mommyoffive Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 The year is halfway done. How are things going? Are your goals being accomplished? What do you have planned for summer? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 Things are.......well, they are. LOL Our end of month was destroyed when I took dh with me to the mall. Ds and I were picking out a gift for a friend of his, and dh has this habit of going into the different electronics shops and asking if they have any PS5s. The employees usually chuckle and say something like, "I wish!" Well, that changed when the guy at Best Buy said, "yeah! We got in 4, the first time in 2 years we've had any!" So now we own one. *sigh* I hope June is a little more budgeted. Ds did pick out a gift for his friend, a $30 Lego set that he was sure the kid was going to love. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 2 minutes ago, HomeAgain said: Things are.......well, they are. LOL Our end of month was destroyed when I took dh with me to the mall. Ds and I were picking out a gift for a friend of his, and dh has this habit of going into the different electronics shops and asking if they have any PS5s. The employees usually chuckle and say something like, "I wish!" Well, that changed when the guy at Best Buy said, "yeah! We got in 4, the first time in 2 years we've had any!" So now we own one. *sigh* I hope June is a little more budgeted. Ds did pick out a gift for his friend, a $30 Lego set that he was sure the kid was going to love. Father's Day Present? He got lucky. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condessa Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 We are okay. We have had one thing and another eat up a chunk of the savings we had set aside for the yard. We are in a much better situation than many, for which I am grateful. But I am worrying about the future. We are living quite frugally, and that is fine. We are trying to still fill the IRAs for the year, but are behind. Unlike dh's prior jobs, there are no other retirement savings as benefits, so there will only be a retirement for him in the future if we make it happen. He hates his job and his health is not great. We can't just plan on him working forever. We also have five years until oldest graduates high school, and then will have college to deal with, with lots of years of overlapping multiple college students. We've never intended to give them a free ride, but we wanted to help them with costs. Our ability to set aside for college has been significantly diminished by the extra costs of ds's medical care, like gas and babysitting and shoes that will work with his leg brace. And we are close to losing the secondary health insurance the kids have through the state based on income. (We now have phantom income we don't actually see that goes towards buying into the partnership.) I'm hoping they will still qualify for next year, but when we lose that it will be maybe 10-12K more per year in medical bills. FAFSA doesn't care if your brother has cancer, or even if a family has multiple kids in college with the recent changes, so I'm sure the expected family contribution will be far more than we actually have to give. There are actually a lot of scholarship funds for kids with cancer, but very few for their siblings. I've been thinking about how I could bring in some money to set aside for helping with college expenses. Going out and getting a job isn't possible. I've tried a little Goodwill buying and reselling in the past, but I'm not great at knowing what will sell well, so I've had some losses. Also our local Goodwill hub has decided not to go back to letting online purchasers pick up purchases in-store, so paying shipping both ways makes that less profitable. I would be great at tutoring, but worry about being unreliable for students with ds's unpredictable varying symptoms from day to day and appointments. I could get a state cottage food seller's license and sell homemade bread. I wonder if that would be worth the effort? I've also been reading about becoming an audiobook narrator. Our walk-in closet could be used for a recording room. You need to have experience either in acting or in narrating to get narrating jobs, and I don't have acting experience, but I could do some free narration for librivox to gain experience. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 I'm aiming for a low spend month of June. Not sure yet what that entails but I'll figure it out tonight after I take stock of what needs we have coming up. One good thing is we are done purchasing things for house projects until hopefully the fall! We are behind on our savings goals for the year because of inflation but we'll start catching up July when dh gets his first paycheck for the new position. With dh having a car to take to work now I'll have time to start paying attention to my ebay business again. The goal for June is to list 50 items. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 We are rolling into June with 2 sick kids. Already $120 in copays and unknown bill from Peds ER. All cars need oil changes, so that's easily $100. I have put off a haircut for months, knowing that after surgery I would just want a pony or bun so it would be out of the way. $40 there. Father's Day will be frugal. No June birthdays. My sister is due to deliver any day so we will travel to see baby some time in June. The good news is that I am working again at about 75-80% my normal rate so we are starting to bounce back rather than hobble along. