Saving $ after the sale.

[Beachkid23]

I Have struggled with this for about 3 yrs now. I have always pretty much spent everything that I made. Before 2008 everything I made I put into the stock market that the work out well granite it has come back bit but not nearly as much but that is same as with just about everyone.

I guess I've always had a collector addiction as well. So back in 2009 and 10 all the money I made went into silver and gold coins. Again that did not work out well in my favor yet.

When I worked and did eBay part-time we had a lot of extra cash. And I did not have time to spend any of it. But then I decided to go full-time!

I think I've probably spent all of our savings on stuff with the addiction of making more money and trying to make more. But three months ago I went and took a financial savings class.

Now we have no credit card debt and I have been obsessed with paying off our vehicles so they are almost taken care of. But what a difference is after sitting down with a financial group of people and seeing what I'm doing from different eyes.

After 4 months I have saved 65-70% of my sales, have become Way more picky on what I buy. And try to make the items a lot more reasonable so that they sell instead of sitting online for months at a time. I actually sat down and made some short and long-term goals with my wife and kids and went on a budget. I know this probably all seems like common sense to most people.

But I just wanted to share in case there are others out there that enjoy buying and hoarding and collecting that you are not alone! I look forward to next year even though it is tough with three little kids in raising them, I feel like i have a much better mindset going in!

 

[dieselram94]

Well said. Do you listen to Dave Ramsey at all?


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[Beachkid23]

Well said. Do you listen to Dave Ramsey at all? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No however it is highly suggested through our church and they follow it and preach his stuff as well. The class I took us through the church though. And they had counselors there as well it was really good for me to go because I always looked at just today and what is happening tomorrow never really what's happening in six months from now or year or farther.

 

[trdhrdr007]

If you aren't saving you are on a treadmill leading nowhere. The key is to live on less than you make, get out of debt & save/invest. Not very hard to do once you learn to tell the difference between a "want" & a "need".

 

[Beachkid23]

If you aren't saving you are on a treadmill leading nowhere. The key is to live on less than you make, get out of debt & save/invest. Not very hard to do once you learn to tell the difference between a "want" & a "need".

Yeah that's where we are now but then you throw football, cheerleading, daycare, clothing, food, school lunches even packing lunches.

Unloading my hoard has helped out a lot too. Although I have not touched any of the safe deposit boxes. But if I sell anything out of those it's at a loss so I'm just working on the other stuff right now.

 

[dieselram94]

Dave has his own channel on I heart radio and also does free podcasts


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[trdhrdr007]

Yeah that's where we are now but then you throw football, cheerleading, daycare, clothing, food, school lunches even packing lunches.

Unloading my hoard has helped out a lot too. Although I have not touched any of the safe deposit boxes. But if I sell anything out of those it's at a loss so I'm just working on the other stuff right now.

Food, clothing & daycare are needs. Football & cheerleading are "wants". I'm not saying you have to cut out "wants" but if you are serious about saving you have to know when something is a want. There's a balance between needs, wants & saving that is different for everyone. For example, new vehicles & vacations are wants. I could afford a new vehicle every few years or I could go on vacation a few times a year while still saving but I can't do all three.

 

[Beachkid23]

Food, clothing & daycare are needs. Football & cheerleading are "wants". I'm not saying you have to cut out "wants" but if you are serious about saving you have to know when something is a want. There's a balance between needs, wants & saving that is different for everyone. For example, new vehicles & vacations are wants. I could afford a new vehicle every few years or I could go on vacation a few times a year while still saving but I can't do all three.

I was spending a lot of money on going to the bar with my buddies to watch football every week. We even did it for baseball season two. And that has come to an end so that's a huge savings. And then cut back on going out to eat altogether. A neighbor of ours cooks for parties and does catering and my wife has been getting some of her menus of stuff she makes to try to make the food budget last a little longer too. Then if my kids don't like what's for dinner they get cereal! Football was pretty cheap it was only $100 being flag football. Cheerleading was like $300. But my daughter does not want to do that anymore she wants to do dancing which I told her she can watch videos off of YouTube to learn how to dance!!

But we are finally getting it I think. Although as soon as the van breaks down that will test us for sure!

 

[Paleo_joe]

I did a lot better when I started running my buying and ebay selling based on how much more *cash* I have at the end of each month. Not potential money or cool items in my house, but $$ in my pocket. My wife got angry this week when I wouldn't let her keep a laptop we bought at an estate sale.

