Who couldn’t use a little extra cash today? We all know that stress takes a huge toll on our health and well-being. With financial uncertainty and unemployment running rampant in the collective consciousness, lack of money can be a strong stress inducer for many individuals and families.

What if you could ease your financial worries by making a little cold cash recycling your old electronic junk that’s just gathering dust anyway? No, this isn’t a federal program for turning our outdated and inefficient appliances in for new energy efficient ones, but wouldn’t that be a great idea?

Instead, a recycling company called Gazelle will pay you to recycle your old electronics. The company buys computers, cell phones, MP3 players, LCD monitors, external hard drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and more. Gazelle does not buy flat-panel televisions yet, but says it has plans to do so in a few months.

Gazelle resells most of the items customers send in and uses recycling only as a last resort.

Here’s the deal:

Go to www.Gazelle.com and type what you want to sell in the search bar. You click a few buttons to answer questions about the condition of the item and if you have the original accessories like cables and AC adapters. In just a few seconds, you find out what your old dinosaur is worth. If you want to sell your gadget, click the “Add to Box” button. The company will even send a postage-paid box for shipping. And if your outdated gizmo has no market value, Gazelle will still recycle it for you.

You can get paid with PayPal, check, or Amazon.com gift card. Or you can choose to donate your cash to a cause of your choice. The company says it will remove all data from all items it receives. (Personally, I’d still wipe out all personal information on drives and devices before sending them off.)

I have an old Mac laptop that I could sell for $266. I’m thinking about doing that, and then buying a newer laptop from Gazelle for just a few hundred dollars more. It’s a great service that gives homes to misfit machines, provides a much needed recycling service, and puts a little cash in the family coffers. Another triple-win enterprise that I’m happy to support.