My good idea for the new year.

I'm going to start this off by telling you a little about me. I am 17 years old , and have been scrapping for about 4 years now. Started off with my buddy, and have now got other buddies doing it. I go to high school and am a senior, I start school at 7 a.m, and get out at 3:10 pm, then take my load in to the yard right after school, get paid , get gas, and go out looking for scrap from around 5pm - 10 pm everyday. And on weekends I wake up at 8am and usually stay out until about 8 pm. I live about 10 minutes away from St.louis in Granite City Ilinois , which is one of the largest steel producers in the USA. I drive a 1996 Dodge 1500, that I bought before I got my liscense. (Had a roofing job for a minute) lol. But anyways, about my good idea, I have decided to write down every bit of money I make, and have been doing it . So far this year I have made 919.00 . I am also going to start writing down the number of pounds of metal I bring in to the yard and total it all up at the end of the year. This will be an interesting adventure for me, as last year in the summer , I made at least 150.00 a day, some times tripple that. But I will keep this thread updated every so often. Thanks for reading!

Good idea, might be able to use a spreadsheet and break it down into as many categories as you want. Check out your school for old leftover ewaste. I'm sure there's some sitting in a storage room somewhere. Offer to haul it away for them.

why not have your accountant make one up ? leaves more time for scrappin ; )

Good luck with your project. Anytime you look at it and see that you're making more and more money, it gives you the ambition to be as productive as possible.

I've been writing the amount of cash I make down in a note book. I am going to divide up a 3 ring binder into sections , with each section having a diffrent sheet of loose leaf paper for the various types of metal I find most often. I also like the idea of asking about Escrap, although , I have asked about other items, and they have told me that because it was paid for with tax payer money that they have to keep it, and it goes to a school that needs it. But in my welding class in high school we are allowed to take home whatever we weld up in there, so I take random chunks of scrap steel, and weld them together. My teacher scraps the majority himself, and he knows what I do. But he doesn't care much , because the money from scrap he gets has to go back to the school. I have got scrap from teachers before though. Everyone knows what I do, and I get random calls from people all of the time saying so and so told me to call you. I love it . Lol

Good for you ScrapTeen! Learn how to record the money you take in, expand that into recording the moneys that you pay in gas and maintenance. Learn how to record how much of what you are collecting and how much you profit from each of the materials you collect. If you start these habits at your young age you have a bright future in this industry. Good luck to you, and I truly look forward to hearing updates from you. Best wishes!

Great !! Scrapping for a 4 years to till now !! Great Job dude.. if you are dubai resident you must contact recycling company to earn more..

This month has been rough. lol. Lots of snow here in the Midwest. And below zero tempatures. But today I found 2 refrigerators, and a dryer, and a couple small things. So it's starting to look better. Also got a call about some one that needs help tearing down a shed, says there are lots of car parts , and other random metal.

That's a good idea, keeping track of income. But don't forget to also keep track of expenses as well.

If you can afford it, always fill up the tank so you can keep track of your running MPG. Record your mileage and figure out what you are spending in gas so you can list that as an expense also. It can also let you know if curb shopping is profitable or not.

The notebook isn't a bad idea, but I prefer to use Quicken. I got lucky and was able to get an older version (2003) for free through Craigslist. It's much easier and reports are a snap.

Oh- Don't forget to leave yourself time to do your homework. Just saying.

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Originally Posted by billygoat

That's a good idea, keeping track of income. But don't forget to also keep track of expenses as well.

If you can afford it, always fill up the tank so you can keep track of your running MPG. Record your mileage and figure out what you are spending in gas so you can list that as an expense also. It can also let you know if curb shopping is profitable or not.

The notebook isn't a bad idea, but I prefer to use Quicken. I got lucky and was able to get an older version (2003) for free through Craigslist. It's much easier and reports are a snap.

Oh- Don't forget to leave yourself time to do your homework. Just saying.