 

[trdhrdr007]

I was spending a lot of money on going to the bar with my buddies to watch football every week. We even did it for baseball season two. And that has come to an end so that's a huge savings. And then cut back on going out to eat altogether. A neighbor of ours cooks for parties and does catering and my wife has been getting some of her menus of stuff she makes to try to make the food budget last a little longer too. Then if my kids don't like what's for dinner they get cereal! Football was pretty cheap it was only $100 being flag football. Cheerleading was like $300. But my daughter does not want to do that anymore she wants to do dancing which I told her she can watch videos off of YouTube to learn how to dance!!

But we are finally getting it I think. Although as soon as the van breaks down that will test us for sure!

I like to cook and am good at it so we don't go out to eat much. We have a weekly date night where we hit the local bar & let someone else handle the cooking. I know from experience that bars can eat up money quick plus that whole driving home thing... We still go out with friends every once in a while but a lot of our entertainment dollar goes towards beers by the pool in the summer & by the fire pit when it's cold. Most of my friends make a LOT more money than I do & I know they are just a few paychecks away from disaster. It's a nice feeling to know that we could get by for quite a while without anything coming in.

 

[dieselram94]

I love eating out. That's my weakness! lol!! I'm one of the cheapest people you could meet in every other Way. Even to the point of I built my own home from the ground up including clearing, septic and even power entrance. My thoughts are why pay someone when I can do it myself...


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[NJcigarman]

Hey Beach this is just another form of gambling. You have to be careful.

 

[Baltimore]

I definitely had that issue for a little while, but when I noticed that I was forgoing groceries to buy stuff to sell it had turned into a problem. I'm happy to say I've turned it around and I now am in the opposite position, I save almost all of my money and it feels great! Nothing like the feeling of watching that bank account go up every week, almost beats the feeling of finding treasure. It's also winter and I'm loaning my car to my parents for the foreseeable future, so it's much easier not to buy and focus on selling. I've also started teaching my mom to sell on ebay, she isn't doing great financially so I figured a side thing would help. So far she's loving it!

 

[cyberdan]

My wife got angry this week when I wouldn't let her keep a laptop we bought at an estate sale.

You hit yard sales, just add that to your buy list. I ask for old computers and sometimes out comes a laptop. I only pay $1.00 for those to "recycle" I now have maybe 15 laptops that I have to get to. 2 or 3 are in great shape.

 

[dieselram94]

You hit yard sales, just add that to your buy list. I ask for old computers and sometimes out comes a laptop. I only pay $1.00 for those to "recycle" I now have maybe 15 laptops that I have to get to. 2 or 3 are in great shape.

How much can you get out of an old laptop?


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[Justice70]

If you aren't saving you are on a treadmill leading nowhere. The key is to live on less than you make, get out of debt & save/invest. Not very hard to do once you learn to tell the difference between a "want" & a "need".

Well said. I have a paper hanging on the side of the fridge with 2 columns. One side is for wants and the other for needs. Now, do I strictly adhere to this practice? No.
I have found that for me, if I always, without exception, put needs ahead of wants, I never get what I want.....lol

 

[Piledriver]

"I guess I've always had a collector addiction as well. So back in 2009 and 10 all the money I made went into silver and gold coins. Again that did not work out well in my favor yet."

The silver and gold will pay off best when THERE IS NO Ebay.

 

[cyberdan]

How much can you get out of an old laptop?

I have sold $1 laptops for $100 and my recycler will pay $10 each if the screen is perfect (no crack or scratch)
I have torn some down for the greenboards, but since everything is smaller I may only be able to sell the electronics for $2. not enough money to waste my time tearing them down. That is why I still have about 15 or more laptops stacked in a corner.

 

[dieselram94]

I have sold $1 laptops for $100 and my recycler will pay $10 each if the screen is perfect (no crack or scratch)
I have torn some down for the greenboards, but since everything is smaller I may only be able to sell the electronics for $2. not enough money to waste my time tearing them down. That is why I still have about 15 or more laptops stacked in a corner.

Is your recycler local or can you ship them?probably be cost prohibitive to ship?


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[mugsisme]

Beach, my friend Angela did the Dave Ramsey thing. She was incredible! She went to a huge extreme. I am not sure if she has it all on her site, her whole story. She was featured on something of his as a success story. But she did drastic stuff like cut out heat in the middle of the winter (they live in the mid-west), among other things.
http://groceryshrink.com/
She has a newsletter you can sign up for.

The last few months I have been making enough to pay off my credit card bill. I finally took a deep look last month when I ran up 5K in purchases. I really sweated that one out, trying to make enough money to pay it off. (I did, yay!) Like you said, I felt like I was on a treadmill, just keeping slightly ahead of my credit card bill chasing me from behind.

I think having a plan is a great idea! Congrats to you on doing this. I'm just curious .. how much time to you put into shopping and how much time do you spend listing?

It's also very true about wants vs needs. It is something I've been working hard on. I think twice before I say "I need". Cuz most times I don't really need it. I just want it.