Just_Steve
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Redemption center is on the way to stores takes about 60 seconds to drop and get paid, nickel deposit on just about all beverage containers.
It was with glee that I stopped crushing cans one day, unscrewed that crusher from the wall where it had been for the last 20 years and tossed it in the trash.
I used to. I had a can crusher screwed to the wall and I would compress those aluminum cans and collect them in the garage and when the trash can was full I took then in and got my $20.
Not bottles or plastic, they went to the City recycle bin.
Yup, that's how frugal I was. Not anymore.
The girlfriend missed the can crusher and just tossed them into the bin. I thought this was funny since I had a trash can right in the bin for the crushed cans...yeah you can see where this is going...
I had a revelation! I am way too rich to be crushing cans anymore and shlepping them over to the depot to dump them and get them weighed and get my dough. It's just not worth it -
+1. As long as the "pilferers" are courteous (put everything back neatly, don't make a lot of noise at night, etc), it's fine with me. In fact, there are a lot of "scrappers" in my neighborhood that pick up large-ish metal that isn't allowed to go into the recyling bin (appliances, car parts, lawn mowers, etc). I put that stuff curbside early enough that they can get it, sometimes even with a sign regarding the condition ("FREE--mower engine seized--scrap) to save them time in knowing what to do with it. I'm happy to see them, they are always polite, and I have even helped them load stuff. There's no grey area about it (unlike the folks digging through the recycling bins), these folks are absolutely performing a public service.
Now that we are in a condo we take them to a recycle bin at a nearby shopping center. But we leave them in a separate bag beside the bin. There are several homeless folk who come along to collect them.
Do you mean you don't need to add the $10 to your portfolio like some other millionaires?
We don't have a deposit on cans or bottles in New Mexico. And the curbside recycle does not accept glass - you have to take them to dumpsters located throughout the city that are often full. I rarely drink coke anymore and if I do it is usually at work where we have a recycle bin for aluminum cans. Unfortunately I have a garage full of glass bottles (mostly from when I drank beer which I don't drink much now) but recently learned that glass is the least recyclable material and has virtually no cost benefit to recycle. Also the closest dumpsters are in a bad area that is frequented by undesirable dumpster divers. So I am considering putting the glass in the trash.
To get (2000) ten dollar bumps or cuts a year means that you will do 5 a day.
I can't speak for others, but for me it is not the single $10 in a year that makes a difference in my retirement lifestyle. But it is the cumulative impact of 2,000 or so $10 expense reductions or income increases that all add up to maybe an extra $20K a year, or $1M over a potential 50 year retirement that make a difference for me. If I was Bill Gates maybe the $1M would not make a difference, but I'm not, so I like the idea of an extra $1M in my long term retirement planning.