Boost your income

If you've mountains of unmatched Lego bricks sitting somewhere – perhaps your children have grown out of them or they were a hobby you're no longer into – you can now turn them into cash and sell them online to Music Magpie by the kilo (or half kilo).

It also buys old CDs, DVDs and more. But if you have unsealed or complete Lego sets or figures, they'll probably fetch more on eBay.

How much can I make? Music Magpie pays £3 a kilo. You'll need to sell a minimum of £5's worth (this can include books, CDs, DVDs and more, as well as Lego).

Music Magpie pays you by bank transfer (or one of its named charities) as soon as it's received. 

What are the requirements for selling Lego? Here are the need-to-knows:

• It has to be genuine Lego. You can't include parts from something similar like Meccano or Nanoblock.
• It has to be in good condition. Whole, clean, unworn parts only – any not meeting this criteria may be rejected and recycled, meaning you won't get paid for it.
• Round the weight to the nearest 0.5kg. The minimum Music Magpie accepts is 0.5kg.
• Seal it in a plastic bag. You also need to put it in a box so it doesn't get damaged in the post – pack it well as you won't be paid for damaged pieces.

How do I post it? You'll need to create an account, give your details and say what you want to sell. You'll then be given options to post your Lego off, all of which are free.

Music Magpie has several options when it comes to sending your parcel, including having it collected or dropping it at a nearby Evri ParcelShop.

TV ads yell "Sell gold for cash!", yet many receive a fraction of the promised sums. So never just send off your gold to any old TV gold site – some hucksters offer far less than your jewellery's worth.

The first thing to remember is, as with other commodities, gold prices fluctuate. If you cash in now, you may lose out and gain more later, but no-one knows for sure.

Gold-buying companies' business models are simple: they buy gold, melt it down and flog it on for more. This means you can get cold hard cash for broken and unloved bling. Yet it's a Wild West out there, so, make sure you get quotes from several reputable places including jewellers and a few reputable gold websites.

Our research showed that do it right and you could get £55 for an 18-carat wedding ring and even £54 for an old gold tooth crown. It’s worth doing your own research too, but two sites that have good feedback on our forum include Hatton Garden Metals* and Lois Bullion.

Beware: there's no protection if things go wrong – if a site goes bust, you may not get your gold back.

Printer cartridges are expensive, sometimes even more costly than the printers themselves. So, next time one runs out, offset the cost of a new one by recycling the empty one for cash.

There are lots of recycling sites out there, so do a bit of research to find out which are the best payers for your cartridges – some cartridges earn 50p, though it's usually much less. Try Recycle Ink Cartridges.

Though some recycling sites will take your empty cartridges, they may only pay for certain ones, so check feedback and compare prices. Read other MoneySavers' recommendations, or add your own, in the Recycling printer cartridges for cash thread.

For more ways to get paid to recycle, see quick ways to go green and save.

Every year, millions of people are hit by tax code errors. Some will have paid too much and are due cash back, others too little and may have a horrid shock coming.

It all depends on how wrong your banding was, but it can range from tens of pounds to thousands. One forum user managed to claim over £5,000. Use our Tax Code Checker guide and tool to work out if your code is correct.

The council tax system in England and Scotland is fundamentally flawed. Many people are in the wrong band. It takes 10 minutes to check if you're one of them using our step-by-step Council tax rebanding guide.