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 (edited) @Brittany1116 Ugh, I hope your kids feel better soon. I hope your surgery goes well. Yay for working and be able to bounce back. Edited May 31, 2022 by mommyoffive 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 27 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said: We are rolling into June with 2 sick kids. Already $120 in copays and unknown bill from Peds ER. All cars need oil changes, so that's easily $100. I have put off a haircut for months, knowing that after surgery I would just want a pony or bun so it would be out of the way. $40 there. Father's Day will be frugal. No June birthdays. My sister is due to deliver any day so we will travel to see baby some time in June. The good news is that I am working again at about 75-80% my normal rate so we are starting to bounce back rather than hobble along. Hope the kids feel better. I have a feverish 2 year old in my lap right now 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 Thanks. Yours, too @hjffkj. One has scarlett fever and the other, an eye and ear infection. They are never ever sick at the same time. In fact, one hasn't been sick in over 4 years. So it's very odd they are both down, and with different things. The one with scarletina has had summer strep 3-4 times in his life now. This time there were zero symptoms until the rash broke out suddenly. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Ugh ugh ugh. In may we paid $350 for a band aid fix on my car. Then yesterday dh’s little commuter car broke down on the way home and he needed picked up. And a tow. And he took my car to work this morning so I have to drive the farm truck which was empty, and when I went to the gas station, gas has gone up 25 cents since yesterday. The pump cut me off at $75 and the truck was not quite full. 😡 His commuter car is our one with the least amount of miles on it, 215,000 and I am just at the end of my rope 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 I'm jumping in... I'm focusing on my spending, not dh's though. I signed us up for a CSA type thing with a farm in town. For $30, they'll deliver produce to my house once a week in June. I added a tip, too. They're new at this and I'm hoping it goes well for all of us and they continue it past June. I set my grocery budget at $200 weekly at the beginning of the year and I've kept it around $160. Going to try to get that lower now that I can cut out buying most veggies and just make do with whatever is in the produce box. I started selling on Poshmark at the end of February. It has taken me a long while to get my footing and figure out what sells and what doesn't. I'm still learning. I have to go thrifting tomorrow for more inventory. I'm trying to focus on higher quality, so we'll see if I get lucky tomorrow. Today is turkey clubs and chips for supper. I'm trying to find cheap recipes for summer. I don't want to cook because it's so dang hot! I just spent $27 on a tshirt today, but I wear them out, literally until there's holes in them. I am down to only one left in my closet. This purchase should also get me posh ambassador status and *maybe* that will help with sales, but who knows. It's kind of a crap shoot over there sometimes. I hope we all have a cheap June, lol! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 15 minutes ago, saraha said: Ugh ugh ugh. In may we paid $350 for a band aid fix on my car. Then yesterday dh’s little commuter car broke down on the way home and he needed picked up. And a tow. And he took my car to work this morning so I have to drive the farm truck which was empty, and when I went to the gas station, gas has gone up 25 cents since yesterday. The pump cut me off at $75 and the truck was not quite full. 😡 His commuter car is our one with the least amount of miles on it, 215,000 and I am just at the end of my rope I am sorry @saraha! DH did one oil change. $32. I made an appt for another. $61. Then the third will need to be done end of month. So over my $100 budget bc the second is a high mile synthetic and I forgot about that upcharge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 1 hour ago, saraha said: Ugh ugh ugh. In may we paid $350 for a band aid fix on my car. Then yesterday dh’s little commuter car broke down on the way home and he needed picked up. And a tow. And he took my car to work this morning so I have to drive the farm truck which was empty, and when I went to the gas station, gas has gone up 25 cents since yesterday. The pump cut me off at $75 and the truck was not quite full. 