This is a two-part question:
1) Should I really try Garage -saleing this spring/summer?
2) Should I have one of my own this summer?
As money has been tight for about 18 months and I money will continue to be tight for at least 2 more years. I have found myself reading frugal blogs about garage sales and the great finds they get there. I have been asking myself if I should really try to get out and "garage -sale" this year. I do foresee some needs coming up that I may be able to find a good deal on this items at a garage sale. Last year- by pure chance, we got a new-to-us dishwasher for $25 at a garage sale. it works great- actually better than our 2 year old dishwasher ever didand that one died after only 2 years of use. ($400 down the drain). But our garage sale find is running great!! I would love to find more great deals like that but I do realisee they are few and far between so I am caught with the notion- is it worth my Saturday mornings to go out and hope to find a treasure or do I just sleep in? My head says if I go I'll surely spend money on some piece of crap and if I just sleep I'll save myself lots of money and clutter.... Should I or Should I not???
The second part is about my own garage sale. Almost ever year I have one garge sale in July. Last year we had one during a heat-wave and the turnout was terrible. We had so much left over that instead of bringing the big stuff and the nicer stuff back into the garage for next year. We just left it all at the curb with signs saying "Take- Free!" Last year's sale soured us to having another one this year. What if it is another flop- no people. I was thinking of skipping one year. Since we gave everything away after last years sale- I don't have much that we could sell. But on the other hand with the economy the way it is- I have heard garge sales will draw huge crowds this year. (as in my first note- I may even venture out to some- which is not my norm). So maybe a sale would make a few bucks.. even if I dont' have a ton of stuff to sell.
On both of these things I am still thinking...
Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
Showing posts with label Making Money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Making Money. Show all posts
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Alternate Streams of Income
One of the best ways to tackle debt or work to accomplish other financial goals is with alternate streams of income. This would include any income that is above your "regular" day-job income. Some alternate income sources might include:
Tutoring
Part-Time Job
Seasonal Work (cutting grass, snowplowing, raking leaves)
Home Parties (Home & Garden, PartyLite, Tupperware)
Selling on Ebay
Crafting/Selling on Etsy
Alternate incomes tend to be illregular, which is what makes them great for reaching any financial goals you may have whether it is paying off debt, saving for a "new to you" car, a vacation or a house. Because alternate incomes may not be consistent pay each month. You can't count on them to pay our bills or other regular monthly expenses. SO if you can find one or two great "part-time" incomes -then when you hit a payday with them- use that money to pay into whatever your financial goal is.
Over the years we have had tons of different alternate incomes. I have taught home instruction, done pritvate tutoring, sold avon, and sold items on ebay. Gary has done seasonal work, worked a night job, retrieved golf balls to sell on ebay, and most recently became an installer for Link-to-Life which has surpised us and is bringing in more money than we thought- which we are really hoping continues, as the golf balls on ebay have fallen off quite a bit in the off-season.
Right now our best "alternate incomes" come from selling used golf balls on ebay which "In Season" makes us up to $800/month and in the "Off Season" makes us about $300/month. This new Link-To-Life job made us $190 in December and so far for January has earned us $350. (they pay you on the 15th of the following month for all the jobs you complete in the month prior). So far in December Gary has earned $350- but he won't be paid until Jan 15th. If he gets more jobs in the last few weeks of December that January payday could be more.
As I said before, these irregular payments are just that- irregular. So our plans for the "extra income" is to meet our Christmas club goals for 2009, to set some money aside for our "emergency fund" above our normal $25 deposit each month, and to set some additional funds aside for the summer when I do not get paid (my teaching job only pays 10 months out of the year). If, and this is a BIG IF, If the money is there we are also hoping to take a vacation this summer. We did not take one last summer because we just didn't have the money- but we are hoping that does not become the "norm" and instead was just a one-time-thing. But as with all financial goals you need a plan. Since this "extra income" is unpredictable- we will have to see how much we can make and then what we are able to accomplish with it.
