I bet you never realized that some of the clutter around your home can be turned into cash or goods with very little effort. By returning some of this clutter to its place of origin, you can be ahead of the game. Not only will you de-clutter your home, but you will gain financially, as well. Here are some interesting ways to do this.
Have you ever gotten a flower delivery? It is wonderful to get flowers, isn’t it? But when the flowers are gone, you inevitably wind up with the glass vase that they came in. You can’t throw it away, right? So it usually gets stored away in a closet somewhere. Have one vase, or perhaps two, can be very handy, but what happens when you wind up with a dusty collection of six or seven? Bring those vases right back to the florist. Chances are pretty good that the florist may either buy them back from you for a small fee or trade them for fresh flowers if you just ask.
Bring your plastic and paper bags to the grocery store and save three to five cents a bag. Use them to bag your purchases and let the cashier know how many you have, so he or she can apply the deduction. Why do you get this deduction? When you don’t use the store’s bags, the store saves money. And it passes that money back on to you. Okay, so five cents isn’t a lot. But if you bring five bags back per shopping trip, consider it the equivalent of a 25 cent coupon without actually having to buy anything.
Do you have items in your household that are brand new and never used? Are there clothes sitting in your closet with tags, books that you have never read because you inadvertently bought two copies, unopened gift items that don’t suit you? If you haven’t used these things, then why keep them around? If they are brand new and unused, chances are pretty good that you can return them for cash, or exchange them for something else that you might actually use. Don’t be afraid to return items that are a few months old. Practice good stewardship and don’t take undue advantage, of course. When in doubt about returning something, simply be honest and ask the store.
Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites.
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