😡 His commuter car is our one with the least amount of miles on it, 215,000 and I am just at the end of my rope Ugh that sucks. I am so sorry. The prices of gas are insane and how everyday they are higher and higher and higher. I am just trying to block it out, because for some reason it stresses me the HECK out. Not very mature, but man these prices are just hard to bear and I think they are going to go higher and higher. And cars breaking down is just stressful and annoying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 1 hour ago, WildflowerMom said: I'm jumping in... I'm focusing on my spending, not dh's though. I signed us up for a CSA type thing with a farm in town. For $30, they'll deliver produce to my house once a week in June. I added a tip, too. They're new at this and I'm hoping it goes well for all of us and they continue it past June. I set my grocery budget at $200 weekly at the beginning of the year and I've kept it around $160. Going to try to get that lower now that I can cut out buying most veggies and just make do with whatever is in the produce box. I started selling on Poshmark at the end of February. It has taken me a long while to get my footing and figure out what sells and what doesn't. I'm still learning. I have to go thrifting tomorrow for more inventory. I'm trying to focus on higher quality, so we'll see if I get lucky tomorrow. Today is turkey clubs and chips for supper. I'm trying to find cheap recipes for summer. I don't want to cook because it's so dang hot! I just spent $27 on a tshirt today, but I wear them out, literally until there's holes in them. I am down to only one left in my closet. This purchase should also get me posh ambassador status and *maybe* that will help with sales, but who knows. It's kind of a crap shoot over there sometimes. I hope we all have a cheap June, lol! Wow that CSA sounds like a deal. Good for you staring your Poshmark business. Keep us posted on how it goes. Are you only selling clothes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 I stopped into Goodwill today and was astonished by how many professional shoppers were there. I think a lot of people are trying to flip books, Pyrex, purses and other things where they can get a higher margin of profit. Thrifting here is always kind of bleak but it was more so than usual. Prices are even higher there than last time. Youngest got a not-designer, non-premium brand fleece sweater for fall for $9.99. I didn’t see a lot of good clothing….it’s either picked over or people are selling on posh mark instead of donating. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 We’ve been mostly hitting our goals. We chose to de-fund one goal (vacation fund) in order to have more monthly cash flow for groceries. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said: I stopped into Goodwill today and was astonished by how many professional shoppers were there. I think a lot of people are trying to flip books, Pyrex, purses and other things where they can get a higher margin of profit. Thrifting here is always kind of bleak but it was more so than usual. Prices are even higher there than last time. Youngest got a not-designer, non-premium brand fleece sweater for fall for $9.99. I didn’t see a lot of good clothing….it’s either picked over or people are selling on posh mark instead of donating. Goodwill here is so pricey I can't do any thrifting there. They are outrageous. Our thrift stores, including goodwill, are busting at the seams with merchandise that you literally can't see most of the brands or sizes because everything is so packed in the racks. I walk out sweating every time I go thrifting because I'm constantly fighting packed clothes racks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 (edited) I don't sell clothes because the resale market is over saturated with clothing flippers, plus there is a high rate of return. Books aren't worth picking through at Goodwill. If you want to resell books, you are better off going to estate auctions and buying there. No one wants to lug home heavy books so you will get tons of them for $5-10 a box. I still find treasures at Goodwill, but I have to go in regularly to strike gold. Recent sales were Coach purses for $30-40 each, I had 5 of them, (bought for $7-10 each), Tony Lama belts and buckles, I had 2 of them, (bought for $16, sold for $85), Dansko shoes (bought for $10, sold for $35), NWT military boots, bought for $30, sold for $100), Hobo International wallet, (bought for $3, sold for $35). Even at Goodwill, the pricing people in back will miss things. Edited June 2, 2022 by MissLemon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 30 minutes ago, MissLemon said: I don't sell clothes because the resale market is over saturated with clothing flippers, plus there is a high rate of return. Books aren't worth picking through at Goodwill. If you want to resell books, you are better off going to estate auctions and buying there. No one wants to lug home heavy books so you will get tons of them for $5-10 a box. I still find treasures at Goodwill, but I have to go in regularly to strike gold. Recent sales were Coach purses for $30-40 each, I had 5 of them, (bought for $7-10 each), Tony Lama belts and buckles, I had 2 of them, (bought for $16, sold for $85), Dansko shoes (bought for $10, sold for $35), NWT military boots, bought for $30, sold for $100), Hobo International wallet, (bought for $3, sold for $35). Even at Goodwill, the pricing people in back will miss things. Are you selling on eBay? I've haven't sold on there in a long time and always got screwed by shipping costs. Any tips for that (if you do use eBay)? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 16 minutes ago, WildflowerMom said: Are you selling on eBay? I've haven't sold on there in a long time and always got screwed by shipping costs. Any tips for that (if you do use eBay)? Yes, eBay. How did you get screwed on shipping? Are you weighing items before listing them and choosing shipping method? