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March Frugalistas 2021


mommyoffive
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1 hour ago, cjzimmer1 said:

WOW!  I've never sold online. I take it you didn't put it at an auction since it's over so fast?  

I don't do auctions because ebay does not require the winner to pay immediately so people get burned on none payers a lot

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24 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

It's an auction - it has numerous bids. It's currently a little more than $150. So, I'm pretty happy with that. 

When does the auction end? And $150 is great. Hope it keep rising.

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33 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

It was supposed to end tomorrow. Ebay removed it for being offensive. So no sale.

I was worried that would happen. So far, facebook market hasn't been removing them so you could try there if you have the shipping option

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1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

I was worried that would happen. So far, facebook market hasn't been removing them so you could try there if you have the shipping option

I did as you suggested. Sold almost immediately at $175. There were several other ones out there at $195 and up, so I undercut just a bit to get it out. Not too shabby - already waiting to be dropped off at the PO by DH. He's off to get his vaccine in a few minutes and he'll drop it on his way. 

Money will go to the tuition fund (we have to pay for DD's German 3 class in May to get a discount).

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18 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

I did as you suggested. Sold almost immediately at $175. There were several other ones out there at $195 and up, so I undercut just a bit to get it out. Not too shabby - already waiting to be dropped off at the PO by DH. He's off to get his vaccine in a few minutes and he'll drop it on his way. 

Money will go to the tuition fund (we have to pay for DD's German 3 class in May to get a discount).

Yay! congrats.  

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20 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

I did as you suggested. Sold almost immediately at $175. There were several other ones out there at $195 and up, so I undercut just a bit to get it out. Not too shabby - already waiting to be dropped off at the PO by DH. He's off to get his vaccine in a few minutes and he'll drop it on his way. 

Money will go to the tuition fund (we have to pay for DD's German 3 class in May to get a discount).

Awesome!!!!!!!   New side hustle???

Also so awesome that your dh is getting a vaccine.

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12 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

if you haven't sold on facebook before just know they hold your funds for like 7 days after delivery is confirmed.  Unless you didn't do the payment through facebooks platform.

Yeah, I haven't sold at FB other than in person, so I assumed they would hold for a while. Good to know it's only about a week.

Thank you, again, for posting about the books. I would've never thought about people wanting them if I hadn't seen it here. Did you ever find Mulberry Street?

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21 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Awesome!!!!!!!   New side hustle???

Also so awesome that your dh is getting a vaccine.

I've always gone through streaks of selling. Sold American Girl stuff a lot when the girls were into it. Get in a huge lot, separate out, kids took what they wanted, and I sold some for a profit. Sold all of my mom's stuff (for a percentage) when she moved into an RV after retirement. I haven't done it in a couple years. I do have a couple of AG dolls that I should get out there for tax refund season - McKenna and Kirsten. 

DH is excited to have gotten it. He works for a pharmaceutical manufacturer, so he's eligible as an essential worker. Our county just opened it from the 65+ age group. They did the smaller school district, and the bigger one will be done next week. I got to register yesterday, although my tier won't be up until later this month. 

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1 hour ago, historically accurate said:

Yeah, I haven't sold at FB other than in person, so I assumed they would hold for a while. Good to know it's only about a week.

Thank you, again, for posting about the books. I would've never thought about people wanting them if I hadn't seen it here. Did you ever find Mulberry Street?

No, never found it.  Oh well.

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13 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Our Womens to Kids Shoe Size Chart Will Save You Money | Hip2Save

Did you guys know this?  I never ever knew this.  UGH.  It would have saved me so much money over the last 30 years. 

I didn't know this until my girls were about a size 4 in kids; they started switching between the two. I buy mine sometimes in the kids' section now if I can find them. My youngest can switch between the two easiest; the rest of us have around size 8, so it can be difficult to find in the kids' section.

