Easy Extra Income

I’ve been moving all of my clothes now that I have two bedrooms. Any time you move you think, “Man, do I really need this?” I am a terrible person to move. My family helped me move in and out of my dorm rooms each Fall/Spring and I’m surprised they still helped me Senior year. 

As I tramped my clothes/shoes/sparkly necklaces upstairs I was able to find a few things I could live without. I’ve heard of people selling their clothes or belongings on Ebay and using that as a side income, but I’m not that invested. I like extra money, but it’s only worth the amount of effort and time needed.

I’ve always shopped at consignment stores for furniture, but I haven’t been in too many for clothing. They remind me of Goodwill, except it smells less like bleach. One Saturday, I brought in a pile of clothes to a consignment store. I half expected them to take it all just because I’m plus sized and their section sucked. Surprisingly they “weren’t taking dresses” and “flats don’t do well here” were the responses I got. I ended up only leaving two pairs of shoes and a pair of jeans at the store. 

The store splits the amount paid for the item 50/50. All I did was turn in the same items I would have thrown away, filled out some information, and poof, I now have $6 to be paid out. That is $6 more than I had for an item that was just causing more clutter. 

I’m considering that I should submit my other “denied” items to a different consignment shop. They’re less picky, but it’s also less profit for the consigner at that location. Either way, it’s more money than I had previously and it’s a pretty easy side gig. 

What are you doing to earn a few extra bucks this month?

 

The Next HGTV Star

Millennials aren’t buying homes. We just can’t. Maybe we want to, but with our low paying jobs and high loan payments it’s tough. If I could get a home for $300 a month, I’d still choose not to. I don’t want to add triple digits onto my Debt Avalanche spreadsheet.

If we’re not buying homes then we’re renting or staying longer with our parents. I’m in the latter boat. I have a bedroom at my own house, and also I’m renovating another next door.  My situation is pretty odd. My grandmother lives next to my house. Our family has lived in her home since they built the log cabin. I have loved that house since I’ve been a little girl.

My room at my house is wonderful. It is eclectic and bright. It also is absolutely tiny. In any other home built after 1915 my bedroom would be considered a walk-in closet. Next door at my Granny’s, her spare bedroom is massive in comparison. It has a whole wall full of closet space. I can actually fit two normal sized dressers, a chair, and a nightstand.

I wish I could show you my Granny’s taste and not feel terribly embarrassed. If you can picture the most bright, themed, artistic room you’ve seen, her decorating would be pretty close. I needed to redecorate this room on a budget.

My first step was to paint this room. It HAD to be done. It looked like a bright primary colored yellow Crayon exploded everywhere. I’ve been planning this renovation all summer, so when paint went on sale I bought two gallons at ACE. They were running a BOGO sale and I bought both for $30. Then, I had the spare money and put it right in the basement for safe keeping. I also bought some small tester cans of different colors of paint. These I bought for “accent” colors for furniture and accessories.

Next, more furniture. This room is pretty large compared to my shoebox. A bedroom needs a bed. A family friend recently came into a whole house worth of furniture. I bought a box spring, mattress, headboard, and frame off her for $70. Thankfully, my mom pitched in. I purchased a nightstand at the flea-market for $20 and a mirror for $12. We then repainted one dresser and Old English-ed another. Menards drawer pulls changed the entire look and only cost $15 more.

The base of the room cost us about $150. I’ve collected frames, posters, record albums to cover all the walls. I need to look into duvet covers, window treatments, and maybe a TV. Those would be realistic things to put on my Christmas list. I’d say my best advice for anyone redoing a room is, if you can, do it in a leisurely manner. Allow the time to find the deals, scope the sale racks, and check out the vintage pieces. You just might be on the way towards getting your own HGTV show.

Buy One Give One

I will admit something to all of you. I am a young woman in her early twenties and I use birth control. I take the pills every day to help with “female problems” and also of course to prevent pregnancy. For some reason or another I had trouble sharing this post. I wanted to make sure everything was put the "right" way. I've edited this post for weeks. I've found a way to both save money and support those whose countries prohibit or don't support contraception.

I want to use this blog as a platform to advocate for a website called prjkt ruby. This web site and organization allows women to buy their birth control pills right online. That means no doctors visits and no waiting in line at the drugstore. For me, the pills were cheaper online since my insurance doesn’t cover it. The organization has doctors approve the orders, so major issues will be sorted out. I have been on the pill for about three years and I was able to pick out which option works best based on what I already used.  Otherwise there are many options and descriptions so women can make educated decisions. 

