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Hello all! I am a new prepper, but I have been doing various things to make money for a long, long time. Most of these things only require time and maybe a little bit of gas. I just thought I would share some ways to make an easy buck, and have a good time as well! I do these things regularly to make money to afford prepping supplies.
1) Metal Scrapping: Scrap metal has a high value when you get enough of it. Copper and brass are two very valuable metals that are fairly easy to obtain. Copper can sell for just under $3 a pound if clean, #1 copper, and just a little less for dirty, #2 copper. This adds up very fast. Old air conditions contain many valuable parts if you know how to strip them. Be careful though, releasing the freon from these pressurized tubes can land you a fine, there are special tanks that they must be drained into in order to legally do so. The copper tubing from ACs adds up fast, and the radiators count as a separate metal (either copper/aluminum or all aluminum radiators). Each AC should have 1 radiator in the front, and 1 in the back. Cut the steel sheets off of each end of the radiators with a metal saw. 4 or 5 copper/aluminum radiators can land you $10 - $15 depending on size. The motors in the Air conditioners counts as mix (or tin) which generally sells for about $0.10 a pound. But each motor can weigh 30 or so pounds, so save these! This can apply to refrigerators as well, they also have radiators and copper piping, and other useful parts. Copper pipes can be had from many businesses as well. Ask the maintenance department where you work if they have any copper piping they are going to throw out. Many times, when they re-plumb something, the old copper is un-usable, and they throw it away. This goes for your own house or a friend's house! Save any piping that you are replacing or ask a friend for their piping if they are doing a re-plumbing project. Old lamps and other vintage things can have high amounts of brass. Make sure the item is damaged or non valuable before stripping the brass from it, it may be worth more in its current state.
Perhaps the best, and most fun, way to find scrap metal is hiking in the woods. Make sure you have permission to be on the land, or make sure it is state land. Many times, people throw old appliances out in the woods. I have found air conditioners, refrigerators, car rims, etc. The best part is, when you run across an AC or fridge, the freon is usually already drained because it burst when someone threw it. Many car rims are aluminum, and being as heavy as they are, they can fetch a good price for each rim. I have also found many pieces of copper pipe as well. Many cords from electronics contain copper wiring. Stripping these cords via knife can reveal the wiring, and it adds up quick. Make sure to separate all your metals. I usually make a run to the scrap yard every other weekend, and make about $100 or so each trip. That is pretty good for just 2 weeks, and can really get you some good prepping supplies!
2) Yard Sales / Pawn Shops: Yard sales and pawn shops are treasure troves. I am always on the prowl for items that I know are valuable, and that I can re sell on E-Bay for more cash. Remember to barter, you can almost always get a lower price than what they are asking on any given item. Garage sales are usually better for this, as pawn shops usually check the values of each item the sell, but not always. I once bought a vintage 1992 Spyderco Police G-2 knife in excellent condition at a pawn shop for $4. I could easily re-sell it for $110+, but I chose to hold on to it as it is a great prepping item. Not only can you find cheap items to re-sell, but you can find cheap items to keep for prepping as well.
When looking for items to re-sell, study up on popular items. Electronics and antiques seem to sell very well on E-Bay. Vintage video games, movie memorabilia, pop art, et-cetera all seem to have cult followings that get into vicious bid wars and jack prices way up. Keep an eye out for certain names or markings on items as well, know what they mean, as they can easily determine values.
3: Insulator Hunting: This one seems to be a little out there idea wise, but hear me out on this. If you live near an old train track, then this is for you. Again, make sure you get permission to be on the tracks and collect the insulators. Old telephone poles used to have very distinct glass insulators on them that the wire used to wrap around. There are thousands upon thousands of different insulators out there, in many different shapes and colors. These have become very collectible, and values can be range from $0.50 to $100,000. There are a few websites that can help you determine what your insulator is and how much it is worth based on shape, markings, and color. Only collect the insulators from the ground, unless you are certain you can reach the ones still on the poll, and that there are no longer wires wrapping around them. Clean the insulators with a toothbrush water. If train smoke is heavy inside the insulator, soak them in an acid or base solution like Red Devil. Look up exactly how to do that on the internet. Rarely will you ever find a really valuable insulator, but who knows. This activity is very fun, and gets you out in the wilderness hiking and exercising. Plus, the insulators look gorgeous cleaned up, and make excellent decorations if nothing else.