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 15 minutes ago, MissLemon said: Yes, eBay. How did you get screwed on shipping? Are you weighing items before listing them and choosing shipping method? No, I guessed. 🤦🏻♀️😆 that's why I like PM, because there's nothing to stress over with shipping. Do you have one of those small shipping scales? Then go by whatever is cheapest way to mail? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 6 minutes ago, WildflowerMom said: No, I guessed. 🤦🏻♀️😆 that's why I like PM, because there's nothing to stress over with shipping. Do you have one of those small shipping scales? Then go by whatever is cheapest way to mail? Yes, I have a small shipping scale. I offer a few different ways to ship, but lead with the cheapest. If it's an expensive item, I add in insurance costs. But yeah, weigh and measure your items otherwise you are flying blind. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 How about a June check in about gas prices near you. I last drove last Tuesday and prices were 4.39 then. Today 4.77-4.89 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 $5.07 at Costco. $5.29 most places (grocery store associated, and regional chains). $5.50 at the Shell and BP places. I think the big summer jump is going to happen in about two weeks, fwiw, and it will be high through Labor Day and then adjust back to about where we are now. I think that's our best case scenario. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 @MissLemon @WildflowerMom @hjffkj So impressed with you ladies running your reselling businesses on PM and Ebay. I think I want to get into this. I don't have a good thrift store near me, so I don't know how I work around that. But I do have lots of things in the house. Tell me your story and your business. Where do you source? What do you sell? What are the costs of Ebay or PM? How much are you making gross and net per month? Are you finding it worth your time? Anything else you can think of that would be helpful to advise a newbie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 20 minutes ago, mommyoffive said: @MissLemon @WildflowerMom @hjffkj So impressed with you ladies running your reselling businesses on PM and Ebay. I think I want to get into this. I don't have a good thrift store near me, so I don't know how I work around that. But I do have lots of things in the house. Tell me your story and your business. Where do you source? What do you sell? I source at multiple Goodwills, yard sales, and Facebook marketplace. I sell anything I find that has value. I know the most about videogames, toys, and boardgames. What are the costs of Ebay or PM? EBay charges fees as a percentage of the sold amount(including shipping if buyer pays.) The percentage taken changes depending on the category the item is sold in. How much are you making gross and net per month? Are you finding it worth your time? It is certainly worth my time but there is a learning curve for sourcing, taking pictures, listing, and packaging that will make it seem not worth it at first. But if you keep going you get more efficient, more knowledgeable, and increase net profits when taking into account time spent. I haven't listed anything in a while so right now I'm passively masking a few hundred bucks net a month. When I was consistently listing and sourcing it was over $1000/month for maybe 5 hours of work a week. Anything else you can think of that would be helpful to advise a newbie? SOurcing is a lot of fun but you don't make money by sourcing. So, be realistic with the time spent sourcing compared to listing. Also, if you are completely new to eBay there is a hi likelihood that your first offer or sale will be a scam. So, always check a buyers footprint on eBay before accepting an offer. Lastly, you will make a mistake in regards to pricing shipping. It happens, that is how you learn. To avoid that, figure out actual shipping while you list. I personally never figured out shipping ahead of time and certainly lost profits because of it. But not often enough in the beginning to deter me. Now I can look at an item and know pretty closely how much it'll cost no matter what part of the country I'm sending it. I don't do international yet. Answers are in the quote. We have amazing thrift stores in the area and while prices have gone up, it is still easy enough to find items worth the increased cost that will make a profit. I like yard sales the most. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 My family is doing a no electronics, minus work related things, starting tomorrow for most of June. So, I won't be on to give updates on my month until June 26th. My plan during that time is to ramp up my ebay listings, so hopefully I'll be able to report my best sales month. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 11 hours ago, mommyoffive said: How about a June check in about gas prices near you. I last drove last Tuesday and prices were 4.39 then. Today 4.77-4.89 $4.17 or so around here. 😔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 1 minute ago, WildflowerMom said: $4.17 or so around here. 😔 That is a steal to me! 