The pills are only $20 a pack and 25 cents goes to contraception for women in the developing world via Population Services International (PSI). How awesome is that?! Not only will I be saving money, but I’ll be donating towards a very worthy cause

I think the one thing people don’t talk about on here is how much birth control really costs for women - on multiple levels. Anyone ever ask how much a woman pays to be healthy and in control of her body? If she’s on the pill, like I am, it will depend on the insurance, but every month or three months she will be at a pharmacy picking up her prescription and attending an OBGYN yearly. My insurance won't cover it and the price is to $32 a month. I also have to go to my OBGYN to get the prescription renewed. Those both cost me about $634 a year. I know my situation isn't the same as everyone else's, but I'm sure there are others like me. 

This description is just the financial aspect. I could go into women’s rights and politics and how women are still being shamed for being victims of rape, but that’s not why I’m writing this. Although, it is extremely valid and needs to be continually talked about. 

I will be saving $406 this year, because I decided to go with prjkt ruby. As I was researching my options, I found myself also advocating for birth control as an over the counter option. Maybe you don’t agree and maybe that isn’t the solution, but women need to have the same accessibility and affordability as men. It’s just one more step towards taking back our bodies. 

October Net Worth

This month I calculated my net worth to be -$63990.22, which is  +$763.65 from last month. I haven’t made any big payments toward my debt this month. I recently started a new job, but that unfortunately also meant a pay cut. I’m happy with the new challenges and experience. I do know the downside is that I will be making slower progress towards my goals.

Although, I have paid off  -$3,281.51 in debt since July. That’s pretty motivating. My self imposed goal is to pay off $5,000 before January. That is $1718.49 until the $5000 is paid off. I currently have $1,276.00 saved toward a lump loan payment, so I only need about $442.50 in the next two months. This small goal will help keep me motivated these first few months as I get adjusted to a new income.

October and the end of September posed their challenges, but there are more difficult months approaching. 
How do you stay motivated? What do you do differently as the holidays approach?

Flea Market Finds

Saturday I spent my second full weekend off at a flea market. This one runs every Saturday from April to October.

I have watched every Flea Market Flip on HGTV and I had to see what all the fun was about. I will admit that it was not as big as I had imagined. It took up almost every inch of a block’s worth of park.

The weather was absolutely perfect and the two hour car ride was a great time to take in the autumn scenery. In another weekend the leaves would have been more stunning, but it also may have been 20 degrees cooler.

I took about $100 from the ATM. This was all I intended to spend. I came out of the afternoon only spending $20 on a vintage 50s side table. I’m redecorating a bedroom and thought this would be perfect. We got home and put the furniture in only to discover that my perfect find doesn’t fit. I suggest measuring before purchasing.

There were multiple vendors with furniture, but the majority were “smalls.” These, albeit cool, knick-knacks really aren’t my style anymore, so that helped keep me from spending. If the mini-doughnut guy had still been open it would have been a different result.

How did you spend your weekend?

Money Journaling

Before I left my retail job I splurged and bought a super cute notebook. This isn't one to just scribble in or play MASH. I wanted to do something meaningful with such a beautiful piece of stationary. I dubbed it my "money journal". I've read before of an experiment to write down how you felt, what is your reasoning and why you spent money on something.

Basically-food journal, but for money. Right now, my biggest expense is gas. It's just something I have to do. No ways around it. So I'm sure that will come up a lot.

Otherwise, I'm hoping to also use it as a place to jot down interesting ideas for this blog and future projects. I should make my splurge worth it in the long run.

Some hooligan egged my car this morning and the first thing I thought as I’m washing it off in the car wash is, “Man, that’s five dollars I could have put toward my loan.” I’ve paid off over $3,000 since July and my goal is to hit $5,000 by January. This is an attainable goal, but it’s going to take some work since my income is much less than during the summer. The money journal will act as another way to keep myself accountable toward that goal.

What keeps you in check? How do you make sure to keep your goals in mind?

Friday Fun!

Today is the first day of October and my favorite baseball team will be playing in the postseason. Being a Chicago Cubs fan, this doesn't happen too often.

Tomorrow, Friday, I'm headed to see a game with my family. We were able to get tickets for $10 each earlier this week off stubhub.com. It is my recommendation for cheap tickets. When I watch games on tv I always see so many empty seats in many stadiums. 

I am completely aware that now tickets run about $50 a piece and that's ridiculous. If you're someone with an empty schedule look about a week ahead for cheap seats. It's an entertaining evening and is more in my price range with lower ticket prices and carrying on snacks. 

This is how I'll be enjoying the start of my first weekend off! Do you have anything planned?