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27 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Our Womens to Kids Shoe Size Chart Will Save You Money | Hip2Save

Did you guys know this?  I never ever knew this.  UGH.  It would have saved me so much money over the last 30 years. 

I knew there was overlap but not the exact pattern.  We've always bought kids shoes as long as we could possibly find them because my kids have all been into adult sizes long before they were ready to give up the bright colors, flashy lights and character emblems typically found in kids shoes.  My kids have typically been fully into adult sizes between 9-11 years old. For myself, I seldom can even find women's shoes that fit, I mostly shop in the men's department because even women's shoes are usually too small for me.  Shoe shopping is not fun when you have a family with big feet. 

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2 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I knew there was overlap but not the exact pattern.  We've always bought kids shoes as long as we could possibly find them because my kids have all been into adult sizes long before they were ready to give up the bright colors, flashy lights and character emblems typically found in kids shoes.  My kids have typically been fully into adult sizes between 9-11 years old. For myself, I seldom can even find women's shoes that fit, I mostly shop in the men's department because even women's shoes are usually too small for me.  Shoe shopping is not fun when you have a family with big feet. 

Oh I feel your pain.  I was an 8.5 from middle school until my last kid was born.  I though I got lucky and wasn't a person that was going to have their feet grow in pregnancy.  It happened after!  I now wear a 10 or 11 depending on brand.  Mostly 11s.  

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I spent many hours today organizing my home office, paying bills, and doing some bookkeeping for the business.  We are really nicely set financially. It is so refreshing being able to pay all the bills for the month with the first paycheck and still having a bit left over.  Refinancing the house was a huge help in that matter.  One huge issue I have is our internet bill went up $30 this month!  $30 is just insane! I will be making a phone call to Comcast about how I'm not pleased with that price hike and will be trying to negotiate it down.

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34 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I spent many hours today organizing my home office, paying bills, and doing some bookkeeping for the business.  We are really nicely set financially. It is so refreshing being able to pay all the bills for the month with the first paycheck and still having a bit left over.  Refinancing the house was a huge help in that matter.  One huge issue I have is our internet bill went up $30 this month!  $30 is just insane! I will be making a phone call to Comcast about how I'm not pleased with that price hike and will be trying to negotiate it down.

We don't have Comcast, but ours does that every year.  We call and get back to the down.  Sometimes it takes a call or two.  But we have to do it every year.

 

Just heard about dh's raise.  Yay.   Hopefully we will hear about bonus soon. 

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1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

We don't have Comcast, but ours does that every year.  We call and get back to the down.  Sometimes it takes a call or two.  But we have to do it every year.

 

Just heard about dh's raise.  Yay.   Hopefully we will hear about bonus soon. 

comcast is our only option in this neighborhood so it is really hard to negotiate down.  But Verizon just came into our neighborhood so I finally have a leg to stand on with the negotiations

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Just now, hjffkj said:

comcast is our only option in this neighborhood so it is really hard to negotiate down.  But Verizon just came into our neighborhood so I finally have a leg to stand on with the negotiations

Yeah we only have one provider option too.  Stinks.  But we also use the "we have been your customers for 15 years" card.  And that they have low rates for new customers so we ask to get what they are advertising.   We sometimes have to say we are going to disconnect, but usually it is just about calling and getting the right person who will offer the deal. 

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Got some high ticket items listed today: vitnage white sox hat I pick up for .99, vintage Optimus Prime costume got for free,and a vintage Halloween themed handbag (I actually want to keep it but I wont.) I've got a bunch of big ticket items just sitting waiting to be listed and these were the easiest.

One that I have is an old board game that goes for $300 complete.  This is a game from our childhood but it was in the basement and got kinda gross so I think I may have to piece it out and sell the parts that art gross.  No mold on it thankfully.

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Yesterday was youngest DD's birthday. Quiet day except it started with the cats cornering, but not knowing how to kill, a mouse in the kitchen at 4 am! Ugh! Youngest made her own cupcakes, as she's the baker, and she chose Little Caesar's for dinner. She and middle DD organized youngest's room, which is also one of youngest's hobbies. 

