Twenty Plus

I have a BFF that has 3 kids under 5 years old (she's crazy, lol). We just found out that her oldest, my niece, who will be 5 in July, has Autism. Luckily, she is on the very high spectrum end of it. Her biggest problems are interacting with other kids, loud noises, and anxiety. As a result, she is only going to school (day care/preschool) for a couple of hours every morning. My BFF had a babysitter that was taking her to school in the mornings and picking her up, then staying with her the rest of the day until she (or her hubby) got home from work. But the babysitter can't do the job anymore, so my BFF has asked me to step on and help out.

I am completely honored.

I've known my BFF for 25 years and we've both known her hubby for about 22 years (they were HS sweeties). When my niece was 2 weeks old, I started babysitting her every week. So while it doesn't surprise me that they trust me to look after my niece, it makes me feel very special to know they feel I can handle the job, especially with my having MS (Multiple Sclerosis).

I won't be babysitting full time, that would be too much, but I'll be helping out. After a looooong day of negotiations, I agreed to accept a small payment from them every week, especially since it is a 45 minute drive to their house each way.

I'll add some of this money every week to my savings, and the rest will go towards gas money.

The extra money is nice, but there are so many other better parts. I get to spend time with my niece, who I've always had a soft spot in my heart for. I love her brothers to the moon and back, but there is just something about my niece that makes me melt. I also get to help her, by teaching her things like how to read and also to help her with some of her problems, like how to handle her anxiety (I started having panic attacks when I was 6). And I feel like I have a purpose again. After not working for 7 years, I've lost the sense of having a purpose, and this has given that feeling back to me. Not to get sappy, but this feels like a blessing for both me and my BFF, in so many ways.

Old Balance: $158.86
Babysitting: $20.00
-------------------------------
New Balance: $178.86
(Cash $52)
(Savings Acct $126.86)

and I was wondering if I was going to hit 2 weeks without anything to add, but tonight I sold a mirror I had listed online. Yay!

Old Balance: $148.86
Mirror: $10.00
-------------------------------
New Balance: $158.86
(Cash $32)
(Savings Acct $126.86)

Got a small direct deposit from Half.com today for a books sold (those little $0.75 books can add up). transferring it to my savings. I'm growing this account in little bits, but little bits will eventually add up to a big amount....right?


Old Balance: $144.10
Half.com DD: $4.76
-------------------------------
New Balance: $148.86
(Cash $22)
(Savings Acct $126.86)

I don't drink soda much anymore, but I do love me a good can of Ginger Ale. Since I don't drink it often, I tend to let my empties pile up for several months before I get around to returning them. Finally did it today and returned about 7 months worth. Got me small bonus of $3

Also sold and shipped out a dress on Ebay. Another $10.75 into the savings!


Old Balance: $130.35
Soda Cans: $3
Ebay dress: 10.75
-------------------------------
New Balance: $144.10
(Cash $22)
(Savings Acct $122.10)

Oh, I love shoes! As a former fat girl, shoes were the only thing I knew I could always find in my size that would look good on me. As I always said - shoes are a fat girls best friend! I'm not longer a fat girl (at least, not on the outside; I'll always be a cake-loving fat girl on the inside, and proud of it, lol!), but I still love shoes! So you can imagine my shock and sadness when I realized that it's possible to lose so much weight that you actually go down in your shoe sizes!

I used to wear a 9 or 9.5 (preferably wide width), and now I wear between an 8 and a 9, depending on the shoe (most of them closer to 8's and no longer wide). It's not a big deal with my old sneakers, but with some of my heels and such, they just don't fit right and aren't wearable anymore. So I'm now selling some of my best friends, and I'm hoping they can go and make other people as happy as they've made me. (And I can go out and find new best friends!)

Balance: $120.35
Shoes: $10
-------------------------------
New Balance: $130.35
(Cash $19)
(Savings Acct $111.35)

Mailed off some ebay sales today. Did better on shipping costs, but I'm still losing a lot. I tried the flat rate priority boxes, and changed the shipping costs in the auctions based on what the woman behind the counter at the post office told me. I either misunderstood or she misinformed me, because I still ended up losing about $16. I'll finish up the auction I currently have on eBay, but after that, I won't list more until I figure out this shipping thing. Problem is, I hate to charge a lot for shiping, because I know as a buyer, a high shipping cost deters me from bidding on or buying an item.

I also sold a skirt today on a local online yard sale site I use. Yay

And on a side note, I spend cash way too easily if I have it, and I spent $21 of my cash savings. Damn it. So that is down to $9. I need to start taking that cash and depositing it into my Savings every time I hit a certain amount so I don't spend it anymore.

So after all that, I still ended up losing $1.30 out of my overall savings. A lesson to be learned, but a hard pill to swallow.


Balance: $121.65
Ebay Sales: $16.70
Skirt: $3 (cash)
Spending: -$21.00
-------------------------------
New Balance: $120.35
(Cash $9)
(Savings Acct $111.35)

Today I got an email and picture saying one of the books I sold last month didn't make it to the buyer. They just received an empty envelope. So I issued a refund to the buyer for $4.34

There was no tracking or insurance on the package, and the envelope made it, but somewhere alone the way, someone opened it and the book was taken out.

Does anyone know if there is seller protection from ebay or half.com for this type of thing?