Pinyo at Moolanomy (a great personal finance blog) has a great list of 40+alternate income ideas, click on the link below to check it out.
http://www.moolanomy.com/462/30-alternative-income-ideas-and-resources/
Tutoring
Part-Time Job
Seasonal Work (cutting grass, snowplowing, raking leaves)
Home Parties (Home & Garden, PartyLite, Tupperware)
Selling on Ebay
Crafting/Selling on Etsy
Alternate incomes tend to be illregular, which is what makes them great for reaching any financial goals you may have whether it is paying off debt, saving for a "new to you" car, a vacation or a house. Because alternate incomes may not be consistent pay each month. You can't count on them to pay our bills or other regular monthly expenses. SO if you can find one or two great "part-time" incomes -then when you hit a payday with them- use that money to pay into whatever your financial goal is.
Over the years we have had tons of different alternate incomes. I have taught home instruction, done pritvate tutoring, sold avon, and sold items on ebay. Gary has done seasonal work, worked a night job, retrieved golf balls to sell on ebay, and most recently became an installer for Link-to-Life which has surpised us and is bringing in more money than we thought- which we are really hoping continues, as the golf balls on ebay have fallen off quite a bit in the off-season.
Right now our best "alternate incomes" come from selling used golf balls on ebay which "In Season" makes us up to $800/month and in the "Off Season" makes us about $300/month. This new Link-To-Life job made us $190 in December and so far for January has earned us $350. (they pay you on the 15th of the following month for all the jobs you complete in the month prior). So far in December Gary has earned $350- but he won't be paid until Jan 15th. If he gets more jobs in the last few weeks of December that January payday could be more.
As I said before, these irregular payments are just that- irregular. So our plans for the "extra income" is to meet our Christmas club goals for 2009, to set some money aside for our "emergency fund" above our normal $25 deposit each month, and to set some additional funds aside for the summer when I do not get paid (my teaching job only pays 10 months out of the year). If, and this is a BIG IF, If the money is there we are also hoping to take a vacation this summer. We did not take one last summer because we just didn't have the money- but we are hoping that does not become the "norm" and instead was just a one-time-thing. But as with all financial goals you need a plan. Since this "extra income" is unpredictable- we will have to see how much we can make and then what we are able to accomplish with it.
Pinyo at Moolanomy (a great personal finance blog) has a great list of 40+alternate income ideas, click on the link below to check it out.
http://www.moolanomy.com/462/30-alternative-income-ideas-and-resources/
Saturday, December 6, 2008
More Decluttering- In time for the Holidays
Now that you've rested. We have so much more to do to tget the whole house ready. Your house will be so streamlined by the time you have guest over for the holidays.
Yesterday our decluttering let us help others. Today's decluttering will hopefully make you a few bucks. Everyone can use some extra money this time of year. So let head to find CDs and DVDs. Go through them. In this day and age I can't imagine why anyone would need either one- but I realise some people have emotional attachments to these items. Grab all your CDs and download them to your iPod (or at least your favorite songs) and get ready to get rid of them. Now take a good hard look at your DVDs with DVR and TiVo and the internet you can pretty much watch any movie at any time without needing to clutter up your house with DVDs. Plan to get rid of them all- if you have one or two that you feel you must keep ask yourself: How often do I watch this? When was the last time I watched it? and If I lost it, and wanted to watch this movie- could I find it somewhere (ie: OnDemand, internet, Tivo )? Your answers to these questions should tell you whether you really need to keep it.
Now take all those CD and DVD and list them on www.half.com . It will only take a few minutes to set up an account and listing the CDs takes seconds. You enter the UPC code from the case and it will bring up the disc and the last "sold" prices, you then choose the "condition" of your CD and decide your own price, and boom- You're done! Sit back and wait for emails that say "You've made a sale on half.com" You ship out the CD (or DVD) and half.com reimburses the shipping cost. They pay you on the 1st and 15th for what you have sold in that period. I have used this site for over a year and I am very happy with their service.
