If you’re ready to get rid of some of the stuff laying around your house — old movies, unread books, clothes that belong in another decade — then there are several options available for you, and each one will put a little money in your pocket while making your house a little tidier.

Since you’re going to be getting rid of things anyway, you might as well help yourself in the process and make some extra cash for your efforts. Here are some cool ideas for you to try to get your house clean and earn some cash while doing so.

Look Online

The first place you should try to sell your stuff is online. With the power of the internet, you can reach millions of people if you do it right, increasing your chances of getting rid of your stuff quickly without too much effort.

There are sites that will pay cash for your electronics, your old clothes and even toys that your children no longer play with. In fact, there’s really not a whole lot of things you can’t sell online — you can even sell furniture and appliances if you want! If you have DVDs, video games, gaming systems or computers that you no longer use, you can probably sell them very quickly online for the right price.

You’ll need to do a little research to figure out what you want to sell each item for, but then the sites do the rest: they have a large customer base that will be able to see all of the things you have for sale. Once someone buys something, you are usually paid the same. Sites like this do most of the legwork so all you have to do is figure out what you want to sell.

Used Bookstores

If you have stacks and boxes of books that you no longer want, you can find a quick source of cash by selling them to a used bookstore.

Used bookstores are always looking for ways to keep their shelves stocked (they want to make money, too, after all) and someone walking in with a big box of books is a great source of revenue for them. They will examine your books for quality (the cleanliness, the condition of the covers and pages, etc.) and availability: if the store is already sitting on fifty copies of a book, they probably won’t want another one. They will then offer you money for the ones they want. You can take it or leave it, or you may try to negotiate. You won’t get anywhere near what you paid for them, but you will be able to recoup some of your money and if you sell enough, it might be enough for a great night out or some extra cash to pay the bills.

Try a Consignment Shop

Consignment shops take your clothes into their inventory and give you money when they sell your items, minus their fee. While you may find consignment shops for many different items, clothing is one of the biggest sellers of these businesses.

Just as with a bookstore, the shop will examine your clothing and tell you what they can and can’t sell. They will then put your clothes on racks and help sell them to customers. This is great is you don’t feel like doing a lot of legwork to sell you stuff, but they do charge you around 50% or more to sell your stuff, so you’re making a trade-off. It’s an easy way to make money, but you may be able to make more somewhere else.

Make a Donation

The most thoughtful way you can get rid of your items is to donate them to local shelters or places like Goodwill. These places provide items for those who are less fortunate and you can make a little bit of extra income as well.

The catch here is that you will not get paid cash for your donations, but you will be able to deduct the cost of your items from your taxes that year. All you need to do is get a receipt from the place you donate and they will have the total cost tallied up for you. Then you report it on your taxes and the cost will be a deduction on your liability, meaning you will pay fewer taxes than normal. It’s not a big payday, but it helps you make some money while feeling good at the same time.

Try one of these ways to make money next time you clean out your house!

Alexander Hodgson shares his tips on how to get a little extra cash as well as how to save more and manage your money better overall. He is Dad to 2 great boys and lives in the South-West.