What items are actually worth the time scrapping for money?

I just want to be able to PROVE (lol) that I read the old posts before I am ever chastised by Sirscrapalot (or any other member). I do a lot more reading than writing on here and sometimes I do my "lurking" when I have some free time, but often not logged in as I might stay on promising page for days before I actually get to sit down and read it. For all the times I've been on here, though, I still forget to SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN THE (MAIN) PAGE... duh, there are so many categories, neatly organized, that I forget are there. The search feature has helped me in past (thanks to all who've helped me learn) and sometimes I just like to see what new things overall are bing talked about, so I'll sometimes use that button. . Really like that picture of beating the horse (above) too. Humor often helps to ease the pain!

I guess, too, the main thing I can get from both points of view, is that SEEKING SOME INFO and being able to at least comment or ask a semi-intelligent question shows both motivation and effort. I'm definitely not super savvy or a "pro" scrapper (I wish) BUT ended up starting by olleting cans during a really nasty and protracted divorce (that didn't have to be that way) where I was stuck in the middle of nowhere, Indiana with a car that sometimes worked and often wouldn't (and learned to work on a lot of it and pull parts at salvage) and I succeeded, but often not before many wails, gnashing of teeth and tears - and viewing youtube videos ad nauseum to find the one with what I needed to turn the tide in my favor .... yes, I started with the cans ... because I used to take them to a 100yr old man I met years before and I realized that might help financially to some degree ... so what I am saying in this aspect - with a LOT of words - is that I can appreciate someone starting out maybe wanting to get an idea of things that might be best, in terms of opportunity and effort, to acquire - literally and in terms of scrapping knowledge - for the environment they are in. I don't have the luxury of time right now to REALLY learn about circuit boards and much else and they don't have a category on the board at the place I go to, so for now I save them and maybe I'll have a chance to figure out whether and how to sell the ones I've gotten. I can see where a new person may want to get a few pointers, more so in terms of what is likeliest to be GOOD RETURN and SAFE for example. I was pulling apart tvs and those ballasts before I knew of hazards (or this forum) SO ... and maybe there IS one .. but maybe a list that can be updated and pinned? I'm pretty sure I CAN scrap a microwave, but I've read SEVERAL posts on here and have two in my trunk right now; the one side of me says "take the plug and let them go for now, you're too rushed to pay close attention to the hazards" and the other side says, "come on you can do it and in a lot less time than the waffling". The list or items I saw mentioned above are pretty good, especially giving some of the drawbacks inexperienced people might not consider; and specialized info or hazards would be great to have/collaborate on and put in an easily accessible post.

Just that sometimes you have to read through pages on a thread that may or may not have the nuggets of information/wisdom you need and other times a title sounds like it's what I'm looking for but it's not. And it's likely MUCH better to find out the ballasts, refrigerant, burnt wire, microwave and tv shocks BEFORE committing unintentional selficide, legally or medically - financial too, for sure. Today I seem to have learned (here) that lead won't hurt you as long as you don't put it in your mouth (or inhale/absorb particles from dust). On another site, I found an article about extracting gold (yourself) from all the electronics stuff, but posts here indicate that it's not quite as simple as that article made it sound. But still saving things that contain it, per what I've learned here and have little piles of usb and computer ends as well as the cord ends for the brass prongs. (Almost the) End of my dissertation, showing that I have read and searched and learned a few things ... but still in the safe side of the pool for now ... there's a lot of information, as well as people's varied experience and knowledge that can make it hard to (still) figure out where to concentrate. So far, I've had to go get a tick taken off my abdomen (I was so wiped with exhaustion I didn't even know what was irritating me, my daughter saw and told me I needed to get that taken care of ASAP) and later, I was getting bad spasms in my leg from jumping in and out of dumpsters, etc (I'm hyper-flexible and that has taught me "just because you can doesn't mean you should") and a week after going the ER, got them in my chest and decided if it was a heart attack, I'd just let it kill me. Working smart ... is one of the best tenets I know ... I'm gonna go see if there is a list now :-)