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Gas is in the $4.50-$4.60 range here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 1 hour ago, mommyoffive said: @MissLemon @WildflowerMom @hjffkj So impressed with you ladies running your reselling businesses on PM and Ebay. I think I want to get into this. I don't have a good thrift store near me, so I don't know how I work around that. But I do have lots of things in the house. Tell me your story and your business. My mom has a friend selling bras on PM so she suggested I try it. I put some of my clothes on there that I didn’t wear anymore and they sold. So I started thrifting to get more inventory. I started to try to pay down our truck payment but now that our beagle is on Rx dog food, I aim for that instead. Where do you source? What do you sell? Thrift stores and rarely, goodwill. Clothes. What are the costs of Ebay or PM? I sell on PM. If the item sells for under $15, the commission is $2.95. Above $15, PM takes 20%. PM is easy peasy, that’s why I haven’t ventured out to other places like eBay or Mercari. I’ve sold a lot on ebay in the past, but shipping always got me and I just wanted to simplify things. That said, PM is FAR from perfect, 🤯. They’re just the easiest (for me). How much are you making gross and net per month? Are you finding it worth your time? I haven’t made much because I’m still learning. I just started the end of Feb. I’m just now figuring out my niche and what works and what doesn’t. It’s taken me a while. A lot of PM people have tons of stuff in their closet. I’ve never had more than 80 listings at a time. Right now I’m down to 57. I’ve netted $400+ so far. I spend very little time on this, lol. I take photos and list it. The most time is spent at the thrift store, but that also happens to be the most fun, so win-win, lol. Anything else you can think of that would be helpful to advise a newbie? Everything Hjjkf said. Also, don’t get attached to anything. Your goal is to make money, so don’t get offended with low offers. You didn’t make these items, you’re just selling them. And if they’re sitting in your house, they’re clutter, not profit. So counterback with what you think is reasonable. Definitely start with something in your own house. Don’t go crazy thrifting stuff until you’ve sold a few of your own things and see if you like doing it. PM ships using priority mail, so order your free boxes and padded envelopes from the post office. Don’t buy those! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 11 minutes ago, WildflowerMom said: So PM you don't have to figure out the shipping costs at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildflowerMom Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said: So PM you don't have to figure out the shipping costs at all? For packages up to 5lbs, you don’t. Rarely does a package go up that high and that would be if you are selling a boatload of clothing or some kind of electronics or home goods or something of that nature. I have never had a box go anywhere near 5 lbs. But if you did have a box hit above 5lbs up to 10lbs (nothing over 10 lbs, I think), you would buy more shipping through PM and either you would pay for it or your buyer would. There are YouTube videos on ‘buying extra shipping on PM’ if you ever encounter that issue. also, the buyer pays for shipping. UNLESS you make an offer to them offering to pay for part of their shipping costs or even give them free shipping which would just be subtracted from your earnings. I will usually make a “liker” an offer for 10-20% off plus a shipping discount. Part of the game on PM is negotiating, getting and making deals. People on there like to feel like they’re getting a deal. So price items above what you expect them to sell for. Let’s say you have a pair of jeans and you want $30 for them. Price them at $40 so when someone “likes” them, you can send out an offer and they’ll feel like they’re getting a deal, but you’ll end up getting what you actually want out of them. Also, people will send you an offer and you can counter or accept or decline. I always counter even if it’s ridiculous. there are certain brands that sell well on PM and they have “parties” where you share those brands only. Or they’ll have “dress” parties where you share only dresses and so on…. I screenshot those brands from the parties so I know what premium denim brands are better sellers and things like that. I’ll message that to you if you want. It’s just brand names. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 This is not the month to start out well. Dh's debit card number was compromised. The bank overnighted a new one...and another new one. Two variations of his name, so he spent the last hour getting that sorted. I found bacon half off yesterday and picked up 3 packages. I was downright giddy. I figured I'd put it in the freezer, except we came home to find the fridge dead. So.....everything is currently sitting in coolers with about $10 of ice. We DID manage to fix the fridge, but that took about 12 hours of tinkering and it still needs to finish cooling down. DS had two pairs of shorts that fit, barely. Yesterday also had us upping his wardrobe: new shorts, and then we realized he was cramming his feet into his shoes, so...the kid made out with a lot more than we intended. That's what happens when you grow 4 inches in 2 months, and about 7in since last summer. I was offered a more daily position in the fall doing tutoring. It'll bring in a little more for my schooling, so that's good. Dh's truck is currently being held hostage. I mean, not really. We dropped it off for a needed repair this morning but the dealership refuses to answer phones or update him, yet they will have 3 people call about us trading it in