Recycling is not only good for the environment but can also help save you money or even make you money. Weekly or fortnightly council collections have made recycling easy for getting rid of paper, plastics, cans, foil trays, cardboard boxes and garden waste but there is a lot more around the house that can be recycled – or, you could even sell unwanted DVDs for a tidy profit.

Recycling points usually found in large car parks can take glass bottles and clothing but if you have a pair of trainers that are past their best for recycling then you can take them to a Nike drop-off location for them to be recycled and turned into things like playgrounds, running tracks and new Nike products – they don’t even have to be Nike branded. If you don’t have a clothing recycling point then clothes could also be donated to charity, get a group of friends together to swap kids and adult clothing or sell them online at auction sites like eBay. If you’ve got a t-shirt or other special item like a girls dress you could make these into cushion covers.

Larger recycling points and recycling centres in the UK can take far more items including large household appliances, fluorescent tubes and energy saving bulbs, fridges, freezers, vacuum cleaners, electric toothbrushes, PCs and laptops, sports equipment, electric trains and car racing sets, TVs, car batteries, engine oil, wood and garden waste.

Ink cartridges can be recycled for free – Tesco offer 100 green Clubcard points for each one you donate with freepost envelopes available in store while Boots will give you 100 advantage card points and donate 20p to charity. Similarly you can get paid for recycling your old mobile phone at sites like Envirophone. Marks and Spencer have a site for recycling gadgets including mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, MP3 players and sat navs so you can make money from your old gadgets.

Sell games online and unwanted DVDs at musicMagpie. By entering the barcodes from games, CDs and unwanted DVDs you can create a list of the items you want to sell, instantly see how much they’re worth and post them free so you don’t have to worry about postage costs. You’ll receive a cheque once they’ve received your items.

Rather than just binning empty skincare packaging, take the empty containers (doesn’t matter what brand) to an Origins counter and they’ll give you free samples of their products to try. Full size products are offered from April 21st 2012 while stocks last but smaller samples throughout the year.

If you’ve recently redecorated then keep any spare pieces of wallpaper which could be used to cover children’s books for school. Wallpaper is stronger and less likely to tear so offers greater protection than wrapping paper. Broken crayons usually end up at the bottom of the box so to get more use out of them and to even make them more fun for younger children, melt them down into moulds to create fun shapes. Ice cube moulds are perfect.

There are lots of ways to recycle old toys too. You can pass them onto friends, donate them to schools fairs to help raise money for the school, donate them to charity or local hospitals. If you’ve got a lot to sell whether it’s toys or clothes or other household items then you may be able to make a lot of money by selling them at a jumble or car boot sale. You will need to pay for a car/table to sell from but this could only be around £5-£15.

I think it is safe to say that money is a big issue for most people in the current climate. I personally have spent hours trying to find ways of making the monthly cash go further, and chatting to friends over coffee it seems to be a common theme.

It frustrates me immensely that the cost of bills is so high, companies seem to have us over a barrel and essential items escalate in price almost as you watch them. Then it occurred to me as I walked into the lounge the other night and turned on the light – switch!

Comparing energy prices sites pop up in my browser with annoying regularity but for some reason my quest to save money became a little bit blinkered and I found myself closing as a frustration rather than considering what they offer. Shopping around is pretty much the only way to keep energy companies on their toes. Unlike car insurance comparison sites if you run your electricity and gas usage figures in on a switch site, you won’t be bombarded with sales calls (which is a massive relief) There are just a couple of things you need to be aware of.

Different suppliers bill in different ways so make sure you have a like for like price check – normally you can input your annual bill amount, or your monthly bill amount – or your actual usage figures. Be as accurate as possible when you compare energy prices – otherwise your savings may not be as good as you expected and double check what they are offering. Be aware of companies offering a cap – this is where you pay a stunningly low figure but it is only for the first so many units use – after that the rate is much more in line with the competition. It may actually be the best deal – just watch the numbers.

In return for savings, companies will try and tie you in to a longer contract – this is not always a bad thing and can work to your advantage. However, I always find out what penalty is levied if the contract is broken early, and of course the all important contract length (24 months is a standard idea now). Sometimes the penalty is quite reasonable, meaning I will sign up, but perhaps complete the exercise again halfway through the contract period, just to make sure I am still getting the best.

Just like Eeyore, companies have extra carrots! Paperless billing and direct debit payment being the obvious ones – basically you reduce their administration so they pass savings back – don’t expect miracles – it is a small bonus only.

On the subject of billing, when you switch most companies take an initial reading then have a helpful

chart which shows them how much a ‘normal’ household of your size should use – this errs on the side of the heavy user. This is how they calculate your monthly payment and if you are not on your toes with meter readings, part of the information used to predict the rest of your bill. If this is the only information they have to go on monthly payment will escalate.

Finally, paperless billing puts the onus on the customer to log in and update the magic reading numbers, so schedule diary reminders to make sure you keep your charges as close to accurate as you can. This avoids your hard earned cash sitting in an energy companies account, earning them (albeit very low) interest, and hopefully saves you a few extra pennies.