I have been temporarily MIA the past few months and I apologize for my disappearance. Long story short, 2 things have happened recently…
- More staffing changes at work lead to more work production expected with fewer people.
- I broke my right arm about 5 weeks ago leaving me with just the ability to peck at the keyboard. I am right handed so not having use of this arm made it even tougher.
But work has now slowed down and I am ready get back to contributing again!
Since my last post, several new things have happened:
- Paid down the last $2500 on 2nd to last credit card. I was very excited to get this debt knocked out and only have 1 card left. Part of this was from the savings but it was the last $2,500 and was more of a mental accomplishment than anything else. Now that I only have 1 credit card with less than $10K left and I am pushing every penny towards it.
- Selling/Renting out townhouse next May. Never too early to start planning right?? My roommate and I were college roommates and were both looking to enter the real estate market after graduation. Hindsight is 20/20 but we purchased near the top of the real estate boom; luckily housing prices in our community have remained steady and even slightly increased. So based off comparable homes that have sold and adding in fix up costs and real estate agent fees we should come out a couple grand on top each. Another positive is that there are a limited number of our models in the neighborhood (2 bedroom end unit w/ basement) and 2 other end units are on the market now so we should have a good idea of the selling price come spring.
The other scenario is to keep the house and rent it out. We are currently deciding if we want to be landlords. It would be nice to get some extra cash right now to pay off the debt from the sale but long term it might be nice to have someone else pay down the mortgage. Renting was our original goal when purchasing the house but as you all know things change and thus both of our goals have changed in the last 4 years.
Thus, Debt Kid’s last article about home ownership has really hit home lately!
- Broken arm. This created some surprise medical expenses. I am on a high deductible plan so I have to pay everything out of pocket at first. Luckily I do have an HSA to cover the deductibles and I have contributed a significant amount over the past year. But medical bills add up quickly so combine this accident with x rays I needed earlier this year and I will be using up all of those funds and probably paying some out of pocket.
- Cleaning house. I have been relentlessly cleaning shop to find extra cash to pay down debt. I sold quite a bit of electronics on ebay/amazon earlier and now I’ve moved onto extra clothes, books, and random items. I’ve taken a lot of these items to Goodwill and taking another batch over to Platos Closet too see if I can get anything there.
I am contemplating a career change/move and realized I need to be as mobile as possible. Going through my closet/attic I also realized how much junk I’ve accumulated and have absolutely no need for.
How do you sell/donate your extras? What is the best way to achieve the highest return on your investment/time?
I look forward to posting again!!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey there CreditCruncher… so sorry about your broken arm but so glad to see you’re posting more! Yay for all your progress.
I haven’t done much re-selling of my own clothes, though I have some I need to purge (due to career change and weight gain… but I want to decide if both are permenant first.
I do regularly consign my kids’ clothes. Stuff that is fairly well worn or not worth consigning, I offer by way of Freecycle. You can join a local Freecycling group by going to freecycle.org to find a group near you. I’ve gotten rid of everything from blue shoe polish and a half-used bottle cat shampoo to large pieces of furniture, garden supplies and excess produce. I just emptied a bin of crafting “gear” from my garage to sort for freecycling today also.
Similarly for electronics and books, I re-sell items on Amazon.com. I prefer that to Ebay because I can control the pricing. I’ve re-sold hundereds of dollars worth of books this way–the very best sellers in my experience have been college textbooks.
Good luck!
Jessica
Great job CreditCruncher! Glad to see you’re back.
I have sold almost all of my 150+ DVD collection (except 2!) on Amazon.com. You control the pricing as Jessica said, but I mainly use it over eBay because it is so easy. All you need to do to post something like a DVD, CD or book on Amazon is to enter the number from the bar code and they pull all the relevant information, graphic of cover, etc. They do charge a high commission but I emphasized just getting rid of clutter quickly rather than going about it the most profitable way.
Thanks guys…I too use Amazon for a lot of books & movies & small electronics and Ebay for the larger items. I have a friend who has success listing even small items for $.99 on ebay. I was even able to sell a few broken electronics listing them that I listed could be used for parts or someone to fix up.
I will definitely check out Freecycle. Thanks for the heads up!
Hey there,
sorry to hear bout the broken arm, I broke my left arm not too long ago. I sell some clothing on ebay if I feel it will sell better than a place like beacons closet (its like a platos closet). The trick is start bids at 99 cents, people feel like their getting a deal even when the bid escalates, I know it sounds crazy but I read an article on it in the Times and I know from experience it works. Craigslist is another obvious place that can work for furniture or electronics, if you dont mind people coming into your home.
Good luck, lemme know how it pans out.
best,
Welcome back! Time to make some big bucks and strong debt reducing moves!
Glad you are back and looking forward to more posts from you!