during the same time. By the third, dh started very sternly raising his voice about being harassed constantly. We're a bit annoyed on this front. Dh doesn't like my OverAttached Girlfriend solution of driving over there and being right in their space, loudly talking through the facts so the rest of the room can hear. I'm not sure if he should be more aggressive like me or me more patient and polite like him. 😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Remember some months ago when I mentioned I hoped for good summer berry picking? I can normally pick in the commercial orchards at the end of the season for $1.50/lb. or so. The orchard announced pricing for strawberries. $26/half flat, which is 4 quarts or about 6 lbs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 1 hour ago, HomeAgain said: This is not the month to start out well. Dh's debit card number was compromised. The bank overnighted a new one...and another new one. Two variations of his name, so he spent the last hour getting that sorted. I found bacon half off yesterday and picked up 3 packages. I was downright giddy. I figured I'd put it in the freezer, except we came home to find the fridge dead. So.....everything is currently sitting in coolers with about $10 of ice. We DID manage to fix the fridge, but that took about 12 hours of tinkering and it still needs to finish cooling down. DS had two pairs of shorts that fit, barely. Yesterday also had us upping his wardrobe: new shorts, and then we realized he was cramming his feet into his shoes, so...the kid made out with a lot more than we intended. That's what happens when you grow 4 inches in 2 months, and about 7in since last summer. I was offered a more daily position in the fall doing tutoring. It'll bring in a little more for my schooling, so that's good. Dh's truck is currently being held hostage. I mean, not really. We dropped it off for a needed repair this morning but the dealership refuses to answer phones or update him, yet they will have 3 people call about us trading it in during the same time. By the third, dh started very sternly raising his voice about being harassed constantly. We're a bit annoyed on this front. Dh doesn't like my OverAttached Girlfriend solution of driving over there and being right in their space, loudly talking through the facts so the rest of the room can hear. I'm not sure if he should be more aggressive like me or me more patient and polite like him. 😂 Oh man. I am glad you were able to save your food and your fridge, but what a hassle. Oh man how old is your ds? Mine is going through a big spurt too. Last summer I bought him some shorts and then the next size up and thought no way is he going to fit in them next summer. But yep he is. Dh was right to say keep them, because he thought he was going to spurt like crazy. He is now taller than me. I hope you get dh's truck back soon. You two sound like us. I am the girlfriend and dh is the patient one. Congrats on more tutuoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 6 hours ago, mommyoffive said: @MissLemon @WildflowerMom @hjffkj So impressed with you ladies running your reselling businesses on PM and Ebay. I think I want to get into this. I don't have a good thrift store near me, so I don't know how I work around that. But I do have lots of things in the house. Tell me your story and your business. Where do you source? What do you sell? What are the costs of Ebay or PM? How much are you making gross and net per month? Are you finding it worth your time? Anything else you can think of that would be helpful to advise a newbie? I source from thrifts and estate auctions. How much one makes depends on how much time one puts into it. If I list consistently every day, I will have sales almost daily. I have put more effort into it lately, selling sourced items and DH's guitar gear, and grossed about $7k in 90 days. My advice is to start small and build up. Start with unused/outgrown things you have at home and list those. Clothing is tough to flip because so many people resell it. I avoid it for that reason. I am focused more on practical items right now because it's an area that most flippers ignore. Literally, when I see everyone clustered around a table, I go in the opposite direction and look at the stuff they are ignoring. When I am at an auction, the flippers go for the high dollar, quick sale items. I bypass that stuff and go for things like boxes of old community cookbooks ($$$) and things I can part out, like Kirby vacuums. My best seller lately are brass hanging lamp chains. I bought 75 of them, new in the package, for $1 and resell them for $10-15 a piece. It will take me a year to sell all the chains, but at the end of the year, my dollar will have turned into about $1000. I didn't expect the chains to do this well, so it was a happy surprise. But that's how it goes. Some of my best, most memorable sales have been happy surprises. