Practically Free Money
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (112780)
United States
March 11, 2020 9:42am CST
At work I drink water. But the other guys in the office? It's pretty much Monster Energy drinks all day. But it works out. They know I save aluminum cans, and so they all keep a box for me to take home and turn in for cash.
Even some of the delivery and pickup drivers from UPS, FedEx, and Spee-Dee drop their cans in for me.
It's practically free money. Every time I hear someone drop a can into my box I iterate, "Ah. One more can toward retirement. Thank you, sir."
18 people like this
16 responses
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
11 Mar 20
That is nice they give you the cans. At my old job, they had receptacles for them so the company could get the money.
3 people like this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
18 Mar 20
I have some saved up here too, but I have forbid my hubby in buying can drinks. This is because he drinks too many. We hardly bring any home now. I need to get these to the recycle center and then there won't be many more. You have a good deal going there with the office staff!
2 people like this
@allen0187 (59645)
• Philippines
2 Apr 20
Yo have a great set of office mates.
How much do you get for those cans?
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59645)
• Philippines
3 Apr 20
@porwest like what you said, free money.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112780)
• United States
4 Apr 20
@allen0187 Pretty much. I kind of think of MyLot money that way too. Free money. I am having fun and I get pad a little something. It's not much, but it adds up, and when you start to break it down a bit, you start to see what it is really worth.
Sometimes, as I am sure many of us might do, I scratch my head at the effort and time I spend here for what seem like mere pennies. And they ARE really mere...
1 person likes this
@porwest (112780)
• United States
12 Mar 20
At least they can do it and have at least some source of income that they might not have otherwise had. I should point out that retirement is something earned necessarily, and so it requires diligence and planning and effort to get there and be able to manage it.
Many people reach retirement age and simply HAVE to stop working, but did not do the proper planning to actually earn the retirement.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112780)
• United States
12 Mar 20
There are a handful of states here that have had deposits on plastic bottles and aluminum cans, and sometimes steel cans. People pay the deposit when they buy the goods and get them returned when they turn in the containers for recycling.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112780)
• United States
15 Mar 20
@JudyEv It does. Part of it is that EVEN IF people DO still litter, many people will be inclined to clean it up just to get the dough.
Hell, that's sort of how Warren Buffet got his start. He offered people pennies on the dollar for their returnable bottles and pocketed the difference when he cashed them in.
1 person likes this
@popciclecold (40215)
• United States
5 Apr 20
This is one post I am glad I read. I save them I have 3 large black garbage bags full. I use to give them away, but I think I'll start selling them for myself.
1 person likes this
@popciclecold (40215)
• United States
6 Apr 20
@porwest My son lives in .CA he came to visit and cans were laying everywhere, he said wouldn't be that many laying around, in fact not at all.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112780)
• United States
5 Apr 20
You absolutely should save them. I mean, they won't make you rich, but they DO have value. I usually take in a little over 100 pounds at a time and so I usually get $50 or more. Not life altering money, but it's $50 I would not have otherwise had.
@popciclecold (40215)
• United States
28 Mar 21
My son came to visit me from California one year, and he was so surprised at all the cans laying on the ground. He said no in California would there be that many can just lying around. But since the pandemic, I dont see people picking them up.
1 person likes this
@eliza_godinez12 (5783)
• Philippines
11 Mar 20
That's nice you can have extra money out of those empty cans they give to you.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86583)
• United States
11 Mar 20
That’s kind of them. 
You’re that much closer to being a millionaire, too!!!
You’re that much closer to being a millionaire, too!!!1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
11 Mar 20
We have about a zillion cans to turn in. It's nice that everyone collects them for you.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91034)
• United States
11 Mar 20
That's pretty nice that the guys donate their cans to you. When I lived in NY we could return the cans for 5 cents each but here in Pennsylvania we don't have cash returns. All our cans just go into our recycling pails
1 person likes this