4: Metal Detecting / Fossil Hunting / Precious Stone Hunting / Glass Hunting: Metal detecting is a fun way to find valuables. A cheap metal detector can be bought for around $150 or so, even cheaper if you can find one through garage sales, or if you have one laying around. Lots of clad can be found, or even scrap metal for scrapping like mentioned above. As stated though, clad is very common, make sure to check dates on all clad found, many times I have found pre-1965 quarters, and as we know they have high silver content, each one being worth in the ballpark of $5. I have also found 1960s half dollars and such. Very old, collectible coins can also be found. Search areas that have a history. Search near abandoned buildings that have been around for ages, or near an area that had flooded, as many times flood waters bring all sorts of goodies in from other areas and bury them over time. Jewelry can also be a big score while metal detecting.
Fossils and precious gems or stones are natural things that can have a big value. Know your area, and know what period of rock you live or hunt over, and start searching. Another thing to search for are meteorites. Take a pole with a magnetic end and scavenge the ground. Magnetic rocks are usually meteorites.
Sometimes old and valuable glass can be found still intact. I have found a 1923 Christmas Coke bottle in excellent shape, and it was valued at around $25. Keep an eye out for glass when you are hiking or digging.
5: Coinstar: That's right, Coinstar. Don't take your coins there, they charge a fee, many credit unions or local banks have a machine that does not charge a fee if you are a member. But instead, go around looking in the coin return slot of Coinstars as you pass them. The machines do not accept the quarters with high silver content, the pre-1965 quarters. A lot of times, people will leave without retrieving the coins from the coin return, thinking they are all just "useless" Canadian coins. I have found plenty of silver quarter clad this way.
And for the real tightwad, drive-thrus to popular fast food restaurants often have tons of change on the ground outside the window, where people drop the change and don't bother to step out of their car to pick it up. This can be collected at night when there are no cars in line and the restaurant is closing.
Well, those are just some ways I make money for prepping. Just thought I would share with you guys. Anybody got any other ways to do so? I would love to try new things to get some extra prepping gear!
1) Metal Scrapping: Scrap metal has a high value when you get enough of it. Copper and brass are two very valuable metals that are fairly easy to obtain. Copper can sell for just under $3 a pound if clean, #1 copper, and just a little less for dirty, #2 copper. This adds up very fast. Old air conditions contain many valuable parts if you know how to strip them. Be careful though, releasing the freon from these pressurized tubes can land you a fine, there are special tanks that they must be drained into in order to legally do so. The copper tubing from ACs adds up fast, and the radiators count as a separate metal (either copper/aluminum or all aluminum radiators). Each AC should have 1 radiator in the front, and 1 in the back. Cut the steel sheets off of each end of the radiators with a metal saw. 4 or 5 copper/aluminum radiators can land you $10 - $15 depending on size. The motors in the Air conditioners counts as mix (or tin) which generally sells for about $0.10 a pound. But each motor can weigh 30 or so pounds, so save these! This can apply to refrigerators as well, they also have radiators and copper piping, and other useful parts. Copper pipes can be had from many businesses as well. Ask the maintenance department where you work if they have any copper piping they are going to throw out. Many times, when they re-plumb something, the old copper is un-usable, and they throw it away. This goes for your own house or a friend's house! Save any piping that you are replacing or ask a friend for their piping if they are doing a re-plumbing project. Old lamps and other vintage things can have high amounts of brass. Make sure the item is damaged or non valuable before stripping the brass from it, it may be worth more in its current state.
Perhaps the best, and most fun, way to find scrap metal is hiking in the woods. Make sure you have permission to be on the land, or make sure it is state land. Many times, people throw old appliances out in the woods. I have found air conditioners, refrigerators, car rims, etc. The best part is, when you run across an AC or fridge, the freon is usually already drained because it burst when someone threw it. Many car rims are aluminum, and being as heavy as they are, they can fetch a good price for each rim. I have also found many pieces of copper pipe as well. Many cords from electronics contain copper wiring. Stripping these cords via knife can reveal the wiring, and it adds up quick. Make sure to separate all your metals. I usually make a run to the scrap yard every other weekend, and make about $100 or so each trip. That is pretty good for just 2 weeks, and can really get you some good prepping supplies!