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 DH's truck is back! His sternness must have unnerved them, particularly when he told them he was coming to get it, without the repairs done, and backed that up with 6.5ft of body to match his 'don't mess with me' voice. They did do a free oil change and car wash, but their quote for the minor repair is definitely much, much more than what it should be, and dh told them in no uncertain terms that he was taking it to get a second opinion because of the experience he had today. DS is 12, @mommyoffive, right on target for the gangly years. And he has thick thighs and a butt from sports which means that the things that are supposed to be his size, aren't. At least the growth spurt let us get exactly what he needed this summer: quick dry fabrics for camping and bright colored polos with UV protection. Last year his camp was in cooler weather so he had sweatpant material shorts or cotton. This year we'll be in warmer weather and he'll be doing things like more kayaking. It has been a day. Oh, and ds's bike needed a repair, too, so we got that taken care of before finding out my own derailleur is off just enough to affect the chain. That isn't an adjustment I can make myself, but the bike shop we go to is really good about fair pricing, often not charging us at all if it's just a few minutes. When ds's bike lost a bolt in the quick release they gave us a free replacement of the whole thing. Keeping dinner simple tonight: brats and potato wedges. But that reminded me of something else! We ate McD's for lunch yesterday. I accidentally had the app set to the wrong McD's near us. Same distance, just wrong direction. When I changed it in the app, the price changed a LOT. We went from $30 and some change down to $20, for the same order. It was crazy. And it solidified that if we eat on the go, we really need to pay attention to the differences in menu prices! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Walmart pricing also varies by store, fwiw, even for stores just a few miles away. Each store manages its own inventory. Usually they will keep in line with other stores in the region, but that is not true for the stores closest to me. Target does dynamic pricing. Your online prices vary by your location. They are often highest if you are within 50 feet of the store but not in the store. Target supposedly matches in store any price you see across their apps or website, but I haven't tried to have them match. You should always turn off your location services if you're shopping through the app close to a target to get the best pricing. Speaking of Target annoyances, dd needed a new pair of shorts. We got the only black shorts they offered in the whole dang store in her size, because this is summer 3 of not being able to find shorts for her. She tossed them in the cart with a couple of other things, we checked out and I didn't see them ring out because I was fumbling for my wallet. I just popped the tags to toss into the wash, and looked down at them.....she had picked up Levis and they were $56. Ugh. So totally disgusted by it all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 4 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said: Walmart pricing also varies by store, fwiw, even for stores just a few miles away. Each store manages its own inventory. Usually they will keep in line with other stores in the region, but that is not true for the stores closest to me. Target does dynamic pricing. Your online prices vary by your location. They are often highest if you are within 50 feet of the store but not in the store. Target supposedly matches in store any price you see across their apps or website, but I haven't tried to have them match. You should always turn off your location services if you're shopping through the app close to a target to get the best pricing. Speaking of Target annoyances, dd needed a new pair of shorts. We got the only black shorts they offered in the whole dang store in her size, because this is summer 3 of not being able to find shorts for her. She tossed them in the cart with a couple of other things, we checked out and I didn't see them ring out because I was fumbling for my wallet. I just popped the tags to toss into the wash, and looked down at them.....she had picked up Levis and they were $56. Ugh. So totally disgusted by it all. $56 shorts at Target? That is nuts. Interesting to find out about the Target pricing. Yes, I have noticed that about Walmart's pricing. Our walmart is always a lot more expensive than ones 20 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 I didn't know that about Walmart and Target! We don't really have either near us but it's good to know. We don't shop a lot. Most of our purchases are secondhand, but we have a decent selection of outlets near us that have really good pricing. But, we end up making a full day of it because it's an hour and a half each way. It also means making a list and being sure we don't forget anything. Our old house had a Walmart across the street so it was easy to pop in way too many times a month and walk out with more than we were meaning to. 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 6 hours ago, hjffkj said: Gas is in the $4.50-$4.60 range here. $5.99 here. At Costco. