Scrap metal - free $

[Hamilton Beachbum]

I just took 1200lbs of steel to the metal yard and received $117.  I work in IT at present and get most of the metal just by asking if I can take home stuff that is headed for the dumpsters.  Old data center cabinets are big and heavy, and telcom equipment often has heavy steel cases.  I have to go to work anyways (at present) so my cost is the additional fuel usage when dragging the trailer behind my '99 cavalier.   I am fortunate to live in the great city of Hamilton Ontario so the scrap yards are five minutes away from me.

[Two9A]

Scrap is great for this. When I was tearing out the bathroom, there were some nice hunks of copper that I handed in at $6/kilo. The sale price might be even higher now.

Brass and aluminum also seem to do well, if you can consistently source them.

[jgarn3r]

Great idea but have you considered the cost it would take to haul it from your work and then to the recyclers?

[gooki]

Nice one. I nearly had to take my Lada Niva to the metal recyclers... but thankfully a buyer came to the rescue.

[James]

I keep a look out for metal also, I take it to the scrap yard in town and donate the proceeds to our school.

It keeps the metal out of the landfills and prevents the mining of some small amount of new ore.

[thor800]

A few things to keep in mind if you go this route:  1)  gas costs - is it worth driving around trying to find extra metal ?  steel is roughly 12$ / 100 lbs.  Most of the stuff you find (grills, exercise equipment, furniture) is made out of this.  2)  transportation - easy if you have a big truck or van, but not so easy if you have a car.  3)  location of the scrap metal yard - how far away do you have to drive to cash in ?  Ties in with #1.  4)  storage - where to keep accumulated stuff.  Easy if you have a big yard and neighbors who aren't nosy, but all this stuff stacks up if you dont make trips immediately after finding something. 

If you find the stuff at work and are driving home anyway none of this stuff really matters, but otherwise its time / money tradeoffs.  Give it a shot though - learning about metals and trading markets is cool and you start thinking about what stuff is actually made of that you take for granted every day.

[fnord]

For those in the IT business:  http://boardsort.com/payout.php
Here's a sample of current prices

Large Socket Motherboard (no batteries) (Click to see description)    $3.90 per pound
Small Socket GREEN Motherboard (no batteries) (Click to see description)    $2.60 per pound
Small Socket CHINESE Motherboard (no batteries) (Click to see description)    $1.95 per pound
Mixed Socket Motherboard Green and Chinese (no batteries) (Click to see description)    $2.30 per pound
Gold Fingered Cards (Click to see description)    $4.40 per pound
Trimmed Finger Cards (Click to see description)    $3.40 per pound
Peripheral Board (no batteries) (Click to see description)    $2.40 per pound

[kudy]

For those in the IT business:  http://boardsort.com/payout.php
Here's a sample of current prices

Crazy! I thought I had to pay for my electronics scrap to be recycled...

[HumanAfterAll]

I take scrap metal to the yards by my office.  Steel gets almost nothing, but at least it's staying out of the landfill.  Aluminum and copper get much more money.  And I recycled the catalytic converters when I replaced my exhaust, and got $80!

[Wendyimhome]

While everyone knows about the money to be made from aluminum can recycling, not many seem to know that you can also sell steel cans (e.g., soup, tuna, fruit cans).  It pays less per pound, but those cans also weigh a lot more than aluminum cans.