A month of hard work

Thanks to Ramit's 30-day challenge, you may recall that I got inspired to get off my keister and see what extra funds I could bring in.


Here's how I did:

• Finally returned some clothes to Sierra Trading Post ($20.07 net)

• Complained to Blockbuster Online that my subscription never changed as requested (one free month -- $19.99 -- and $15 less for a lower-rate plan after that

• Switched my mom as account holder for the cell phone and renegotiated the cable internet charge ($41 net)

• Sold dishes from my wedding ($40)

• Sold poker set ($5)

• Sold some kids' clothes/toys I had laying around ($7.50)

• Sold books that I wasn't ever going to reread ($70)

All told, the money brought in/saved was $203.96. (That's not including the $15/month change for Blockbuster, since it was supposed to have switched two months prior and was thus already budgeted at $19.99/month.)



In addition, I didn't get everything done that I had hoped to. So for December:

• Call back Dish Network and get them to make me a better offer for our service or threaten to switch to cable.

• Put the Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD set on eBay finally. I never got around to it in November.

• Consider putting a $50 gift card from Cost Plus World Market onto eBay. A thoughtful gift from my aunt, but I just don't shop there.
  

• Sell a large bronze sun that used to hang on my shed -- and has needed a home for about three years now. (I have someone interested, but we weren't able to meet up before the end of the month.)

• Put a few more items on Craigslist that didn't sell before. (Because, really, worst case scenario is that they still don't sell.)

This probably won't net me another $200, but hey you never can tell... Any extra funds right now are wonderful. I also need to start focusing on a couple of homemade gifts that I planned to work on for this upcoming holiday season.


My hope is to sprinkle some ideas throughout the next month on various gifts that you can give that will a) cost very little and/or b) not add to people's clutter.


So I guess now we start facing this next month. It's here and the holiday shopping season is already in countdown mode.


Just remember: The holidays were supposed to be fun. Maybe we can get that back this year.

Ka-ching!

Well, this weekend was relatively sedate. I did almost nothing other than play online games and let my brain turn to mush.


Tim, on the other hand, went to the state competition for Magic the Gathering. Out of over 300 participants, he came in 12th (whoo hoo!) and was pretty psyched. We celebrated in my own miserly way by going to a restaurant with an Entertainment Book coupon.


But on to the title of this post: I have finally sold a few items!


I sold a total of $52.50 of stuff. Of that, $40 came from selling the dishes from our wedding. Amazingly, we about broke even on those, since we found them on an amazing clearance sale for 39 cents each.


A little "Texas Hold 'Em Poker Set" also went quickly for $5. I once thought I was going to organize a poker night, so it was a Christmas gift from my mom. It's barely seen use in the 3 years I've had it. It went to a non-profit for animals, which is starting to hold fundraising "Catsino" nights.


And a couple with a 9 month old came and bought a whole bunch of stuffed animals from the baby items. They walked away with a bag of toys. I walked away with $7.50. Everyone was happy.



Meanwhile, when my mom called to cancel the cable internet, they offered her a 6-month price of $22.95. We could get $19.99 by switching it into Tim's name, but there would be the chance we'd be without a connection for a few days. I think it's worth $3 for now to avoid that hassle.


However, I can't officially count those savings until we switch the cell phone into her name. That's on this week's to-do list. For ages now, she's been paying for the internet and I've been paying for the cell phone. It is pretty close to an even trade. Once everything is officially switched, though, that will be $41 more in savings.


So, the current standings on the challenge are:

Save: $41.00 (pending)
Sell: $52.50


That will bring me pretty close to that first $100 for this month. Not bad, given how frugally we already live.


There is still more money to be made/saved, though.

• I plan on listing a still-in-shrink-wrap Buffy Season One DVD on eBay. That could net around $10-15.
• I still haven't gotten around to sorting my books and seeing if I can get some cash for them.
  
• One woman has contacted me about buying ink cartridges (the new printer needs a different type). That would be $7.
• Another woman is interested in a bunch of tulle from the wedding. That would be $15.
  
• I discovered that, for some reason, the changes to our Blockbuster account never went through. So we're still at $34.99, instead of $19.99. And I found out the day that the card was charged for this coming month. Sigh. I should have caught it last month, but oh well. The point is, I'm going to call and do some major complaining.
• I'm still working on Vindale, but since it requires free trial offers and I get overwhelmed easily, I'm only doing two at a time. And I'm relying heavily on my calendar to keep me on my toes.
• I've been working with Cash Crate but so far a bunch of pending earnings have been "pending" for more than a week. I contacted them on Friday to see if this is a normal lag time, if I'm missing some step that gets me verified, or if there's some other reason for this. I certainly don't want to do any more for them until I'm sure my efforts will be reimbursed.
  

At any rate, I will definitely be far below Ramit's $1000 challenge. But as he was so eager to point out, I'm not his target audience. Still, if I can even bring in $200 extra, that would be significant for us at the moment.



