A thrifty homeowner has revealed the easy way she’s able to pay less on her $728,000 mortgage. And while some people think she’s “crazy”, Amy Coulston is convinced it makes a difference.
The 26-year-old and her partner purchased their Sunshine Coast home in November, 2025 and have already paid $7,500 off their loan.
Some of that is thanks to their efforts in collecting cans and bottles during their walks, she revealed.
Speaking to Yahoo News, Amy admitted she’s been collecting rubbish “for years” but has recently started putting the earnings in an offset account, which helps reduce the interest on her mortgage.
“Some people think collecting 10c cans is crazy, I think it’s crazier that this much rubbish ends up on our streets in the first place,” she said.
“With dogs, we’re always out on walks, and I would always notice how many bottles and cans we saw out and about.
“So we started taking a bag with us on our walks about a year and a half ago.”
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The couple collects eligible cans and bottles during their daily walks and store them at home until they can be cashed in.
(Amy Coulson)
How collecting rubbish can help Aussies earn and save money
So far, Amy has made over $400 by utilising Queensland’s Containers for Change recycling scheme. She said she’s collected “easily over a thousand” eligible containers during her daily walks.
Similar schemes are in place across the country, including NSW’s Return and Earn scheme and Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme, which encourage recycling by offering collectors 10c for every eligible container that’s recycled.
Amy calculated that each 10c container can save the couple 36 cents in interest on their home loan.
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On a single walk last week, the couple collected 23 cans. Amy worked out that paying an additional $2.30 on her mortgage saved them $8.27 in interest.
“10c might not seem like much, but looking at how much interest it saves me in the long run of my loan really makes it feel more worthwhile,” she said.
“I’ve found there’s a lot more rubbish around schools, construction sites, and other high traffic areas, so if we all do our bit while we’re out and about, I think it could make a real impact”
Amy Coulston has earned about $400 from collecting cans and bottles since taking out a mortgage in November.
(Amy Coulston)
She said it is very simple to collect the containers.
“I just bag them up whenever I’m going grocery shopping and drop them in the bin they have in the car park. So I don’t have to go out of my way to return them,” she said.
Aussies using 10c container scheme during cost-of-living crisis
Amy joins the army of Aussies utilising one of the country’s various container return schemes to earn some extra money and help the environment, too.
Follow Queenslander Heidi Lou previously told Yahoo she was using the earnings to furnish her home, while Victorian woman Amy McDermott has made over $5,000 recycling other people’s rubbish.
Meanwhile, a Victorian mum shared her own can-collecting journey, revealing the simple way she does it with such ease.
Andrew Hill from The Salvation Army previously told Yahoo News, “it’s not unusual to hear and see people going through bins” for monetary gain.
“If someone finds 10 bottles in a bin, that’s $1… I think in times of desperation when people are really hurting financially, people will go to all measures to eat, to find the basic necessities,” he said.
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