I had a little bit of time on my hands last week. This is RARE for me (hecklers, this is where you insert a snarky comment about how much time I spend on Facebook).
"Well Whitney...don't keep us hanging here! We can't wait to hear what you did with your spare time!" I know, people. Try to control your enthusiasm. It's a comin'...
I made a New Year's resolution this year. Most of the time they are the biggest joke ever, but I've actually done pretty well with keeping the last couple that I have made. This year's resolution was TO SAVE MORE MONEY.
I realize that some of you are probably doubled over, rolling around on the floor laughing at me. Yes, I like stuff. I like to buy stuff. I like to shop. I love my pedicures. I love my waxing. I love my hair salon. I have a SICK obsession with shoes. I love Ralph Lauren perfume. I love Tiffany & Co. I love monogrammed RL bath towels. Oh!...and don't forget my mandatory two trips per year to Hawaii.
I am keenly aware that I'm really good at spending money. That is partially why I decided to challenge myself to go above and beyond this year to save more of it. It's pretty impressive, too. I've found ways to cut back on some simple things without feeling like I'm going to suffer major trauma from self deprivation. But I wanted to do something more...
Here's what didn't work: I tried my hand at extreme couponing, but after, I decided most of the stuff they give you coupons for is absolute crap that's going to make my butt big so that next year's resolution will have to be to lose weight (run on sentence). NO THANK YOU.
What does work: eBay. I hate junk. Unfortunately, most of us have it in abundance. I am a neat freak, and I really, REALLY don't like having clutter around my home. I am meticulous about going through my/my kids' closet each season and weeding out the things that either don't fit, or should be on the TLC show, "What Not To Wear".
I'm also hyper paranoid about accumulating crap. Have you ever seen those commercials for that show, "Hoarding: Buried Alive"? I have. They scare the holy living crud monkeys out of me. They make my skin start to crawl. I feel like every time I accidentally "catch" one of those commercials that I become extremely OCD in the other direction. I clean house like a madwoman. After seeing one, I even freaked out at my daughter for dropping a Pepperidge Farm Goldfish on the floor. I went off about rats, and roaches, and all sorts of things that could possibly wiggle into my home on a mission to eat one flipping goldfish that was now residing under the coffee table in the living room.
I realize that this was probably overkill as far as emotional responses go, but go big, or go home, right? Back to eBay.
I decided for kicks and grins to go through my house and start de-junking it. There's not a crap ton of junk to go through, but enough to experiment with on eBay. I decided that, if by chance it would sell, that I would open a savings account and sink all the proceeds into it from there. It seemed a little far fetched, but *meh* what the heck.
Some of you might remember the big closet cleaning I did last year after reading Lauren Conrad's book, "Style". I still had the entire pile of clothing in there that I had intended to take to the tailor to have re-fitted. There was great stuff in there--Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, etc. It was all stuff that had only been worn once or twice, too. Here we are nearly one year later, and they are all still in my closet--and my motivation to go to the tailor is nowhere to be found at this time. So what did I do with them? I took their picture. Then I put them up on eBay.
I followed this with posting shoes that I had purchased but never worn. Then I posted CDs that I was never going to listen to. I weeded out my winter and summer jackets, and posted the rejects. Anything I found in my house that stirred up emotions of mediocrity became fair game. I was on a mission.
I had a pretty good sized pile-O-stuff for my first auction posting. It took me about two hours to list everything and post photos. Then it was time to wait. That's when the magic started happening.
PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY BUYING MY CRAP! *WOOT*WOOT* HOLLA*
I came home yesterday and saw that I have over $140 deposited in my PayPal account thus far. All from simply taking two hours out of my life and listing my junk. If I look at it in terms of "work" and being paid, $70+/hr isn't too shabby! ;)
I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of my auctions pan out for me. It's kind of a fun way to save money. I also love that I can do all of this from the comfort of my own home. I'm getting paid to work in yoga pants, and a ponytail! Yeah, baby! ;)
Don't be surprised if you see me snooping around my local Goodwill store soon looking for killer deals. Once I'm out of junk, I may have to go buy some other people's junk and start experimenting with posting that junk on eBay. I love to shop, so it could be a fun adventure! We shall see.
If nothing else, my little experiment made my bank account grow a little. It was well worth two hours out of my life and a few trips to the post office. :D
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