Our Europe Trip: Part One

Nerdboy and I went on our first trip to Europe this May and June. I’m going to blog about our trip and the planning process leading up to it. I’ll be including some money saving tips and helpful information along the way! We spent months prepping for this trip; it was a full time job practically planning for it. I’m mostly writing this so I have the info for myself to look back on in the future, but if you like reading, I hope you enjoy it too! 😉

For the first post, I’m just laying out the basics. Where we went, how we got there, our favorites, etc. Future posts will share some more details!

We celebrated our first anniversary at the end of May so I wanted to plan our trip around that. I also wanted to avoid the summertime vacation rush and heat (that backfired a little because we had plenty of 90 degree days in May still!). Our trip was the most incredible thing I have ever done. As much as I loved our wedding (weddingmoon in Jamaica last year), this trip was far superior. We have both been to the Caribbean multiple times, stayed at Sandals and all-inclusive resorts before, traveled with family before, and we’ve been together for 9 years so the married life really wasn’t new to us (it’s great, don’t get me wrong). But Europe, Europe was new. It was exciting, it was far away, it was scary, it was just us, and it was totally unknown to the both of us. Thankfully, it turned out to be the greatest thing I’ve ever done and not a complete nightmare.

We both had dreamed of Europe most of our lives. Our first step when planning out or trip was writing down the countries, cities, and sites we wanted to see.

My list: Santorini (Hello, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!), Paris (Eiffel Tower, duh), London (Harry Potter Studio Tour), and Italy (mostly Rome because of the Colosseum).
Mike’s list: London, Paris, Barcelona/Spain (He wasn’t picky, he just wanted Spain), Italy, Athens.

Like any old, married couple, our hopes and dreams overlapped almost perfectly. After lots of research we decided a cruise would help us get to more countries and cities without worrying about planes/trains, hotels, and food everywhere. We found a fantastic cruise that covered Athens, Santorini, South France, a few stops in Italy and ended in Barcelona. It was a luxury cruise (so you didn’t have to pay for sodas and alcohol separately!) and we planned to fly into London, train to Paris, fly to Athens to catch the cruise and then end in Barcelona. While waiting for Mike’s work to approve our trip, the cruise booked up and we were back to square one, with two months left until I wanted to travel. We are both also procrastinators which isn’t always the best when planning a big trip. For best results, I’d recommend planning more than two months out. While we didn’t have too much trouble booking flights and hotels a month (and some hotels were booked as little as 2 weeks) before, the selection and prices may have been better if we booked earlier.

Now that we we were on our own, we picked our top places (5 countries, 7 cities), had to narrow some down (sorry, Venice), looked at a map of Europe, and started looking at flights (Santorini to Rome for instance only flew twice a week and I really wanted to be in Santorini on our anniversary. And we had to book our tickets for the Harry Potter Studio ASAP as options were already extremely limited, so we had quite the challenge to figure out!). Two months before travel time, we finally found the perfect route based on the days we wanted to be gone. We made sure to include two weekends and a federal holiday which saved us 5 days off work. We came home on a Friday evening which gave us a whole weekend to recover (best idea I had). Here’s the itinerary:

Day 0 (Left Dulles airport that evening)
Day 1 (Arrived in London, England around 11am – Spent the day exploring London)
Day 2 (Harry Potter Studio Tour!)
Day 3 (Left in the morning and took the Eurostar train to Paris – Spent the day exploring Paris)
Day 4 (Full day in Paris)
Day 5 (Site see in Paris until afternoon then go to the airport for Athens -landed after 1am)
Day 6 (Full day in Athens)
Day 7 (Site see in Athens until afternoon then go to the airport for Santorini -landed after 11pm)
Day 8 (Our anniversary – Full day in Santorini!)
Day 9 (Full day in Santorini)
Day 10 (Site see in Santorini then go to the airport for Rome – landed after midnight)
Day 11 (Full day in Rome)
Day 12 (Took the train from Rome to Naples/Pompeii then back to Rome)
Day 13 (Full day in Rome)
Day 14 (Site see in Rome then go to the airport for Barcelona- landed after 11pm)
Day 15 (Full day in Barcelona)
Day 16 (Full day in Barcelona)
Day 17 (Left Barcelona early, flight to London, flight back home to Dulles – awake for over 24 hours!)

At the end of the trip, we were tired and ready to go home. It probably didn’t help that our last two steps (Rome and Barcelona) were my least favorite by far! I’m so glad we got to see the Colosseum, Pompeii, Sagrada Familia, etc., but the cities didn’t bring me great joy like the others, totally a personal preference. I was also missing my bed, tacos and Costco. But, about a week after returning home, I was already planning for our next trip! Right around the 10 day mark is where we started to feel it. I don’t think I’d go anywhere for over two weeks again. Europe is huge obviously, but we were able to check off a lot of major places. We have lists of new places we’d like to visit (including some in the US that we’ve never seen) and places we can’t wait to return to (Paris, Greece, Greece, Athens, Santorini, Greece, Greek Isles, and Greece 😉 ) Can you see what our favorite was?

