Thursday, June 28, 2012

FLEA MARKET MERCHANDISE FROM YARD SALES

It continues to amaze me how many new items I find at yard sales for my flea market booth.  While Thursdays tend to be not so great for yard sales, I usually manage to find something good.  Today was no exception.  While I didn't find a great deal of merchandise, I did find a couple of Pur 3 stage water filtration systems, new in the box.  They normally sell this system at the local big box discount store for $28.  I bought both systems for a total of 50 cents!  I figure I can easily sell these for at least $15 each, so my original investment of 50 cents turns in to $30!  You don't get that kind of return very often, but it's great when you do get it!

Got a lot of sales to go to on Friday.  We're in the middle of an extreme heatwave in Missouri right now, so I'm hoping it will keep the competition away from the sales.  On the other hand, I'm hoping the heat won't keep the customers away from the flea market on Saturday.  I don't think it will, since there were more people there last weekend than I've seen before and it was the hottest weekend we've had since we've been going to the flea market.  We'll see how it goes.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

SALES ARE UP, STOCK INVESTMENTS FLAT

Flea market sales on Saturday the 23rd were good, a little better than the week before.  We're getting a better feel for what sells, so I'm expecting sales to continue to increase.  Had some good sales on Ebay and Craig's List as well, so it's been a pretty good week. 

Went to a local auction on Sunday and placed my first ever bid at a live auction.  I've bid in online auctions before, but this is the first time I've ever bought anything at a live auction.  Still trying to get the hang of understanding the auctioneers, but I'm getting there.  Got a great deal on a mixed lot.  For $1 I bought a nice Hoover vacuum cleaner with all attachments, a fold up stroller and a plastic tub.  I wanted the tub for packing flea market merchandise, so I got my money's worth from just that.  I figure I can sell the vacuum for at least $10 and whatever I get for the stroller is just icing on the cake.  Looking forward to buying more at the next auction on July 4th!

My stock investments were pretty much flat for the week.  I did collect dividends from 2 of my investments, but while prices are down I'm reinvesting all dividends to increase my holdings in current investments.  Not really looking to purchase any new investments until I get my business going good and have a steady income.  Currently I'm just making my monthly IRA contribution and reinvesting dividends.  As my income from the business picks up, I'll be looking to add new investments to reach my goal of a dividend payment for every day of the year.  That whole strategy is on hold for the moment.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

SUNDAY'S EXTREME COUPON SAVINGS

Had a great day of shopping at Walgreens!  I matched manufacturers coupons with store coupons and Sunday ad sales and walked away with a 52% savings!  I got a 6 month supply of Aleve and Bayer low dose aspirin.  Among other items, I also got Optic White and Total Advanced White toothpaste, Diet Pepsi, bathroom tissue, candy bars, Folgers coffee and Smuckers strawberry jelly.  The total retail value before coupons and discounts came to $72.12.  After coupons and discounts, I paid $34.83 for a savings of $37.29. 

Taking advantage of coupon savings is a great way to help you reach your financial goals.  Every dollar that you don't spend is like going out and earning two, since the taxes have already been taken out of the saved dollar.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

FLEA MARKETING, EBAY, CRAIGS LIST AND INVESTING, IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK

I started the week off last Sunday by listing sale items on Craig's List and Ebay.  Through the week, I spent time gathering new items for sale at today's flea market booth.  Craig's List paid off, with my listed item selling in less than one day.  My auctions have not yet ended on Ebay, but the bids are looking good.  Sales at today's flea market were far better than last week.  While I my new wholesale items did not add much to today's sales, they did help some, but I was happy to see some of the older items from last week sell.  Was also happy to see music CD's selling well, since used CD's are an item I can easily find more of and they take up little room for the revenue they produce.  With sales from all sources combined, I easily beat out what I would have made working at my last job and had a lot more quality personal time.  


As for my investment accounts, I reinvested dividends in my taxable account and my IRA to increase my stakes in O, EXC, DUK and AWF.  While I added no new dividend payments, l have increased monthly cash flow through reinvested dividends.    Can't wait to get my 365 days of dividends back on track, but I do need to address the bills from my most recent hospital stay first.  Once I have those lined out, I'll be better able to advance my investment plan.  

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

CRAIGS LIST AND EBAY SALES

Sales were slow at the flea market last Saturday, but I've been able to make up for it with a good sale on Craigs List.  Also have several items listed for sale on Ebay and although none have bids yet, I'm pretty confident at least a couple of them will sell.  Sold a painting and a cross necklace yesterday, which pretty much brings me up to the amount I need to make each week to replace the income from my old job.  I'm pushing to make more than I made at my old job, since I have extra bills from my latest trip to the hospital and since the flea market closes down from the end of October to the beginning of April.  Hope to have a booth at an indoor facility by then or perhaps a store on Ebay, just have to see how things work out between now and then.

