, and MSN search.  The result are pretty good but if you are used to google the results are not exactly the same.  I earned another prize this month (a $5 gift certificate to Amazon.com).  Blingo Info
Ebates –  I just started using Ebates in February and it has quickly become one of my two favorite cash rebate websites.  I used the link from this site to purchase a dining room suite and got 1% back.  That with some small purchases has put me up at $36.  1% is pretty low compared to most of the rebates through this site. For example you get 4% back at JC Penney.

My Points — My points takes more time to build up to a $25 gift card. I get one from this site about once every 4 months. Right now I have 1600 points which is about half way to being able to redeem.

You can see my explanations of Mypoints and Ebates here

These are the main three that need updating.   I have a few new programs that I have started recently and will be giving some reviews in the coming weeks (once I receive a payment and can verify validity).  This has been a part of my frugal pursuits that I haven’t mentioned lately and was reminded by a few readers this past week.  I will try to give more frequent updates in the future.

A good friend complained that I have shown him all sorts of ways to spend less money on things he buys regularly but have not shown any ways to make a little extra cash on the side. In response to his whining request I introduce Cash Duck. I had considered writing about this web site earlier but some major changes took place about a month ago and I wanted to make sure that everything was running properly before I recommended it to anyone. Basically the way Cash Duck works is you go through and perfomr different task (take surveys, sign up for free offers, etc.) and you earn a certan number of feathers (just like points but since the theme of the site is ducks, well you get it). You can cash those feathers in for gift cards or prizes. The prizes change from month to month but the gift cards work like this:

400 feathers = $25 gift card
775 feathers = $50 gift card
1150 feathers = $75 gift card

As you can see the more feathers you cash in at one time the better the deal on the gift card. I counted aproximately 75 different stores from which you could request a gift card. My favorite is Wal-Mart so that I can get gasoline, food, or other needs. This allows me to do a few extra things here and there with my budget. The feathers add up pretty quickly since all the free offers are 10 to 15 feathers and there are always a good number of offers on the site. There are also offers where you can receive hundreds of feathers but they are usualy for limited time trials. Make sure you cancel before the end of the trial period or you will be charged. Also, always use a credit card (NOT A DEBIT CARD) so you can dispute the charges if you cancel in time and the company still charges you. So far this year I have earned a little over $700 from Cash Duck and I have found it pretty easy to get atleast 600 feathers per month without doing the limited time trial offers. You can check out the site and sign up here.

I used to live just south of Charlotte, NC (SC has lower taxes).  I would commute to the north side of Charlotte for work driving about 30 miles one way.  It was at this point in time that I became fascinated with autowrapping.  You have probably seen cars that have advertising that completely covers the car.  Many of these vehicles are owned by the company that is being advertised, but some of them are just private citizens that are being paid to advertise with their vehicle.  My problem was that my cars have always been so old that no one wanted to advertise on them.  Now that I have a new enough car I don’t drive far enough to entice an advertiser (plus I live in the country so not enough possible customers either). 

Now I am sure some are curious as to why I would want to do this.  The reason is they pay you somewhere between $200-$400 per month.  That could pay off your car!!  It could cover the rising cost of gasoline.  I mean that is a significant chunk of change for letting someone advertise on your vehicle.  The contracts vary in length but I found two companies that still do this type of advertising.  They are AutoWrapped and Ad-Wraps.  There are some others but they want you to pay a membership fee so that seems like a scam.  If you live in a heavily populated are this might be a nice source of income for you.