Today – Clear Your Clutter, Earn & Give to Charity

With all the expenses of December, many of us are feeling the squeeze in the post-Christmas period. While there may be more Christmas trees on the street than pounds in your bank account right now, that is no reason to go in to hibernation for the rest of winter just to save money. You could have a sort through your unwanted belongings and release some cash from those old bits and bobs. You could even help out others less fortunate than you by donating to charity too.

 

 

Clear Your Clutter

It is not just families suffering hard times due to the recession, as charities are struggling to survive too. On average charity donations have dropped by a fifth in the last year, leaving some aid organisations very hard pressed. We have come up with some ways for you to help charities and earn some money as well.

 

Donate old phones

It is estimated that there are around 75 million unused phones in drawers and cupboards gathering dust around the country. Many charities will gladly accept donations of unwanted handsets, as they can earn anything from a few pounds up to hundreds from that old phone you don’t use any more. Even if your old phone doesn’t work anymore it can still be recycled. Keeping phones out of landfill is better for the environment too, as the toxic components in a phone can be a danger to the environment.

There are many companies that will recycle your old handsets and most give the option of either having cash for yourself or cash for charity. If you have a couple of old phones then you could do both, then everybody wins.

 

Sell unwanted goods

If you were lucky enough to get lots of Christmas presents this year then you may have received a few things you don’t really need. Or maybe you’ve already finished reading that Fifty Shades trilogy. So why not get rid of anything you don’t want anymore? With the stratospheric rise of online auction sites it has never been easier to sell things on, but this has really hit charity shops who now get fewer donations than they used to. So if you are listing items online that you may have donated in the past, then consider donating a portion of your sales to a charity of your choice.

If you are creative with how you choose to auction off items you can really earn a lot of money too. For example if you have larger items you want to sell, then sourcing an affordable courier to deliver the item nationally can really boost the amount your item sells for. The intense competition between parcel delivery companies today has made prices really affordable and much cheaper than Royal Mail. For example getting an adult size bicycle collected from your house and delivered next day in the UK costs from just £10.20 with Rapid Parcel.

Paws for thought

Every January animal shelters across the country get an influx of unwanted pets. Many shelters are forced to have special campaigns around this time to gather funds for food, heating and extra space for animals. Another less well publicised requirement of pet homes is for soft furnishings. Your local dogs home or animal sanctuary always needs more towels, bedding, even old toilet seat covers to make their animals more comfortable. They don’t mind what condition they are in, as long as they are clean. So why not donate that bright red knitted woolly jumper you will never wear again, as it could help make a cat or dog feel much more comfortable at your local pets’ home.

 

 

So with just a little effort you could help struggling charities have a great new year and even earn yourself some much needed extra cash to help brighten up the dark winter months.

Clear Your Clutter is a collaborative post