Financial Fitness February: Day 15

[mooreincome]

Usually, the 15th would be the halfway point for the month, but since this month is a little shorter the end will be here before we even know it.

Today I slept in and relaxed most of the morning, in the afternoon I went to a wedding and in the evening I spent a little money.

Here is what happened:

1.) More Bed Bath & Beyond Sourcing

I didn’t intend to source more today, however, on my way to Walmart, I decided to check back in at Bed Bath & Beyond to see if they still had a certain item I had purchased that would bring in a good profit.

I was planning to buy them all since that item sells about 2 on eBay per day and they had about 20 of them.

Turns out someone had bought them out which stinks. However I should have just bought them when I first saw them because they were clearanced down to $1 each. Lesson learned.

I did however find that they had added a lot more red dots to items and ended up spending a total of $58.37 on items including some UGG brand pillowcases which I should profit handsomely on.

I hope to at least double my money when it is all said and done, but I think I can actually do better than that but we will see I guess.

2.) Spent Some Money on Lighting

Since we moved in to our new apartment a couple months ago, we really have no furniture. The only things we have is our mattress, a Lifetime table I bought for my reselling and a camping chair.

That being said, we had not even bought any lamps for our living room and there are no ceiling lights.

Since all my reselling stuff is set up in the living room, it makes it difficult to work there in the evening because it is so dark.

This has really affected my productivity and motivation to get things done and sort of been an excuse for me.

Since I am a night owl, this is the time I should be getting the most done so I decided today was enough.

No more excuses! I went out and spent a total of $61.97 on two stand up lamps with with a reading light (so two light bulbs) and a case of light bulbs.

I specifically got the daylight one which were more expensive because the soft white (more yellowish) lights don’t help the mood either.

While this is a big chunk of money to spend on lighting, I did purchase the cheaper lamps which I have used before and they work just fine. I also went the more economical route by purchase a case of light bulbs instead of just a few.

Hopefully, this will positively affect my productivity and allow me to focus more on things that will be profitable, such as setting up more listings on eBay.

FUN FACT: According to the National Institue of Mental Health, “Research has shown that light is important for more than just vision—it directly impacts mood and learning.” source

3.) Calculator Purchases

For those of you who don’t know, I buy and sell a lot of Texas Instrument Calculators (used for college classes)

Since I live in a city with two state colleges (NDSU & MSUM) and a couple schools, a lot of these get thrown up on Facebook marketplace, especially as school is coming to an end.

This is usually the best time to get good deals on them as people are just wanting some extra cash and willing to sell and a really good price.

I did end up picking up one yesterday from a guy for just $40, it was one of the newer and fancier models so I should be able to sell it for $100 on eBay or more on Amazon.

Today I reached out to someone selling the older but still very popular model which they had listed at $40. I offered them $30 and they accepted my offer right away. However, they are out of town so I won’t get it for sure until Monday, but they marked the listing as sold already so I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to get it then.

This one should also sell anywhere from $80-$200

LESSON FROM TODAY: Spending money is a necessary part of life, but it should not be spent frivolously. There are many things in life which require an immediate investment for a future payout, and not every payout can be calculated in financial terms.

All in all, I spent quite a bit in a short amount of time. However, that money was spent with purpose and should all lead to a financial WIN in one way or another. It’s really just a matter of perspective!

What is your latest win?

What are some things that you have found help you be more productive?

[sthom]

I never see a button to Like your comments.

[lismox]

I applied for and was accepted to another focus group. I’ve found the website Respondent to be really good for finding focus groups. Here’s the link (from the previous link that I sent): https://www.respondent.io/.

The focus group will take place this coming Thursday. I’m off that day, so I will make the hour and a half trek to go to the location. The topic is fast food. I’m going to make a day out of it. The best part is I get paid $150 for one hour! WIN!

I finished my other online focus group, and I should be getting a check from that in about 5-7 days. That actually turned out to be really fun. The topic for that group was coffee.

I’m going to focus on applying for focus groups on the Respondent website and luckily most of the groups are done online. I also will continue to check craigslist under the gigs section and misc./etc. jobs for other focus group opportunities.

How did everybody else do?

[mskimberly]

With all the items you sell, which have you found to be a waste? Which items were the best to buy and resell?

[mooreincome]

sthom posted:

I never see a button to Like your comments.

@sthom there are two places you can “like” things here in the community.

If you want to give the entire post a like, there is a button just below the title, on the left that allows you to like the post:

Then, for comments, there is a heart at the end up each with the words “Like Reply” in purple:

Hope this helps!

[mooreincome]

@lismox I have actually heard of this site and I think I might have even signed up but I have never completed a study with them.

Please let me know how it goes for you as I am interested in knowing how it works on their website.

[mooreincome]

MsKimberly posted:

With all the items you sell, which have you found to be a waste? Which items were the best to buy and resell?

Great question @mskimberly!

I would say for me, the category of item that has been the biggest waste would have to be glassware.

It is not so much that glassware isn’t valuable… it actually does sometimes sell for a lot of money.

I is more so the fact that I don’t really have a good understanding of the market and nearly every time I ship it, no matter how well I package it, it ends up breaking on me and I waste a lot of time and money trying to make sure the buyer is happy and resolving the issue.

As for my favorite items to resell, I would have to say Texas Instruments calculators as they are easy to find for $40 or less locally and then they can be flipped for upwards of $80 online. They are small so they are easy to prep for selling and lightweight to ship.

Shoes are also a good category of items to sell and I know of some who do quite well in this category. I am just starting to learn about them but in the future I expect it to become one of the main categories of items I flip.

[mskimberly]

Clothes do not sell well for me. Executive desk chairs and vacuum cleaners are excellent sellers.

[mooreincome]

Hmm desk chairs and vacuums huh, I guess I haven’t ever tried selling those but maybe I should.

[mskimberly]

I have had up to two dozen vacuum cleaners in my home for sale. I have now have one.

[mooreincome]

That’s awesome @mskimberly Definitely gonna keep my eye out for good deals!

Do you sell them on FB Marketplace or Craigslist.

Also, where do you find that many?

[mskimberly]

Jon, usually I sell them on selling groups at FB. I find them in the recycling area of the apartment complex where I live. People will run the sweeper at their apartment before they move out and put it in recycling. Other just want a new one and get rid of the old one. People want new chairs. The old one is not good enough.