Middle DD has been researching colleges like crazy this week. All of a sudden, she's had a burst of academic energy. She's even started understanding math and is doing very very well in everything else. I think it might be caffeine - she's had her period this week, and has been taking midol for the first time. Midol has caffeine. Maybe it's lifted the brain fog a little. We'll definitely be testing that theory. 

Today is grocery pickup day; it was a very light week - only $100, of which $20 was moisturizer the dermatologist wanted DD to use. Probably a library day as well. Youngest DD won a gift card to Amazon for the winter reading program, and she is anxious to pick it up.  

There'll be no OT for DH again this week as he had to wait in a 2 1/2 hour line to get his Covid vaccine on Thursday, so he ended up needing to use a half day of PTO. If he was able to go there and return within an hour, they weren't going to "charge" him. Oh, well, he's vaccinated and has only had a sore arm and a little tiredness. Partly due to chasing a mouse around the kitchen at 4 am!

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The only frugal thing for our week but it was super helpful was getting a hand me down winter coat for ds10. His wasn’t going to work for a third winter so super helpful. Oh! I forgot, we got the farmers to families box too, that was a nice addition 

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14 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

My .99 hat sold this morning for $60 plus shipping! And while I was at Goodwill today I found 6 vintage sports Jerseys.  2 of them are looking to be in the few hundred dollars comp wise, $4.49 each

 

Your Goodwill rocks. My thrift store has ripped and stained Walmart and Target clothes. Very rarely do I find anything good. 

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15 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

My .99 hat sold this morning for $60 plus shipping! And while I was at Goodwill today I found 6 vintage sports Jerseys.  2 of them are looking to be in the few hundred dollars comp wise, $4.49 each

 

You have the best Goodwill!  Lucky duck.  Do you have a picture of the hat you sold?  Was it a Chicago baseball team hat?  I grew up going to Sox and Cubs games, wondering if I had one of those hats?  Am I vintage? 

The Goodwill that I went to last year didn't have anything good.  I always watch the youtubers and wish that I had an awesome Goodwill like they do.  

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5 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

You have the best Goodwill!  Lucky duck.  Do you have a picture of the hat you sold?  Was it a Chicago baseball team hat?  I grew up going to Sox and Cubs games, wondering if I had one of those hats?  Am I vintage? 

The Goodwill that I went to last year didn't have anything good.  I always watch the youtubers and wish that I had an awesome Goodwill like they do.  

When my kids were littler, they did a lot of science classes in the suburbs of Chicago, I found a fantastic Goodwill in Batavia. I used to love to go there. However, it's over an hour to go there if I just want to shop, so I'm left with Goodwill and Salvation Army around here, and they're not good options.

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23 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

You have the best Goodwill!  Lucky duck.  Do you have a picture of the hat you sold?  Was it a Chicago baseball team hat?  I grew up going to Sox and Cubs games, wondering if I had one of those hats?  Am I vintage? 

The Goodwill that I went to last year didn't have anything good.  I always watch the youtubers and wish that I had an awesome Goodwill like they do.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254891692499 This is the one.  White Sox hat.  My dad is from Chicago and he took me to a few White Sox games when we visited each year.

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20 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

When my kids were littler, they did a lot of science classes in the suburbs of Chicago, I found a fantastic Goodwill in Batavia. I used to love to go there. However, it's over an hour to go there if I just want to shop, so I'm left with Goodwill and Salvation Army around here, and they're not good options.

Is Batavia still ritzy? I think it probably helps to go to Goodwills in a richer area.  It stinks to not have good resale stores around.  Reselling seems like a fun business.

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17 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Is Batavia still ritzy? I think it probably helps to go to Goodwills in a richer area.  It stinks to not have good resale stores around.  Reselling seems like a fun business.