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I don't record expenses, because I would probably cry about how much money I spend in gas. I should have started doing it, but didn't. There's always next year I guess. I have a whole lot more money to make in this business lol. And as far as school goes I do all my home work at school , then come home and get to my scrap life.

Great job. At $150 a day, you're making more than many adults in my area.

7:00 a.m. School start? Here, high school starts at 8:45. May be one reason why SC is always 49 or 50 in education. Lol.

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Originally Posted by carolinajunkman

Great job. At $150 a day, you're making more than many adults in my area.

7:00 a.m. School start? Here, high school starts at 8:45. May be one reason why SC is always 49 or 50 in education. Lol.

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Ours starts at 8 a.m , but I am behind on credits because I was always in trouble my freshman year, and failed a couple classes , so I'm in what they call early bird gym , so I'm getting out of gym class when school starts for everyone else. And I hate it. But you've gotta do what ya got to do to get your diploma lol.

And the 150 a day average was last summer , these winter months are rough here. I live in a city of 30,000 people but I am from a town of less than 300 lol.

Keep it up man, I'm a senior also. I'll be honest and have saved lots of junk(money lol) from my school's dumpster...

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Originally Posted by caleb7210

Keep it up man, I'm a senior also. I'll be honest and have saved lots of junk(money lol) from my school's dumpster...

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I'm in vocational welding, and whatever we make we can take home. I am planning to become a welder, so I grab some scrap steel, and then weld a couple pieces of it together, and run beads across it, then i can take it home! Lol I have told my teacher that this is what I do, and he said he don't care, as long as I'm practicing my welds. They was throwing away abunch of stuff from theatre class, and I cleared about 200 dollars In a day from that. Been trying to find out about the basement of our school, I have been down there and there is so much stuff that could never be used again, like broken desks, car parts from auto, 20 year old open welding rods, bent up shelves, all kinds of stuff. lol. Makes me sick. All that money just rotting away. Our school also has square copper gutters, that are about 4x4x4x4 and go up about 15-20 feet , I drool every time I look at them.

When do you do your homework?

Ask the Janitors and maybe even the superintendent if you could take that stuff off the school's hands lol. Your a tax payer soo...

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Originally Posted by caleb7210

Ask the Janitors and maybe even the superintendent if you could take that stuff off the school's hands lol. Your a tax payer soo...

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sounds like the thing to do, if they're slow to respond think about maybe making a deal, for a percentage. Better do your homework before going too far on that one, they might decide you need some license and insurance. If you'll do some research first(right here on the forum) you might discover some ways to comply that won't be too costly for you.

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Originally Posted by TheScrapTeen618

I don't record expenses, because I would probably cry about how much money I spend in gas. I should have started doing it, but didn't. There's always next year I guess. I have a whole lot more money to make in this business lol. And as far as school goes I do all my home work at school , then come home and get to my scrap life.

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I remember reading this thread when it went up but never commented, must have been busy but, hello and welcome and nice to meet you! You are younger than my youngest and sound like you have a great work ethic!

You should keep track of your expenses for tax time, you can claim them against your income :)

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Originally Posted by newattitude

I remember reading this thread when it went up but never commented, must have been busy but, hello and welcome and nice to meet you! You are younger than my youngest and sound like you have a great work ethic!

You should keep track of your expenses for tax time, you can claim them against your income :)

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I might try to start keeping track of expenses once I start making better cash when it warms up. But yeah, my work ethic is pretty good. The way I look at it is that if you want something , you've got to go out and get it. I have always had the opportunities to have things handed to me, but I feel that it's not right. If you work for something you appreciate it more, and learn to value a dollar. Kids these days don't look at things like I do, and expect every thing just to be given to them. I am more than proud to say that I paid for my first vehicle with money that I worked my butt off for.

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Originally Posted by TheScrapTeen618

I might try to start keeping track of expenses once I start making better cash when it warms up. But yeah, my work ethic is pretty good. The way I look at it is that if you want something , you've got to go out and get it. I have always had the opportunities to have things handed to me, but I feel that it's not right. If you work for something you appreciate it more, and learn to value a dollar. Kids these days don't look at things like I do, and expect every thing just to be given to them. I am more than proud to say that I paid for my first vehicle with money that I worked my butt off for.

