Happy New Year - 2013

photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

Well, well, well... and I sincerely hope you ARE well! Thanks for reading! - Today is January 1, 2013... the first day of the new year... time to revisit and revise the bucket lists.. the short term and the long term lists.

photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

One thing that keeps popping up on my list: SAVE MONEY... as in "PUT MONEY IN SAVINGS" ! That should get crossed off at least once, one would think? Somehow, I maintain a level of pent-up demand such that when I do acquire (earn or receive) a bit of cash, I can immediately find a use for it! Nothing goes to savings, or at least, not for long. So, today, I began reading personal finance articles online to realign my thought patterns with a savings attitude. I learned a few things...

(1.) It is totally possible that I sabotage my savings attempts! There are multiple vices at work, including but not limited to procrastination, weak goal-setting, and lack of accountability.

(2.) I am hoping for a miracle... lotto, Publishers' Clearing House Sweepstakes, super job opportunity, gold strike, etc... when what I really need to focus on is securing a steady income.

(3.) I don't have a budget. Well, honestly, I shunt responsibility on this one, claiming that without a steady income, budgeting is impossible... yet, I still have bills to pay like car insurance and cell phone!

photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

What to do? I have a nice little crochet business going on Etsy.com. I even call it My Little Crochet Shop.  I have one, maybe two, textbooks I can sell on Amazon... might rustle up a few items for eBay, but those are only short term shots. With a steady check, those extra shots could go to savings... did you notice I said "could" ... phooey. Am I still not on board?

So, my most promising hobby right now, until the US government again makes it unlawful to do so, is gold panning. It produces only a little every day I pan (no where near an ounce per week), but with patience, practice and persistence, those little bits will add up. Location is not the limiting factor, oddly enough... but self-discipline.

I just had that AH-HAH! moment... when I've finally put my finger on the problem... I need an accountability partner!

Getting the hang of eBay...

Wow! in less than a month, I have rid myself of about 30 items for a total selling price of about $200!! Okay, so it's not a gold mine, but it got me out of a tight spot! I have learned a little something: the US Postal Service has it out for the "regular people"! LOL  hahahahaha... no, seriously. Check this out:
I do not have a postage scale at home so I have to guess what the weight of a package is. I set the shipping charges on my listing by what I think the item weighs. I am a poor guesser! BUT parcel rate on a package takes 3x as long to get there, but saves me only 25 cents over Priority Mail! That's right, one quarter of a dollar, twenty-five cents! Plus, since I am adding delivery confirmation/tracking on each package, the deliv. conf. with Priority Mail is 10 cents LESS than with any other option!... so, really, it's costing only 15 (fifteen!) cents to upgrade to Priority service!... Fifteen cents to get there in 2 to 3 days, versus 9 to 11 days. My clerk always asks if I want to send a package Priority, I think the postal service is pushing priority mail. Maybe one day ALL packages will go priority 2-3 day and none will be dragging around the system for two weeks until someone finally decides to deliver it. Why would you not opt for Priority?

Ok, that's not where they get me.... it's the graduated postage scale... If a package is under 13 oz. it can ride first-class (cheap). GREAT! If it is 13.1 oz, however the rates jump up considerably and I am wondering why the postal service eliminated some of the smaller flat rate box styles and increased the rates 25% (twenty-five PERCENT, not 25c). GRRRRR!

But I am getting better with estimating. In 22 mailed packages, my postage error is under $15. (yeah, I did a couple of free shippings! like a dummy!) My eBay fees (listing, if any, and final value fees (9%!!)  and PayPal fees (30c plus 2.9% of total amount received)) and my postage costs errors, and any tape/boxes I have purchased for the endeavors have all run me about $60. Then, 22 sold items put $140 in my account. Not too bad? Paid cell bill, car insurance and one credit card. So, put to good use....

Still need a steady source of income. Thank goodness I hadn't donated ALL my stuff to Goodwill and could eBay some of it. Applied at a local department store last week. Won't hear back until after Christmas. PartyLite and Avon are a little slow while people are looking for instant delivery/ cash-and-carry items and not wanting the stress of waiting for shipment hoping it arrives in time. I DO have hostesses lined up for January, just need to remind them of their commitments... and check my class schedule! Classes start up again after the First.

Okay, enough chit chat! My room is a chaotic mess again! Today it's because I set up my little 3 ft Christmas tree on my dresser. Now I need to stow all the stuff that WAS on the dresser! Cute tree, though. It was my grandmother's. She bought a new fiber-optic tree that turns around and gave me her old pre-lit tree. It's nice. I should take a picture for you. (Haven't learned how to add pics yet). TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

eBay Rocks!

So, if you've been following... I am a financially challenged part-time college student. I applied to a couple of employment opportunities that interested me on careerbuilder.com, but have had no response from those applications. However, many MANY insurance agents are looking for new salesteam members .... and the local auto-mall needs more car salespeople... and a few spammers want to help me set up a bank account so I can help them broaden their business horizons in the US. Something's gotta give...

Enter eBay. The international auction site that has taken the world by storm and just keeps on rolling! I took a quick look at my personal inventory, you know, the stuff sitting for the past 10 years in storage (or some part of 10 years as I shuffle it in and out of use). I did a few searches on eBay to see if my "stuff" had reasonable cash value, and ... well, some of it does! So, how should I invoke my old seller ID and move this stuff from storage to bank account?... eBay has changed over the past couple of years while I was sleeping!

eBay gives sellers a lot more free helpers (Vendio services) to attract more customers and keep buyers in the seller's store longer. Seller feedback (from buyer) is a 5-star scale, buyer feedback (from seller) cannot be negative... it seems all payments must filter through PayPal or eBay gets really upset... it's ok. I prefer PayPal.

Some things have not changed. The postage rates continue to go up, and the services get consolidates (read: some cheaper options are no longer available). Buyers complain over shipping charges even when they come out ahead of the actual charge! Example: buyer wins auction on 3 separate items (textbooks). I consolidate shipping and send cheapest way (per request).... USPS Media Rate. The eBay postage calculator charges the buyer the exact postage (right to the penny!). At the post office, I pay an additional $0.80 for delivery confirmation. The buyer leaves me positive feedback but warns that my "shipping charges are pricey." Ah, well, I shot the buyer an email politely defending the charge. Very politely! I don't want to lose my new customer. I have other items they will want (based on purchase history) and have yet to be listed....

All this to say, I am glad I got back into eBay. I am paring down my clutter and stacking up some much needed dough (haha stack now, pay to insurance, phone, gasoline, Walmart, FoodLion, student loans...)