It's fairly ritzy. I used to go in there while the kids did their class and come out with Hanna Andersson, Gymboree, and lots of one off boutique brands. As well as Loft and Lane Bryant and CJ Banks for me. One time it got really, really cold with a storm coming through while I was in there, and I picked up sweaters for the kids to wear home for $1.50 each since they were in shorts and tees, they wore them for the season, and I sold them for $20ish after the season was over. Maybe I need to make a trip once I'm shopping in person again. 

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I've only ever had one really super awesome thrift store.  I found a LL Bean men's down filled parka in nearly new condition for $20.  To top it off it was a large tall.  It's so hard to find tall that isn't big and tall and large tall was the exact size my bean pole son needed.  The exact style had been discontinued but the closest competitor I found on the website at the time was that the coat retailed for something between $350-400. 5 years later he's still wearing that coat and it looks just as good as when I bought it.  I laughed at DS2 when he told me he would like me to find a coat just like his older brother's because those are once in a lifetime finds.  He settled for something else.

I was at Goodwill today, can't say I saw anything special but then generally speaking I wouldn't know if it was special looking at it anyways since brands mean nothing to me.  It's so cool @hjffkj how well you are doing with your new business!

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1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

That doesn't even look that old.  Is it from the 90s?  I am so old apparently.

Yes, 90s I believe. I was trying to get stains out of it and put it in oxiclean. Stupid me didn't think about the tags. I faded them real bad. I could have sold it for more had I not ruined them 😓. I  actually could have likely listed it higher and sold it in a few weeks but right now I'm all about faster flips.

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18 minutes ago, Thatboyofmine said:

@hjffkj, I’m following you now on eBay.  Not stalking, but trying to gain experience from the master.  😆  you need to have a YouTube video on flipping stuff. 

Well don't laugh at our bad quality photos. Kids are still learning and it doesn't seem to be hurting our sales.

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On 3/6/2021 at 9:24 AM, historically accurate said:

Just got a free Sam's Club membership. Don't know if it's available to anyone else: From Discover Card. Use your Discover Card to purchase a $45 membership, get a $45 card credit. I got an email with the link to activate. I figured it gives me another option. 

Quoting myself because I got an email this morning notifying me that I have 2000 Swagbucks pending for having done this. So I actually made about $20 activating my membership. I'll take it.

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26 minutes ago, Thatboyofmine said:

@hjffkj, if someone makes an offer on something on eBay, can the other people 'watching' see that an offer has been made?    I've received an offer on something and I'm curious.  

A buyer can only see how many offers have been made but not the amount of those offers

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15 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Quoting myself because I got an email this morning notifying me that I have 2000 Swagbucks pending for having done this. So I actually made about $20 activating my membership. I'll take it.

That is a great deal. I've thought about it but don't have one in my city and don't go there often for that kind of deal might be worth it anyway.

 

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Bought some wanted kitchen items as they were a good deal on special buy at Aldi's last week. Also, finally bought a new pillow at Wal-Mart. Went ahead and bought bulk for some pantry items so the grocery budget will be squeezed between $100 for pork and $80 for pantry supplies that only leaves $420 this month.

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Dh sold an older nail gun to help pay for a newer one for building the shop. In the end it will end up a wash cash wise but he will have newer nicer equipment with lower operating costs.

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Redeemed cash back on CC for vaca along with my paycheck this month I'm at 52.6% funded for the vaca.

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Bought DisneyPlus subscription while Ibotta had a rebate going. I had been wanting to so we could watch WandaVision and some other upcoming shoes but have been waiting on the rebate.

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Have to send a letter to the collection agency today disputing the charge. I am also awaiting another call from insurance on this and also the bill that has been denied. The insurance supervisor called last week, some of the charges have been paid and she is working on the others.

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Still waiting on tax refund!

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Budget reconciled this morning.

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Still need to call the endodontist re: refund on overpayment. I'm really tired of stressful phone calls, last week had enough for the month.

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