A fancier website….

It’s coming.

I just need to upload everything. That means I’ll be down for awhile. Don’t worry though, I’ll be back and I’ll be much better.

 

Extra CA$H the Money Lady Way

Some of the happiest and wealthiest people have found a way to marry their hobby with their work. I love what I do during the day, but I have another hobby that doesn’t involve politics, education or alturism whatsoever… it’s junkin’.  Junkin’ is a pretty liberal term. So before you picture my butt hanging out of a trash can, let me clarify what I mean. I love to find deals on stuff I love at thrift stores or discount shops (like TJ Maxx, Loehman’s, or Nordstom’s Rack). It’s a hobby. I honestly spend most of my weekends searching for cool and valuable stuff. I’m sure you remember this though…

Last year I had a Come to Jesus moment two months into my 2008 enviro New Year’s resolution (to buy everything possible second hand). This was my way to be a quasi-consumer with a conscience. I spent more and more time at the Goodwill and found outrageous stuff. New Diesel jeans. Nanette Lepore jacket. Pearl necklace. New Dansko shoes. A lot of the time the stuff wasn’t my size so I’d put it back. Taking it to Buffalo Exchange never seemed like a good idea (because they rip you off) – but what if I sold it? That’s how S[ECO]ND RUN started.

What can I say, I have a gift. It’s pretty funny when I go with buddies. I’ll meet up with them an hour in and they’ll have old no name jeans and a stained top and feel pretty good. On the other hand, I look like I just walked out of Anthropologie. I go to the Goodwill for about two hours on Saturday and Sunday and find killer stuff. And I take my killer stuff and sell it on eBay. It’d be great if I didn’t have to use eBay because their fees are annoyingly high (9% plus insertion fee) – but the exposure is great. I upload stuff at least a few times a month, once a week when I’m on a roll (typically Sunday night using a seven day auction).

The upside is I’m sorta doing something that I’d already be doing – and it’s fun. A lot of people take second jobs that suck like retail or restaurants – no thanks. I look forward to shopping. The bad side is that it is very time-consuming, specifically cleaning the clothes, taking photos, measurements, and writing the description. It’s about 3-4 hours a week apart from the shopping.

The major positive is the CA$H. It paid for my earnest money when I bought my condo last year, it is helping me pay off debt faster, and allowing me to have a little bit more fun (hello plane tickets). And, I can stop whenever I want. It’s not like I must do this. It’s all extra. I can live without it if I’m too busy or ill or on holiday. So, it’s a huge win for me, my budget, and I’m promoting my values (helping the Goodwill and recycling awesome clothes). I should say that I occasionally go to discount shops during super sales. For example, Loehman’s in Bellevue is having a 50% off clearance items sale this weekend. They sell awesome stuff (Marc Jacobs, Theory, Citizens jeans etc). I plan to go and see when I can find. Also, sometimes I go to consignment shops to see if they have anything on sale.

Here are my top eight tips:

1. Buy high quality name brands that you know: I end up buying a lot of stuff that I do NOT want to sell. That sucks, but I know my market. It’s easier to sell that way.
2. Carefully examine the clothes for stains, missing buttons, weird smells, broken zippers etc. (there is likely a reason why it has been donated)
3. Look for stuff that will make lots of money: This will take time to figure out, but jeans and dresses sell better than t-shirts and shoes for example. Think about your profit-margin.
4. Take REALLY good photos: I have a 10mp SLR and I take really nice shots with a nice background. I cover all angles and get close-ups of the tags.
5. Use templates: It’s all about marketing. It should look cute. I use GarageSale which is a Mac program that costs $30. You can use Auctiva for free.
6. Write cute descriptions: I’m not sure this works, but I think it does. It shows you are a good seller. Make sure you include measurements and content.
7. Communicate: If you get a question, respond within 24 hours. Say thank you. This will REALLY boost your positive feedback and you need that, especially in the beginning.
8. Be clear about shipping: there are benefits to offering free shipping, but I find printing postage with PayPal SO easy. I do that. And I always use Priority Mail just because the flat rate envelopes rule. It’s easy and you can shove A LOT in that envelope. People get their stuff fast. A tracking number is emailed to them. It’s easy. I’ve had one situation where a First Class shipping item didn’t show and it sucked.

 

ATTENZIONE: Buffett says it’s time to buy.

According to investing guru Warren Buffett, U.S. stocks are a logical investment when their total market value equals 70% to 80% of Gross National Product.

A newsflash just in time for your impending tax refund.  It’s time to think about buying. Course he doesn’t say what he IS buying unfortunately.

Read the Fortune story here.

 

So you gotta tax refund. What’s a girl to do?

Girl, pay off debt.

Girl, build your emergency fund.

Girl, put it in your Roth IRA (the current market is sorta like Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale only better).

