Thursday, November 8, 2018

The Fishing Fund


This is not a blog about Christmas decorations - I will have one of those the end of November.  This post is about reselling things to help with our fishing fund.  Back in May Mom and I went to a sale that a local club was having.  All purchases were by donation.  I gathered up a box of goodies and donated $20.  This resin truck with light up Christmas tree was in that box.  Not surprisingly due to being Spring, most of their Christmas items were barely looked at by others but since I am constantly on the lookout for vintage Christmas for my personal collection I always check out the Christmas section.  When I got home I realized that these are pretty popular and kind of difficult and expensive to find.  


I ended up keeping several items in the box and set aside the rest for resale.  I divided the $20 between all the items I planned on reselling - thus making those that I was keeping entirely free (Christmas lights to put on a real tree come December and a really nice Mexican vase)!  I assigned a $4 pricetag to it.  It sold for $24 - I was a bit shocked but glad as the buyer picked it up this morning.  Cha-ching!  $20 profit into the fishing fund!

I have only sold 2 items out of the box so far and they have totaled $31.  I've gotten out of doing auctions on our Facebook bidding site lately due to laziness but told myself this was the week so am running one or two auctions a day of the items I bought in the summer for resale.  In future I will consider buying more high end modern Christmas items for resale as I have zero interest in keeping the modern stuff for myself.

Halloween brought 41 trick or treaters to my house.  One arrived at 530 (a bit early if you ask me) and the rest between 630 and 810.  The rain held off and at 810 it just started pouring so we shut the lights off.  We didn't end up with too much extra candy so that is good.

I have been vintage Christmas hunting and been fairly successful this year at our thrifts - will share my find closer to Christmas.  It seems like vintage Christmas items are much harder to find these days, almost makes me want to hoard it instead of reselling any of it.  I used to think of myself as a minimalist but really, I still like my stuff, just tend to hoard slightly less than others.

Our truck is now fully fixed from our accident last month and my chest is healed enough to start Chiropractic treatments next week.  Hopefully in a couple of months we can put all that behind us. 

Our business is busy, hubby is busy wrapping up year long deals for next year already.  As it stands we currently have deals in place for over half our income in 2019, a lovely place to be going into a new year when you are self employed for 100% of your income.  Life overall is good - even better, later today I get to bottle the wine I made with my friend - 20 bottles for me and 10 for her.  That should keep us in wine for a while!

25 comments:

  1. Love the trucks. Would also love to hear how your buffing page on FB works or a tutorial for such a thing?

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    1. Our area someone started it now it has over 15000 people. It is just a reselling group that uses a 24 hour period for a bidding time. I don't think there are any moderators - maybe google facebook bidding site in your area to see if there are any. I am very lucky this exists as hate Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and Canada Post is way too expensive for ETSY and Ebay

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  2. The truck with the tree is great!
    I have not thought of collecting vintage Christmas items, mainly because I am overloaded with Christmas decor, but I might start with the idea of reselling! There are always great estate sales here when people start downsizing.

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    1. I try and collect it through the year then start selling it in November. This year though the vintage stuff is much harder to find...I might just have to hoard it for a while lol

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  3. Your new pickup truck with the tree in it is awesome for Christmas decor.

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    1. It is kind of neat, I collect only vintage though and it is a big piece to keep so I sold it

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  4. I hope you heal quickly once you can start chiropractic. We had more trick-or-treaters than we thought. In spite of us going out for dinner. We think about putting up a new doorbell because our new front door hasn't been installed. So the dog was our doorbell. In two hours we got maybe 25. Teddy was dressed and eager for the job as our canine door bell!

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    1. Buddy was the doorbell too, just not in a good way. Halloween is his least favorite of the year, he just really does not understand why people keep coming to the door. I tried locking myself in the bedroom with him to keep him calm but he still whines/yelps every time the doorbell rang when hubby was handing out candy. Oh well, we are done for another year now!

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  5. I'm hunting for a red truck ornament. They are hard to find or beyond my budget. One of our charity shops has Christmas items all year round and I keep my eye on it. All three now have Christmas items, but I'm finding the quality has gone down. Glad your chest issues are headed in the right direction.

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    1. I was just checking out the big selection at the Economy Shop this week. - Margy

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  6. As you know Xmas ain't my thing but that truck with the tree in tha back is rather cool!
    I always go decluttering overdrive at this time of year and stick a few bits and bobs on eBay - I don't think I'd have the patience with selling on Facebook when I see the ridicolous questions people ask - maybe Canadians aren't as stupid as the average Brit! x

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    1. Ah, people are equally stupid everywhere lol. I don't much feel like decluttering and selling in the summer so it is a good winter activity for us.

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  7. The red pickup truck with a tree in tow has become a popular symbol of the holidays and I can see why. It's so charming! I'm so glad to hear your chest is healing and also that your business is doing well. Let us know how the wine tastes! Cheers!

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    1. The wine is awesome, if you lived closer I'd share some :)

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  8. I'm so glad to read you are feeling better-less pain at least. I bought something similar and tucked it away for DH last year for Christmas this year. I can't remember specifically, but it was a vintage truck or wagon with tree from Target. I know people love that stuff as I'm one of them!

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  9. Great news about the business! Oh, and super jealous on the wine. :-)

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    1. In Alberta they only sold the wine kits, wouldn't actually make it for you. This is so much easier - and still way cheaper than expensive liquor at our Canadian (Taxes) liquor stores

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  10. Good to hear your truck is fixed, but most of all that you are healing up and able to start your treatments.

    I like that little truck! Continued good luck with your auctions.

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  11. Happy to here that you are healing. Good news on the truck repair and great news on the business forceast for 2019

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    1. Thanks Contessa, we work very hard and are thankful our business is so successful

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  12. You are so industrious to buy and sell items online. The few times I did it I found meeting with people and transferring the items was quite difficult, and I refuse to get involved with the cost and trouble with mailing. - Margy

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    1. Yeah, I agree, no mailing. Not worth my time :)

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  13. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/40180/cranberry-orange-cookies/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=Search
    This is the recipe I used for the cranberry orange cookies. If the link doesn't work, try Allrecipes.com and search for orange cranberry. The recipe should be the first one to come up. I didn't bother glazing the cookies, they taste delicious without it.
    Enjoy!

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