Scrap Steel vs a penny on the ground

I'll pick up change. The largest thing is not to lose what you have. I bag and count my coins. When they're saved up, I take them into the bank. Last month I took in over $200 of coins. These were just odds and ends from the last year of purchases. Think about how much money you're losing if you don't keep track of coins.

This also works well for vehicle recyclers. A few years ago, we had a 1989 Scottsdale. There was over $10 of coins in the cab.

So long as you are taking the steel with you when you sell other, more profitable goods, think of it as more of a bonus than a main source of income.

My parents instilled the value of a piggy bank when I was very young. They told the story of a man that threw all of his change into the cellar every week for many, many years. According to the story he had a house fire that was a total loss. He replaced the home and all of the belongings with the "change" he had saved over a life time. I could not find this story when I did a Google search, so I cannot verify it. Regardless, I still collect all change and my piggy bank keeps getting bigger. I am sure I have enough to buy another used truck for my scrapping fleet.