Got in some of my new wholesale stuff and it looks pretty good!  I've already sold one of the necklaces, so I'm hoping that's a sign of how well they'll sell at the flea market.  Got an order of charm bracelets coming in Thursday from another wholesaler.  If those do well, this wholesaler has a lot of nice looking merchandise at reasonable prices, so I'll probably do a lot of business with them. 

Picked up a nice curio cabinet at the thrift store on Monday.  I'm pretty sure I'll be able to double my money on it.  My goal is to double my money on most items, make as much as I can on the really great items, to help cover the ones I don't double my money on and to keep the merchandise turning.  Don't want to show up every week with the same old things.  I want to have new stuff to sell every week and keep the customers coming back.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

SLOW SALES THIS WEEK AT THE FLEA MARKET

This week's sales were pretty slow at the flea market, didn't make much money, but it was a great learning experience.  The guy who sat up next to us did over $800 in sales from 7 am to 1 pm.  He was giving us pointers on how to improve sales, so we're both anxious to go back next week and give it another shot.  What was encouraging about it for me was seeing that it can be done.  This guy told me he makes $40,000 a year doing 1 day a week at the flea market and selling some on Ebay.  So I'm getting my Ebay listings ready and gearing up for my second flea market next Saturday.  Looking forward to a much better weekend!


My stocks did pretty well this past week.  Sold my stake in CS after they paid their dividend.  Lost money on that investment, but I redeployed the cash by buying a stake in PFE for my IRA account.  Didn't collect any dividends for my IRA this past week, however, I did collect dividends from INTC, CNP and EXC for my taxable account.  I reinvested the dividends in CNP and EXC to increase my stakes in both stocks.  Sold my stake in WAC in my taxable account.  So I lost the annual dividend from CS, but gained 4 quarterly dividends from PFE.  However, I also lost 4 quarterly dividends from WAC, so I'm down a total of 1 dividend payment (-1+4-4= -1).  When my business starts producing more cash I'll be able to get my 365 days of dividends back on track, but until then it's liable to be slow going.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

EXTREME COUPONING IS BACK!!!

One of my favorite TV shows, TLC's Extreme Couponing, is back with new episodes.  Actually the first new episodes aired May 28 th and they're just as fun and exciting to watch as last season.  Sure motivated me to get my coupons organized.  I'm ready for some great deals!

Although I don't write as much about coupons, they do play a big part in all my trips to the grocery store.  While I rarely get the 90% to 100% off the people on Extreme Couponing get, I  routinely save 25% to 50%.  On my latest trip to the grocery store I saved a little over 30% with coupons for my groceries for the week. 

No matter what your circumstances, everybody should use coupons!  Keep up the good work TLC, you've made a believer out of me.

Monday, June 4, 2012

EAST VILLAGE RESALE, THE NAME OF MY NEW BUSINESS

Decided to name my new business East Village Resale, since "East Village" is the designation of the historic part of Jefferson City where I currently live.  It was a toss up between East Village and Once Again Resale, just thought the East Village name sounded a little more trendy.

Now that the name is out of the way, I've been looking in to wholesale suppliers for filler items for my open air flea market booth.  I first did a search for the top 10 best selling flea market items, then used this list to search for wholesalers with good pricing on items I'd like to sell.  Found some great deals, but probably won't be able to get them here in time for this coming weekend.

Missing my initial launch over Memorial Day weekend due to my trip to the hospital has set me back money wise.  However, I've worked that out and although cash might be a little close for a week or so, I should be caught up soon.  I'm definitely loving being my own boss!!!  It doesn't bother me at all to work hours on end because I know I'm the one getting paid for my own efforts.  Should have done this a long time ago.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF RESALE BUSINESS!

Was very busy this past week preparing for the launch of my resale business.  Although I planned to market items mostly through outdoor flea markets, I included my items in my sister's garage sale Friday and Saturday and did quite well.  Also had a friend of mine offer to give me anything I want for my resale business, if I clean out his basement.  May or may not be worth the effort, but then again I figure it's worth a look.  So I'm headed to DeSoto Missouri Tuesday.  


My recovery from recent heart surgery is going well.  I'm feeling good and the soreness is starting to subside.  Not looking forward to the cascade of bills from this trip to the hospital, but I'll figure something out.  It's not a good thing to be without insurance when faced with major medical issues.


The week of May 22nd through June 2nd was a good week for dividend payments.  For my taxable account I collected payments from INTC, WEC, CAG, EOI and BGCP.  For my IRA I collected payments from CS and AFL.  Since the stock market has dropped so much in the past few weeks, I decided to take advantage of the lower prices by setting my accounts to reinvest all dividend payments.  I figure I'll save on commissions and pick up extra shares while prices are down.  When the market recovers, I'll revert payments to cash payouts.