2) Yard Sales / Pawn Shops: Yard sales and pawn shops are treasure troves. I am always on the prowl for items that I know are valuable, and that I can re sell on E-Bay for more cash. Remember to barter, you can almost always get a lower price than what they are asking on any given item. Garage sales are usually better for this, as pawn shops usually check the values of each item the sell, but not always. I once bought a vintage 1992 Spyderco Police G-2 knife in excellent condition at a pawn shop for $4. I could easily re-sell it for $110+, but I chose to hold on to it as it is a great prepping item. Not only can you find cheap items to re-sell, but you can find cheap items to keep for prepping as well.
When looking for items to re-sell, study up on popular items. Electronics and antiques seem to sell very well on E-Bay. Vintage video games, movie memorabilia, pop art, et-cetera all seem to have cult followings that get into vicious bid wars and jack prices way up. Keep an eye out for certain names or markings on items as well, know what they mean, as they can easily determine values.
3: Insulator Hunting: This one seems to be a little out there idea wise, but hear me out on this. If you live near an old train track, then this is for you. Again, make sure you get permission to be on the tracks and collect the insulators. Old telephone poles used to have very distinct glass insulators on them that the wire used to wrap around. There are thousands upon thousands of different insulators out there, in many different shapes and colors. These have become very collectible, and values can be range from $0.50 to $100,000. There are a few websites that can help you determine what your insulator is and how much it is worth based on shape, markings, and color. Only collect the insulators from the ground, unless you are certain you can reach the ones still on the poll, and that there are no longer wires wrapping around them. Clean the insulators with a toothbrush water. If train smoke is heavy inside the insulator, soak them in an acid or base solution like Red Devil. Look up exactly how to do that on the internet. Rarely will you ever find a really valuable insulator, but who knows. This activity is very fun, and gets you out in the wilderness hiking and exercising. Plus, the insulators look gorgeous cleaned up, and make excellent decorations if nothing else.
4: Metal Detecting / Fossil Hunting / Precious Stone Hunting / Glass Hunting: Metal detecting is a fun way to find valuables. A cheap metal detector can be bought for around $150 or so, even cheaper if you can find one through garage sales, or if you have one laying around. Lots of clad can be found, or even scrap metal for scrapping like mentioned above. As stated though, clad is very common, make sure to check dates on all clad found, many times I have found pre-1965 quarters, and as we know they have high silver content, each one being worth in the ballpark of $5. I have also found 1960s half dollars and such. Very old, collectible coins can also be found. Search areas that have a history. Search near abandoned buildings that have been around for ages, or near an area that had flooded, as many times flood waters bring all sorts of goodies in from other areas and bury them over time. Jewelry can also be a big score while metal detecting.
Fossils and precious gems or stones are natural things that can have a big value. Know your area, and know what period of rock you live or hunt over, and start searching. Another thing to search for are meteorites. Take a pole with a magnetic end and scavenge the ground. Magnetic rocks are usually meteorites.
Sometimes old and valuable glass can be found still intact. I have found a 1923 Christmas Coke bottle in excellent shape, and it was valued at around $25. Keep an eye out for glass when you are hiking or digging.
5: Coinstar: That's right, Coinstar. Don't take your coins there, they charge a fee, many credit unions or local banks have a machine that does not charge a fee if you are a member. But instead, go around looking in the coin return slot of Coinstars as you pass them. The machines do not accept the quarters with high silver content, the pre-1965 quarters. A lot of times, people will leave without retrieving the coins from the coin return, thinking they are all just "useless" Canadian coins. I have found plenty of silver quarter clad this way.
And for the real tightwad, drive-thrus to popular fast food restaurants often have tons of change on the ground outside the window, where people drop the change and don't bother to step out of their car to pick it up. This can be collected at night when there are no cars in line and the restaurant is closing.
Well, those are just some ways I make money for prepping. Just thought I would share with you guys. Anybody got any other ways to do so? I would love to try new things to get some extra prepping gear!
