Sunday, October 23, 2016

Money On The Side

First, for those who don't enjoy Christmas - this is not a Christmas post!  Just a post about making money on the side any way you can.   I have one expensive hobby and that is traveling.  Even if you travel cheaply (usually we travel moderately but not cheaply due to our time constraints) you still need cash to make it happen.  Out of our regular paycheck we do contribute to our travel fund but in order to do the amount of travel we tend to like to do in a year I am on the constant lookout for ways to make money on the side that will not take away from our business and contribute to the travel funds.


Bought for $2 (missing one, pulled a pink one from my collection to make a set) sold for $8
This year that involved temping part-time at the company I used to work at before I joined hubby at our own company full-time.  I managed to make $1165 before tax but in the end had to say no when they asked me again in September as it turned from temping into regular part-time work and was definitely starting to interfere with our business.    That was enough after tax to almost cover one plane ticket to Greece!

One year ago we had a federal election and I worked the advance polls making just over $500 for the travel fund which went to our trip to Spain this past Spring.  That covered our very nice hotel in Madrid plus a couple of days meals and groceries.  I likely will apply to work our Spring Provincial election as depending on your position and whether you get hired for advance polls or just the day of I could make another $200-$500.  Working elections is extremely tiring work as they usually mean 12 hours on your feet with almost no breaks - but it is a fast injection to the travel fund so I am willing to do it.

In the mean time I keep purging possessions no longer needed like our DVD collection which 10 years ago hubby was very proud of but now has a ton of dust on it and is little used since we now use Netflix to meet our movie needs.  This is slow going but all of the money that goes from selling off little used items goes into our weekend away fund.  Sometimes I get sick of selling stuff so I take a break, because frankly, there are a lot of flakes out there who don't show up when they say they are going to or don't message back in a timely fashion.  The Facebook 24 hour bidding site still has some of that but is much better than the Craigslist route.

Bought for $2 sold for $8 (might have even cost $1, will keep better track)

I have another hobby, collecting vintage Christmas crap and now I have figured out how to make a little money on the side doing it. I am not sure what this specific money will go to but for now it is the "whatever in Greece fund".  I have a great eye for spotting vintage Christmas.  The money maker?Buy it for a buck or two and resell it.  Last year just before Christmas I found several types of ornaments(thrift store) of which I don't collect personally or have too many of already.  I put two sets of ornaments up for sale this weekend to test the water with a minimum bid of $8 each (bought for $2 each or cheaper, need to start keeping better track of that) and they both sold for the minimum bid.  Normally I would not put such a high bid on but I would rather keep these than see them sell any lower.  So, the total cost for the ornaments were $4 (max) and I sold them for $16 so $12 profit into my "whatever in Greece" fund.  That will buy us at least a bottle of wine or two so I am happy.  I still have a bunch of loose ornaments to auction and that is best done in November.  This may not make me a lot of money this year but I intend to buy stock in the next two month to sell in November 2017.  Finding stock is the hard part but I shall drag Mom along for the fun as we both loving hunting in thrift stores.   Now I no longer have to pass on something when I clearly see the value but it isn't to my specific taste.  Woohoo!  A hobby that pays!

26 comments:

  1. I too need to figure out the extras but time gets away from me. Good idea to combine your thrift hobby with money earning.

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    1. Seriously this takes almost no time except the listing, I would be thrifting anyway :)

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  2. There usual away to bring in a little extra cash or make dollar streach a little.
    Coffee is on

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    1. Every penny counts so even these small flips make a difference.

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  3. We both have the same passion for travel and I too am always on the look out for making some extra cash to top up the travel fund especially now we are living on a much smaller amount of money. I have sold a mountain of books, dvds and cds and have tentatively bought a few bits from the charity shops and sold at a profit which is great fun. I love your buying cheap Christmas decs idea I think I'm gonna give that a go although I'm not very patient so not sure I can hang onto stuff for so long lol.

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    1. If you enjoy thrifting you tend to come across this stuff on a regular basis in November and December, even right after Christmas. I have a large storage space so can afford to have at least one large rubber container full of them.