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 1 hour ago, HomeAgain said: DH's truck is back! His sternness must have unnerved them, particularly when he told them he was coming to get it, without the repairs done, and backed that up with 6.5ft of body to match his 'don't mess with me' voice. They did do a free oil change and car wash, but their quote for the minor repair is definitely much, much more than what it should be, and dh told them in no uncertain terms that he was taking it to get a second opinion because of the experience he had today. DS is 12, @mommyoffive, right on target for the gangly years. And he has thick thighs and a butt from sports which means that the things that are supposed to be his size, aren't. At least the growth spurt let us get exactly what he needed this summer: quick dry fabrics for camping and bright colored polos with UV protection. Last year his camp was in cooler weather so he had sweatpant material shorts or cotton. This year we'll be in warmer weather and he'll be doing things like more kayaking. It has been a day. Oh, and ds's bike needed a repair, too, so we got that taken care of before finding out my own derailleur is off just enough to affect the chain. That isn't an adjustment I can make myself, but the bike shop we go to is really good about fair pricing, often not charging us at all if it's just a few minutes. When ds's bike lost a bolt in the quick release they gave us a free replacement of the whole thing. This describes my older boy around the same age. My 5th percentile baby is now 75% with some junk in the trunk and thunder thighs. My younger one is still a runt. Gas is 4.75 here for reg unl. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 $4.25 outside of San Antonio 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 19 hours ago, mommyoffive said: How about a June check in about gas prices near you. I last drove last Tuesday and prices were 4.39 then. Today 4.77-4.89 Gas is $4.75-$5.19 (I was not happy when I saw the $5.19 yesterday). Most stations are either $4.99 or $5.09. Not a very frugal month coming up here. Will miss a week of work for a surgery mid June. DD was in the hospital from May 27th - today, so we'll have that bill coming. Still trying to catch up from missing work for covid last month - by the by, today is the first day I feel like I'm functional (I got sick May 13th, tested positive May 19th). One DD needs sandals, a different one needs bras, and I will need bras following my surgery. Lots of clothes spending this month. Groceries just keep going up as does gas and utilities. Ugh. Not doing any activities except free this summer though. Not very excited about June so far. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 3 hours ago, historically accurate said: Gas is $4.75-$5.19 (I was not happy when I saw the $5.19 yesterday). Most stations are either $4.99 or $5.09. Not a very frugal month coming up here. Will miss a week of work for a surgery mid June. DD was in the hospital from May 27th - today, so we'll have that bill coming. Still trying to catch up from missing work for covid last month - by the by, today is the first day I feel like I'm functional (I got sick May 13th, tested positive May 19th). One DD needs sandals, a different one needs bras, and I will need bras following my surgery. Lots of clothes spending this month. Groceries just keep going up as does gas and utilities. Ugh. Not doing any activities except free this summer though. Not very excited about June so far. I hope your dd is ok. Sending some peaceful get well thoughts her way. I hope you have a smooth surgery and easy recovery. I am glad you are feeling better from your Covid sickness. Are you allowed to have surgery? I read something the other day about how soon you could have surgery after having Covid. Ugh on all the increasing bills and clothes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 22 hours ago, mommyoffive said: How about a June check in about gas prices near you. I last drove last Tuesday and prices were 4.39 then. Today 4.77-4.89 And today it was 4.99!!!! When will it stop? Ok our new Frugal gas game is the first person to see their local prices going down wins! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 8 hours ago, mommyoffive said: I hope your dd is ok. Sending some peaceful get well thoughts her way. I hope you have a smooth surgery and easy recovery. I am glad you are feeling better from your Covid sickness. Are you allowed to have surgery? I read something the other day about how soon you could have surgery after having Covid. Ugh on all the increasing bills and clothes. 🤷♀️ No one seems to care about it, so I guess I'm cleared? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 1 hour ago, historically accurate said: 🤷♀️ No one seems to care about it, so I guess I'm cleared? Ok, well if they all know it must be ok. This is what I read. It only says elective surgery so maybe that is the difference. COVID-19 and Elective Surgery (asahq.org) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 Lots of spending here. bought 2 phones for the teens and yearly service. 5 pairs of pointe shoes for oldest at $120 each for ballet intensives. Plus pads, ribbons, spacers......$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ All the last of the dance stuff needed was bought in the last week Signed up the kids for the field trips with the dance intensives Signed the youngest 3 up for nature school for next year. It is a longer bigger program so more $$. Signed up for the fall semester. Did a bunch of travel hacking. Bought tickets with points that are an amazing deal for international travel and it is not economy flights too. I am stocked. Need to deposit a bunch of checks. Dh found out his new bonus gets paid out quarterly instead of yearly. Plus he will get his old bonus at the yearly time. Other than gas, I think that is it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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