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Your heads in the right place, you have a goal, don't let anything get in your way.

Good Job on the theater department score! I think if you went to the head of janitorial/maintenance and told them that you were starting a scrap hauling and recycling business, and that you would be happy to clean out the accumulation in the basement, they'd take you up on it.

With your next load, go to vista print (Unless you have a vocational printing department at your school) and order some free business cards, and some magnets for your truck.

Since your truck is paid for, and you have some roommates that pay quite a bunch of your expenses ;) I recommend you continue to reinvest in your business, and you'll be amazed at how it continues to flourish! Looking legit on the street will have people stopping you as you curb shop to offer you goodies!

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With your next load, go to vista print (Unless you have a vocational printing department at your school) and order some free business cards,

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http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...ess-cards.html

Sorry everyone for not replying sooner! Been real busy with projects at the house, and scrapping, and living the life of a teenager. But I had a good day about 3 days ago. 1800 pounds of steel from a local grocery store who got a new commercial freezer. It was all steel panels, probably some where around 4 ft by 10 ft . No pics , because it was raining really hard while I was loading it all up . Which I did by myself , because the one day my buddy decides to not go, I find the mother load. lol

Hope those panels were not S.S. other wise, very good job.

You probably don't have to write things down, just hold on to your cash out receipt and all the info should be right there. Also, it's a good idea to track the mileage on your truck, the cost of gas, and any other repairs in the event you or your parents plan to file taxes on what you do. Keep up with studies, learn from the older heads, and happy scrapping. Let's hope you don't have a smoking or drinking habit because all your work will just be a waste.

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Originally Posted by TheRecycler

You probably don't have to write things down, just hold on to your cash out receipt and all the info should be right there. Also, it's a good idea to track the mileage on your truck, the cost of gas, and any other repairs in the event you or your parents plan to file taxes on what you do. Keep up with studies, learn from the older heads, and happy scrapping. Let's hope you don't have a smoking or drinking habit because all your work will just be a waste.

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I dont understand how I could claim taxes on my scrap money ... little more detail? lol And I write it in a note book to make it easier to add up, but i do keep the receipts which state the amount of money i make on each load. And Ive really got into the drinking or smoking marijuana , i may occasionally do both (maybe 1 time a month) , but i have better things to do than to waste my money on drugs. i do sadly smoke ciggarettes though, bought a E-cig a few days ago, and has been helping me not smoke as much.

Scrap money is considered income, that's where you need all those expense receipts to offset the income on paper, if you offset it right you won't pay taxes on it.

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Originally Posted by TheScrapTeen618

I dont understand how I could claim taxes on my scrap money ... little more detail? lol And I write it in a note book to make it easier to add up, but i do keep the receipts which state the amount of money i make on each load. And Ive really got into the drinking or smoking marijuana , i may occasionally do both (maybe 1 time a month) , but i have better things to do than to waste my money on drugs. i do sadly smoke ciggarettes though, bought a E-cig a few days ago, and has been helping me not smoke as much.

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Young Fella, you have a good idea, but it could go for nothing if you don't make some smart adjustments now. Think about this for example, the cigarette companies make thousands per hour, why would you have their hands in your pocket before you even make any money? Besides loosing money you could invest in your future or your business, you rather give it to an existing billionaire. Slowly but surely your health will fail and you are only 17. To be a scrapper is to be an entrapreneur, you must also be your own accountant. If you fail to adequately plan, you plan to most certainly fail. Put down cigarettes, beers, and smokes. Invest in yourself. For example, you are not married and have no children, you have something good going, it's a great time to get a head start on life. In 10 years you will be ahead of most college graduates and with really smart planning, folks can be working you soon. All you have to do is make some small adjustments.

Its certainly a very good idea to keep records of all income and even expenses..not in the start of the year..but till the end.
thanks for the brilliant Idea !!