So, now's the time I would love some feedback, folks. Is anyone else trying some version of Ramit's challenge? How's it going?


Can you think of some other way I could be paring down or earning more?


Does anyone have any experience with Cash Crate? Is my experience normal? Or a glitch? Or perhaps you want to rant or rave about the program in general?

Save some money: De-clutter

It could just be winter fever setting in early. Or maybe it's almost two months without a working vacuum. (I finally broke down and borrowed someone's because I couldn't stand it anymore.)


Whatever the reason, I've been going absolutely bonkers in our apartment.


Combined with Ramit's 30-day challenge, it's an excellent reminder about one of the best ways to save money: De-clutter.


There are actually 3 ways that paring down your belongings can benefit you financially.



Sell your stuff

Whether you go for Craigslist, eBay, or garage sales, you can get some greenbacks for your unwanted items. This can go toward bills or your emergency fund, but no matter what, extra money is always good.


The other great way to make some money is selling your books.


This is hard for me, because I love books. I grew up in a single-wide trailer that had 17 bookcases of varying heights. So the idea of getting rid of books is practically blasphemy. I love books.


But the thing is, I rarely reread anything. I can think of perhaps 5 books that I have willingly reread since high school. So, this Friday night, I will be making some piles of books to resell to stores in the University District. (Always be sure to call and find out days and times that they buy.)



More space

People tend to complain about lack of space. There's the old adage that we all manage to expand our possessions to fill available space.


This, in turn, means we feel cramped. We're aware of the clutter. It drives us to get even bigger places, which we adeptly fill up, or to go out more to escape the mess and the claustrophobia. Either way, you're spending money: on higher rent or on food/drinks/cover charges.



No more organizational products


If you're anything like me, your eyes get kind of wide-eyed in the organization aisle of the store. In this hallowed arena are plenty of (slightly overpriced -- but not enough to deter you) items that promise to put order in the chaos of your life.

• Organize your closet -- it will be serene and you'll finally wear all those clothes you buy.
  

• Organize your cupboards -- you'll never have to root around around for that spice. You'll stop losing track of groceries, and will use everything you buy. Uber-thrifty!

• Organize your desk -- never hunt for a pen again! Enjoy a clean, orderly work space that increases productivity.

You get the idea. The point is that companies like Rubbermaid, Ikea, and Martha Stewart take financial advantage of our fantasies of an orderly existence.


But these items wouldn't be necessary if we had less stuff to begin with. It's a lot harder for there to be clutter when you have only what you need.


When you think about it, these products are just another form of materialism. They enable rampant consumerism. Heck, they wouldn't exist without it!


More importantly, they perpetuate the system of buying to make ourselves happy. They promise a better life, with the purchase of this one product (or, at least, one product line). It's another way to get us to believe that happiness lies in a store.


So I, quite literally, am no longer buying it!



*****


As for my version of Ramit's 30 day challenge, the results are mixed.


Selling:

No actual sales yet, though a couple people have expressed interest in a few items. And I have identified a few more items that I might be able to sell.


Savings:

I will get $20.07 back from a return. We got some shirts from Sierra Trading Post in April. Two of them weren't Tim's favorite. But we forgot to send it back and the label expired. Today I checked with an agent and they are still returnable. That will be credited back to my card, but I'm still counting it as savings because this challenge is what finally got me off my duff.


The real savings, though, will come in the form of internet. For reasons too long to explain, my cable modem bill is currently in my mom's name and her cell phone bill is in my name. We've been meaning for some time to switch, but as of tomorrow she's supposed to call and start the process. Then, Tim or I should be able to sign up for an introductory deal for the Internet. This means I'll go from paying around $60 a month to $19.99. (Or, at worst, $29.99.)


I'm still investigating TV savings. I am planning on calling Comcast in the next couple of days to see what specials they have, but so far it's not looking great. I called Dish to find out if there were any special offers for committing to another contract. The best they offered me was $2.98 a month for DVR (instead of $5.98) if I signed up for 2 years (!!!) so that's not of much interest.


Yes, $3 a month is still savings. But usually starting in late November, cable and satellite companies start offering really juicy savings. Given that people are staying home even more, I figure they will really start pedaling deals this year. So I want to keep my options open for a few more weeks.



Earning:

Through Vindale, Cash Crate and occasionally Squishy Cash, I am earning in dribs and drabs. With Vindale, I like to do only a couple of offers at a time, since I have to be careful to cancel free trials before being billed.


I'm using a calendar to keep close track of which programs to cancel on which days. Still, my depression sometimes makes small tasks seem insurmountable, so I am trying to keep the schedule light.


Today, though, I signed up for a program which, after I cancel in 10 days, will net me $12. And on Cash Crate and Squishy Cash combined, I earned about $5 while watching TV. So this is a potential source for bringing in some extra dollars, here and there.


I'll try to get a running total once a few of my pending earnings have been processed, which should be soon.


Is anyone else trying something along these lines? I know a few of you were inspired by the spirit (if not the tone) of Ramit's challenge.