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  4. That's how I started with my full-time business, I used to trawl the chazzas in my lunch hour and list the stuff I found on eBay. Back in the early 2000s the profits were incredible. It used to pay for a month away in India.
    I'm not surprised those Xmas decs are being snapped up, vintage baubles sell here for upwards of £20 a box! x

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    1. Our Canadian postage is so bloody expensive that shot down my idea of selling on ebay or ETSY but this seems to work. I might get a lower selling price but no commission and if they don't show up to pay within 72 hours they are removed from the group and I can resell the item. Online these go for $15 to $20. Hard to find though. That is why I am having my Mom help me. There are certain days (November 12th after our Remembrance day for veterans) that the thrift stores put out there goodies. That day Mom and I are going hunting for Christmas thrift. I pre-trained Mom last year so she has a good idea of what I am looking for now.

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  5. I have some very vintage ornaments that were my grandmother's. They're probably quite valuable, but I can't sell them. I don't even put them out because I'm afraid they'll break. I did sell a few other old items at a vintage market this past weekend. I even traded a couple of things for a jar of honey.

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    1. I always put them out, even my Grandmothers, but carefully pack them away each year afterwards. My moving truck could have rolled and they would have probably still survived based on bubble wrap and rubbermaid containers :) Score on trading, I haven't tried that. Great idea.

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  6. Long ago, I sold ancient Christmas ornaments I owned. I scored $20 for two ornaments that were from 60s and typical for that era. I love those ornaments you sold! Good score for your hobby.

    pparsimony

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    1. Thanks! I have always loved them but this is the first time I ever bought for resale. Hopefully I will find some good stock this year.

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  7. I love hunting thrift stores. Den likes garage sales better.
    You are amazing!!! You always find such interesting things and to make money off of them-AWESOME!!!! I wanna be you when I grow up!!!!

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    1. The garage sales have really sucked this year, I ended up quit going to them and just prowl online and in the thrift store now. I find better stuff, maybe not quite as cheap but higher quality.

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  8. I would have paid $20.00 for those pink ornaments. I used to have some that my Grandmother had but they broke.

    How do I see what you or others are selling? Does one have to live near you to buy them?

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    1. Unfortunately only people in our local group (Comox Valley Only) are allowed in the group due to requirement to pickup within 72 hours. I know there are lots of similar ornaments on ETSY and ebay for $10-15 plus shipping. They are so delicate and break so easy. I have to pack them really really well in rubbermaid containers and still always have one or two that break every year.

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  9. Just starting to look into this fb selling page, do you have people come to your home or do you meet them away from your home? Thanks.

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    1. I meet them here at our home but always make sure my husband is home. That depends on your own personal feelings though. A friend only meets people in coffee shops as her husband is a policeman and doesn't want people coming to their house.

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  10. What is the URL for the bidding site you use? I've seen you mention it a few times and I'm interested in checking it out. Thank you.

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    1. Hello Bowser girl! The local site is https://www.facebook.com/groups/CV24HourBidding/

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  11. You really have figured out what works for you! Me - I'm too lazy. Or perhaps I should look at it in another way - I live so thriftily ALL of the TIME that I am able to save enough $$ throughout the year to fund my travel. Like you I set certain amounts for groceries, gas and misc and stay within those limits come hell or high water! There, now I feel better :)

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    1. You are the last person in the world I would call lazy :) I just hate when the travel fund is totally drained so always am scheming at ways to add to it more than just by saving out of our paychecks. Plus I love thifting this vintage Christmas stuff - I get to keep the best stuff and sell the mediocre stuff :)

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  12. Since our thrift store moved into a large space they have a whole aisle devoted to Christmas items, and it's there all year long, or at least since they opened last summer. - Margy

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    1. I wish! I just found out the Salvation Army's are putting theirs out right after Halloween slowly and then full-force on the 12th of November.

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  13. I love vintage Christmas decorations! Previously, I did sell on eBay full time. The vintage Christmas decor always sold. Packing it carefully to survive the trip was always stressful until the package arrived safely.

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