Let's take a second look at the stuff you cleaned out yesterday. In your closet did you find anything that you won't wear but just couldn't donate because it was worth too much. Maybe a designer label, or something you only worn once, or you never wore it and the tags are still on. This could be clothing, purses or shoes. These would be great items to sell on ebay. All you need is a digital camera to take a few pictures and if you price it well- it will sell on ebay. I have used ebay for about a year and have had great success selling children's clothing, gently used shoes (kids and adults), toys, exercise equipment, safety gates, purses, anything and everything. It is all stuff that I would have otherwise thrown away or donated and instead I have been able to make a few bucks, and it goes to someone else you can use it instead of the landfill.
Now lets tackle the kitchen. I would love to say empty all your cabinets like we did in the bathroom yesterday, but really that is a huge task, so let's not. Instead, open each cabinet and give it a good scan. Is there anything in there (be sure to look deep in the back of the cabintets too) that you can get rid of? Chipped plates, tupperware with no tops, that fondue set you never even opened, that set of mugs that are not microwaveable so you never use them. I am sure as you look into each cabinet you can find several things you no longer use (or never did). Pile all this stuff on your table. You should know by now I am not going to say throw it away. First, see if there is anything you can repurose. Maybe those mugs are pretty and you could use one in the bathroom to hold toothbrushes or Q-tips. A basket or bowl could be used to hold mismatched socks- put it ontop of the dryer to put them in when folding laundry. All the stuff that is left, take to a thrift shop or Good Will. They will take casserole dishes, bowls, mugs, serving pieces, decorative trays. Thrift stores may pay you a little for certian items. Remember it isn't about making money as it is about getting rid of the cluttter.
The last way to pick up a few bucks - and clean out-before the holidays is for those who have a skill or craft or small business. This is the time of the year for all those "Holiday Boutiques" and "Craft Fairs". These usually cost about $20-$40 for a space and some provide you a table, for others you will need to bring your own table. Two standard card tables will work well. If you do not have tables, do not run out and buy them. Ask family, friends and neighbors if they have a card table you can barrow for the day. In most cases, you can easily barrow one rather then dishing out more money. As it is a bit late in the season, registrations for these fairs has probabaly happened already. But look in your local papers for ads for the sales and reach out to the contact person to see if space is still available. If they have space they are ususally willing to accomodate, since the more vendors they have the more money they make. Some fairs will allow you to sell household stuff (kind of like a yard sale)- but ask first, some will not be happy if you are selling junk. If you can sell household items-- clean up all the nicer stuff you have gathered from around your house, make sure to take a nice table cloth to make your table look nice and price low. $40 is alot to pay to try and make a few buck so ask a friend if they want to split a table with you. If you have some hand-made crafts to sell, this is a great place to sell them. As well as any home-party type business. If you have a home business, this is a great time to clean out old inventory (returns, exchanges that you still have)-- sell them here and get them out of your closet.
The last idea isn't for everyone but hopefully if you have gone through your CDs and DVDs, pulled out stuff to sell on ebay, and cleaned out the clutter in your kitchen cabinets- you have decluttered and maybe made some money in the process.
Tomorrow I have some ideas for decluttering Kid's stuff- this is where most of my home's clutter comes from!
Yesterday our decluttering let us help others. Today's decluttering will hopefully make you a few bucks. Everyone can use some extra money this time of year. So let head to find CDs and DVDs. Go through them. In this day and age I can't imagine why anyone would need either one- but I realise some people have emotional attachments to these items. Grab all your CDs and download them to your iPod (or at least your favorite songs) and get ready to get rid of them. Now take a good hard look at your DVDs with DVR and TiVo and the internet you can pretty much watch any movie at any time without needing to clutter up your house with DVDs. Plan to get rid of them all- if you have one or two that you feel you must keep ask yourself: How often do I watch this? When was the last time I watched it? and If I lost it, and wanted to watch this movie- could I find it somewhere (ie: OnDemand, internet, Tivo )? Your answers to these questions should tell you whether you really need to keep it.