I did a little research and found some scary gender gap stats from a Visa 2007 study. “Our research has found a dramatic gender and age gap when it comes to saving money. Women under 50 save far less of their tax refunds than other groups and this could have significant ramifications for their financial health.” The Visa survey shows that only 30% of women age 18 to 49 plan to put the money they receive from their income tax refunds into savings. In contrast, 40% of men in that age bracket plan to put their refunds into savings. And, ladies, let’s face it – the numbers would look much worse if it was 18-30.

Think of this as a test.
Are you a money lady?

I had to admit, I struggled. I thought of my roots and split ends. My really tense shoulders. All of the sales going on now. So, what did I do? Of course, I won’t get my refund until the end of this week. It forced me to pause and think about how I want to spend this. Then my stupid Amex card charged me for a late fee that I didn’t deserve and it reminded me how much I hate that card. So, I’m going to use it for that. I sorta can’t wait.

 

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: January Results

As my readers know, I haphazardly tracked my finances last month. I’m thinking of it as a trial run because I didn’t follow all my rules. Well, Mrs. Micah provided another nudge when she started her Where’s My Money Going Month.

So, here are my January results:

THE GOOD:
Credit card payment: OVER BUDGET $600 ($1800 total)
Extra income (thank you eBay): $900
AmEx charged a phony late payment. I caught it, disputed it and got the money back.
Organized! Saved all my receipts, used Mint, updated budget, used lil’ red book

THE BAD:
Fun money: OVER BUDGET by $213 (trip to DC)
Groceries: OVER BUDGET by $195 (I need to stop going to coffee and lunch)
Mobile phone: OVER BUDGET by $101 (largely due to work, most of which will be reimbursed)

THE UGLY:
Bottom line: OVER BUDGET by $209 (this was due to my plane ticket to Washington DC. My value fund is in deficit mode, which is not great, but I’ll pay it back)

I’m off to a great start for February:

• My fun money is in my wallet.
• I did my taxes ($1600 refund!).
• I made $350 yesterday selling stuff.

 

Deal alert: Nau & 24 Hour Fitness

Two of my favorite deals for you today…

40% off ALL Nau products using the code: OTGSPECIAL
24 Hour Fitness 2-year membership: $299 (no extra fees for real, $12 a mth)

 

Budget management: technology vs pencil/paper

January is almost over and I’ll update everyone on how I did vis-a-vis my budget at the end of the week.  I will say this month reminded me that implementing a plan is a lot harder than creating one. Also, I don’t know about you, but if I get disorganized and I EASILY slip into bad money habits. I struggled to manage my expenses and sort of switched between using the tech route and the traditional pencil/paper route. So, I guess I did a bad job of both. What can I say – it’s a work in progress.

The traditional route:

I tried to write down every expense as I incurred them. This was hard, and I have to say that I did a pretty awful job. One thing that I did do was buy a super cool Moleskine little planner notebook. One page is the week and the other is lined paper, so I’m writing my expenses/budget reminders on the lined side. This has been effective so far. I need to get better about writing down everything. I did save every receipt in an envelope I put on my fridge. This helped me to increase my own accountability. Also, you and sorta see the envelope begin to bulge, which makes you slow the spending.

The techy route:

I updated my excel sheet a few times during the month to better represent my real income and expenses. I don’t have a car anymore so I had to change that. Also, I added a monthly giving fund. I’m using this to contribute monthly to my three favorite charities. Updating my excel sheet helped me. I then took it and plugged it into Mint.com. WOW. Mint is a lot cooler than I remember. I plugged in my categories, budget, and set up email reminders. I’m also really excited that Mint recently added a new FREE iPhone application. I’m planning to spend a good portion of my February fun money an an iPhone, so this is exciting. The techy route is a little tricky for me because I spend so much time at work on a computer – so when I come home, I don’t want to sit in front of one and concentrate. I think the iPhone app will help in this regard.

So, here are three ideas to help me do this a little better:

1. Continue to use my super cool moleskine to remind me to pay bills and write down all expenses over $20 (not part of fun money).
2. Use ca$h for fun money. This month was a little tricky – I had family in town and took a trip to DC – so I wasn’t as organized as I would have liked.
3. Actually use my monthly budget check in appointment, but change it to a morning slot. Right now it is 445 on Thursday. By that time, if I’m not at a meeting I’m exhuasted. I’m going to change it to Friday morning at 9 am. That way I’ll have time and energy to concentrate – and prevent overspending at the weekend.

As always, let me know what works best for you.

 

Deal Alert: Ski Free Pass UPDATE

A lot of people have been looking up this pass, so I thought I would do an update. I got this pass a week ago, and honestly I don’t think I’ll use it. First, it isn’t a free lift ticket, it’s a buy one get one free lift ticket. Second, there are SO many black out dates. If you are a weekend warrior like myself, don’t waste your time. I will say, the pass was super easy to get.

Here is a map that shows the participating ski resorts. If you click on them you can see when you can use the pass.

 

It was us. All of us. Hoping, cheering, and working together for change.

I’ve never been part of history before. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen cool things (like meeting our first woman presidential candidate) and bad things (like being stuck in NYC during Sept. 11th). But saying I’ve witnessed History (capital H) would be a stretch.  I felt the brimming excitement within me and imagined what it would be like, and I have to say, I was wrong. My idea of History didn’t compare with what I experienced.