Woke up this morning and got online to see that I had 6 sales go through overnight! What a nice surprise! 2 books sold on half.com and 4 of my items on ebay sold! I'll do an official savings update once I mail the items out and see what shipping costs, but I know I've made $7.50 from the books on ebay, and $45 from the items on ebay, assuming I charged enough for shipping. I also have 2 other ebay items that look like they might sell this week, for another $10.

As much as I'm excited about this extra money, it also feels awesome to be getting things cleaned out of my house and clearing out some space in my storage unit. I know I have too many clothes and too much stuff in general, and it's great to let it go and find a new home for it

In other news, nothing new on the weight loss front. I overindulged for my birthday last week, so this week I have to get back to eating healthier again. Was it worth it? Yes! lol

I recently received an unexpected payment from a government program that I'm a part of. It was a complete surprise, since the program doesn't give me cash at only, only assistance with my fuel costs. But for some reason, I received a once-time-only $19 cash payment. I'm happily adding it to my savings

Balance: $102.65
Surprise cash payment: $19.00
-------------------------------
New Balance: $121.65
(Cash $27)
(Savings Acct $94.65)

Last night I sold two bolts of fabric on ebay, each one for $10. Add to that the amount the buys paid for shipping, and the total that got deposited into my PayPal was $25.42 BUT, the shipping costs were WAY higher than ebay thought they'd be (almost $10 for each of them; thanks a lot for doing the math for me, ebay *rolling eyes*).

So after paying for shipping, I only made $5.53 Lesson learned and I went in and raised the shipping costs on all the current auctions I have going on now that don't have any bids yet.

I also spent $25 out of my savings today on a Birthday present for my sister. I hate to see the amount in this account go down, but I still have a few months until my trip, and I know I can replace it. And it feels good to have the cash to buy the gift instead of throwing it onto a CC

Balance: $122.12
Bday gift for sister: -$25
Ebay sales: $5.53
-------------------------------
New Balance: $102.65
(Cash $8)
(Savings Acct $94.65)

I'm loving how fast things are selling! I'm selling on ebay and half.com, but I also joined some local online yard sale groups through Facebook and these are great. I'm getting rid of a lot of little things that just aren't worth putting on ebay. Not getting a lot of money for these items, but it all adds up!

Balance: $94.56
DD from Half.com books: $27.56
-------------------------------
New Balance: $122.12
(Cash $33)
(Savings Acct $89.12)

Balance: $91.56
Sold DVD: $3
------------------------------
New Balance: $94.56
(Cash $33)
(Savings Acct $61.56)


On the Weight Loss side, I have made a dent in my 20 pound goal! I am down 3 pounds from last week! Yay! Before starting this blog, I was already down 1.2 pounds, so I've lost 4.2 of my 20 pounds!

Old Weight: 240
New Weight: 235.8
Weight Loss: 4.2

I can't believe I'm so close to my goal weight! When I started my WL journey almost 3 years ago, I weighed 350 pounds. I'm down almost 115 now, and it really seems like I'll hit 220 this year.

Yay for my neighbor and her desire to start scrap-booking. She bought by blank scrapbooks

Balance: $86.56
Sold - 2 empty scrapbooks: $5
------------------------------
New Balance: $91.56
(Cash $30)
(Savings Acct $61.56)

I'm trying to earn/find/save at least an extra $20 a month. I have an extremely limited income, and I have nothing extra at the end of the month for savings. But I still have things I like to do, like travel. So this money is or my traveling. It comes from selling items online, doing freelance work, windfalls (ha!), surveys, etc. Anything outside my normal income.

I'm heading to Canada to visit my best friend and her family at the end of July, so anything I've got in this account now is my spending money for that trip. Let's see how high I can get it in the next 18 weeks!

Starting balance: $2.82
Books sold online: $31.24
Rolled Coins: $27.50
---------------------------
New Balance: $61.56


Balance: $61.56
Sold - Coffee Maker: $10
Sold - Shoes: $10
Sold - Concert poster: $5
-----------------------------
New Balance: $86.56

This year (2015) I decided to try and do something new every month. And then I went ahead and created my 20's challenge, which is to save/earn/find and extra $20 a month and lose 20 lbs this year, so I figured I'd up this challenge to 20 new things this year. What have I done already?

1. Went to my first meetup.com meeting from a group I joined 3 years ago. I kept wanting to go to events, but although I would RSVP yes, I would always back out the last minute. But in January I finally went to one. It was ok, but although the group was for people ages 30+ (I'm 37), I was one o the youngest there, by a good 7 or 8 years. I don't know if I'll go again, as the people weren't very friendly. But I will try another group

2. Taught myself to make homemade pasta! I always wanted to learn this, and we got a massive series of now storms where I live this winter. I pretty much spent 3 weeks stuck in my house, so after the cabin fever set in, I decided to use to time to teach myself. It took a few tries (and some coaching from an Italian friend of mine) but I did it and it's gooood! No more store-bought pasta for me!

3. I took a class and learned to make sea-class wire wrapped jewelery! It's easier than I thought it would be and the piece I made came out beautiful! I can't wait until the rest of the snow is gone so I can start scouring my local beach for more pieces! Maybe I can even make some pieces to sell!

4. I'm learning Irish! After 15 years, I have FINALLY found a place that teaches Irish! I've been struggling to teach myself for ages, and it's a really hard language, so I've gotten nowhere. But this month I started lessons at the Irish Cultural Center in Boston! I love it so much and I can't believe I'm finally crossing an item off my Bucket List!