Now take all those CD and DVD and list them on www.half.com . It will only take a few minutes to set up an account and listing the CDs takes seconds. You enter the UPC code from the case and it will bring up the disc and the last "sold" prices, you then choose the "condition" of your CD and decide your own price, and boom- You're done! Sit back and wait for emails that say "You've made a sale on half.com" You ship out the CD (or DVD) and half.com reimburses the shipping cost. They pay you on the 1st and 15th for what you have sold in that period. I have used this site for over a year and I am very happy with their service.
Let's take a second look at the stuff you cleaned out yesterday. In your closet did you find anything that you won't wear but just couldn't donate because it was worth too much. Maybe a designer label, or something you only worn once, or you never wore it and the tags are still on. This could be clothing, purses or shoes. These would be great items to sell on ebay. All you need is a digital camera to take a few pictures and if you price it well- it will sell on ebay. I have used ebay for about a year and have had great success selling children's clothing, gently used shoes (kids and adults), toys, exercise equipment, safety gates, purses, anything and everything. It is all stuff that I would have otherwise thrown away or donated and instead I have been able to make a few bucks, and it goes to someone else you can use it instead of the landfill.
Now lets tackle the kitchen. I would love to say empty all your cabinets like we did in the bathroom yesterday, but really that is a huge task, so let's not. Instead, open each cabinet and give it a good scan. Is there anything in there (be sure to look deep in the back of the cabintets too) that you can get rid of? Chipped plates, tupperware with no tops, that fondue set you never even opened, that set of mugs that are not microwaveable so you never use them. I am sure as you look into each cabinet you can find several things you no longer use (or never did). Pile all this stuff on your table. You should know by now I am not going to say throw it away. First, see if there is anything you can repurose. Maybe those mugs are pretty and you could use one in the bathroom to hold toothbrushes or Q-tips. A basket or bowl could be used to hold mismatched socks- put it ontop of the dryer to put them in when folding laundry. All the stuff that is left, take to a thrift shop or Good Will. They will take casserole dishes, bowls, mugs, serving pieces, decorative trays. Thrift stores may pay you a little for certian items. Remember it isn't about making money as it is about getting rid of the cluttter.
The last way to pick up a few bucks - and clean out-before the holidays is for those who have a skill or craft or small business. This is the time of the year for all those "Holiday Boutiques" and "Craft Fairs". These usually cost about $20-$40 for a space and some provide you a table, for others you will need to bring your own table. Two standard card tables will work well. If you do not have tables, do not run out and buy them. Ask family, friends and neighbors if they have a card table you can barrow for the day. In most cases, you can easily barrow one rather then dishing out more money. As it is a bit late in the season, registrations for these fairs has probabaly happened already. But look in your local papers for ads for the sales and reach out to the contact person to see if space is still available. If they have space they are ususally willing to accomodate, since the more vendors they have the more money they make. Some fairs will allow you to sell household stuff (kind of like a yard sale)- but ask first, some will not be happy if you are selling junk. If you can sell household items-- clean up all the nicer stuff you have gathered from around your house, make sure to take a nice table cloth to make your table look nice and price low. $40 is alot to pay to try and make a few buck so ask a friend if they want to split a table with you. If you have some hand-made crafts to sell, this is a great place to sell them. As well as any home-party type business. If you have a home business, this is a great time to clean out old inventory (returns, exchanges that you still have)-- sell them here and get them out of your closet.
The last idea isn't for everyone but hopefully if you have gone through your CDs and DVDs, pulled out stuff to sell on ebay, and cleaned out the clutter in your kitchen cabinets- you have decluttered and maybe made some money in the process.
Tomorrow I have some ideas for decluttering Kid's stuff- this is where most of my home's clutter comes from!
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