Besides selling your stuff to the rag-and-bone man, there are businesses that offer a good price for your unwanted things.

Gadgets and Home appliances
Earn: From $100 to $300 for a two-year-old laptop or from $200 to $400 for a 42-inch LCD television, depending on the brand and model. A 10-year-old 36" Sony TV can fetch at least $40. A year-old fridge or top-loading washing machine in working condition earns you between $20 to $100, depending on the size. Provide buyer Jason Tan with the model number and brand of your appliance for an accurate quote. Or he can assess the items at your home, give you a quote and cart it away immediately. He takes furniture too - great if your're moving house.

Sell to: Jason Tan, tel: 9001-6482, email: recycle_green@hotmail.com

Maternity clothes
www.maternityexchange.sg

Baby products
Earn: To get a quote, email The Toy Rental Club with pictures of the items you want to sell. They take used items like strollers, baby car seats, breast pumps and mini toy kitchenettes. Small toys like dolls and stuffed teddies are not eligible. However, if they are fully stocked, they may not want your stuff at the moment so you'll have to try again another time.

Sell to: The Toy Rental Club, tel: 6276-7602, www.toyrentalclub.com. Email: enquiries@toyrentalclub.com

Travel guides
Earn: 85 per cent of the listed price for old guidebooks. Guidegecko sells brand new travel guides, and has a section where you can sell your old copies. There's no need to upload pictures of your book, just list the title, ISBN number, and book and shipping prices. They take a 15 per cent commission. The website moderator will send you an email when there is a buyer, but you need to ship the book to the buyer directly.

Sell on: www.guidegecko.com

Extracted from: Simply Her magazine (Jun 2010)

While lines form for treadmills and stationary bicycles in gyms, the stairclimbing machine is often the neglected wallflower in the cardio room.

But experts said that if you master the stairs, you’ll reap dividends in tight abs,
butt and thighs. One study of 10,269 Harvard alumni found that those who climbed at least 55 flights of stairs a week had a 33 per cent lower death rate.

Another study found that daily stair climbing among young women with sedentary lifestyles resulted in a rise in good cholesterol.

Dr Hank Williford of the American College of Sports Medicine said steppers are a good fit for women.

"They’re not bouncing around like with a treadmill and, still, they can increase their bone-marrow density and prevent osteoporosis."

Extracted from: Today newspaper (4 Jan 2010)

Malaysia
Penang: www.visitpenang.gov.my