Last week I took a very short trip involving a cheap plane ticket and many flights to a very large event, the inauguration of President Barack Obama. I left on the red eye last Sunday and arrived in Baltimore on Monday morning at 9 am. After I managed to get to town and pick up my tickets to the event the next day, I walked down to the south end of the Capitol Building where so many of us around the world would be fixated the following day. As I turned the corner, it all became closer to real. The barricades, porta potty lined walkways, and people everywhere – I mean everywhere. I stood in front of the Capitol. It was dressed up with American flags – flags that I have never been so proud to see. The choir was practicing – children were everywhere, their parents lift them up pointing and explaining what was about to happen to their world.

My entire trip built upon that moment. Every minute added another layer of power and depth. I spent the day walking the National Mall. Occasionally, I’d stop and talk to people, and they’d talk back. “Aren’t you excited?” “It’s really happening!” “This is my country.” Everyone was smiling. Everyone was helping one another whether by offering to snap a photo (I traveled alone), a piece of gum, a snack… anything. I slept only a few hours to board the metro and experience the start of a new beginning. The metro was PACKED, but no one pushed or argued or sniped. Instead people cheered, God Bless America broke out along with a short Happy Birthday (one girl turned 21).

After I finally arrived to my long line, I stood there for hours. I got to know the people I was standing by.  Black, white, young, old, rich, poor – none of that mattered on this special day. After I got through security, I literally sprinted to the Capitol and stood directly behind the reflecting pond. It was an incredible sight. The electricity and positive energy is something that I’ll never ever forget. It was a spiritual reminder that humans are all so similar, we want to be the best, we want to do good, we want to understand each other. As I stood and listened to President Obama speak, I took a moment to turn around and take it in.  He was saying these words:

“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.”

It hit me. It was not Barack Obama who blew me away that day. It was us. All of us. We had come together.  We already accomplished something truly historical. Yes we did! But this accomplishment seemed almost minor compared to the energy, hope, and team work it took to accomplish it. Hope won – and here I was standing next to three African American women my age crying, hugging, and cheering together.

I spent the rest of the day dancing on the iced-over reflecting pond, calling all of my family and friends, and having a long lunch with four people who I had never met before from all different walks of life. It was one of the best lunches I’ve had – mixed with elation and deep discussion on ‘what now?’.

On my flight home I struggled to answer this question – almost to the point of frustration. What more can I do? How can I create real change? I need to do more.  Yesterday I finally got a chance to ready Barack Obama’s letter to his daughters. The most inspiring line to me reads, ‘Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.’ It was a great reminder to me that I’m doing some very cool work. During the day I work on education reform to help ensure that children are ready for life and I hope this blog will grow to the point that it helps young women achieve financial independence. Sometimes changing the world feels difficult, but I have to say that last week reminded me that it isn’t so hard. It takes team work and diligently chipping away at a common goal. More than that, it is what needs to be done.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.  – Barack Obama, ‘What I Want for You – and Every Child in America.’

 

“More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”

Serves me right. I go on bitching and moaning about how much I hate stuff. How terrible it is to get in the habit of shopping and schlepping… and, now I’m going to get my wish whether I like it or not. Last night my old Hog (1994 Honda Passport) died on the way up Stevens Pass. It was pretty frightening to be honest. Shooting embers. A loud thud. Strange smell. And then… it decelerated and refused to go into gear. Thank god this happened right in front of Stevens Pass Resort – so we could stay warm and drink beer while we waited (three hours) for a tow truck to arrive. By the way, if you don’t have AAA – GET IT. The 100 mile tow was free and would have otherwise cost me $500 plus tax.

So, my car is dead. What now? While I find room in my budget to save for a car, I’m going to use Zipcar. I live in an urban area in Seattle and the Zipcars are everywhere. I don’t have a commute – I walk 20 minutes to work. Now, I do use my car to go to work meetings and at least one day during the weekend to run errands. In total, I’ve averaged 5,000 miles per year in the past two years. And, parking is expensive. I was paying $130 a month for parking.

Even though Zipcar is $7-9 an hour, I think it will average out in my favor (no parking, no gas, no insurance – and a car that RUNS!). I just signed up – and used the code ZIPCTA to get a $75 driving credit. It costs $50 a year and $25 as a one-time application fee. With my driving credit, it’ll average out to $0 to start. That makes me feel better.

I’ll let you know how this goes in the weeks to come. I’m more than a little nervous about losing my transportation freedom. On the other hand, I felt like a phony driving that gas hog when I regularly get on my environmental soapbox.

Zipcar is available in the following cities:

• Atlanta
• Philadelphia
• Seattle
• Boston
• Pittsburgh
• Toronto
• Chicago
• Portland
• Vancouver
• London
• San Francisco
• Washington DC
• New York/New Jersey
  

OH - and I'm donating my car to Habitat for Humanity.