17 days

7 cities (London, Paris, Athens, Santorini, Rome, Naples/Pompeii, Barcelona)

7 flights (5 within Europe)

5 countries (England, France, Greece, Italy, Spain)

2 trains (3 if you count the return back to Rome)

In the next post, I’ll share more about booking flights, hotels, and finding places to eat, while being mindful of money! If you have any questions, feel free to let me know in the comments here or on the Facebook group!

July 29, 2017/9 Comments/by Brandi

Thrifting

Thrifty Finds from June 2017

One of the things I missed while we were in Europe (don’t worry, I’m writing up some travel posts soon!) was thrift shopping! I usually hit my thrift places a few times a week so after no thrifting for 3 weeks, I was missing it! Pictured above is most of what I’ve found in the last 2 weeks. Some to keep, some to sell! From left to right, top row first:

Pyrex Percolator $3
Pleasant Company Bitty Baby $2
Pat Secrist Doll (very life-like!) $3
Vintage Disney Snow White Comforter $4
(Bottom row) Pleasant Company Hopscotch Hill doll $3
Vintage Vera coasters $2
Toddler SPF swim suit $1.50
Lululemon Tank $2.50
Lilly Pulitzer for Target dress $3.50
Lilly Pulitzer Dress $5
Lularoe leggings $2.50
Lularoe leggings $2.50
New Harry Potter boxers $0.99
Vintage Disney Esmeralda Pillow $1.50

I’m a Bitty Baby finding Champion. In the last 2 years (maybe less), I’ve found 10 Bitty Babies, all under $5. Those of you who know American Girl know how expensive these babies are originally! I was shocked to find two like-new pairs of Lularoe too! And I love finding vintage Disney. I’m probably keeping the Snow White comforter for the kiddos to chill with in the playroom! All clothes and fabric items that I buy used go through my washer AND dryer before I store them in my house to dry to eliminate any bug problems – I recommend you do the same! The only exceptions are Lilly Pulitzer, Lularoe, and anything you really shouldn’t put in the dryer. Just check everything carefully before you bring it in your home. I’ve also washed and dried stuffed animals and I Clorox wipe or hand wash anything with hard surfaces. With these precautions, buying used/second hand is fun and an inexpensive way to shop!

Have you thrifted anything great recently?

June 26, 2017/3 Comments/by Brandi

Frugal Tip of the Day, Gardening, In the Kitchen

DIY Plantain Salve (Common Yard Weed) for Itches and Burns

Making your own Plantain Salve is an easy way to make a natural relief salve for your family using a common yard weed! Plantain leaves (aka Plantago major) is found in North America, Europe and Asia! It’s very likely you have some in your yard or neighborhood right now. Plantain leaves have amazing medicinal benefits including being an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antioxidant. They are even edible and can be eaten in a salad or made into tea. My favorite use for plantain leaves is to stop itchies from mosquito bites which are very common around here and this is where the salve comes in handy! I would rather use this natural salve than another product with yucky ingredients. Instead of making the salve, you can actually mash up some plantain leaves (maybe add some spit!) and rub it right on the bite while you’re outside. I found the salve to be a nicer alternative to leaves and spit. It’s a great project to do with the kids and it really comes in handy during the summer with bug bites and sunburns. You’ll want to pick your leaves from an area that has not been treated with pesticides. Plantain comes in wide leaf and thin leaf. I prefer the wide leaf if you can find it, but both will work!

Send your kids out on a mission to pick plantain leaves. Bring them inside (rinse if you want) and let dry. You’ll want to dehydrate them to avoid mold. Leaving them out on a cookie sheet on your covered porch for a few days would be perfect (give a stir daily), if not, dehydrate using your oven on its lowest temperature. After your leaves are free of moisture, they’ll be easy to break up and then put them in a mason jar. You’ll want at least half a pint jar of broken, dried leaves. The amount of leaves isn’t too important, you just need enough to infuse the oil. If you have a lot of leaves, use a quart jar! Fill the rest of the jar with oil (I use oil olive) and let sit for at least 2 weeks, but you can certainly let it go longer. This last batch infused for months as you can see from the dark green oil! After infusing, strain out your leaves and measure your oil.

What you need:

Dried plantain leaves
Oil (I use Olive Oil – infused with leaves!)
Beeswax
Essential Oil (optional)
Jar or tins for storage

In a pot, I mix 4 parts infused oil with 1 part beeswax. So if you have 8 ounces of oil, use 2 ounces of beeswax. Turn on low heat and stir until beeswax is melted. You could also use a double boiler to melt the beeswax and then mix with oil. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. If you want to add essential oil, now is the time. I used Tea Tree oil because of its benefits as an antiseptic and treating wounds. You can use other essential oils of your choice for added benefit and scent. I usually use one drop of oil per ounce of oil/beeswax. For instance, for 8 ounces of oil and 2 ounces of beeswax, I would use about 10 drops of EO, but you can add more or less to your liking. Stir in your essential oil and slowly pour into a jar or small tins. It’ll quickly harden and you’ll have a beautiful salve! It’s ready to use as soon as it cools. Just get some on your finger and rub it on your itch or ouchie.

May 5, 2017/1 Comment/by Brandi

In the Kitchen

Easy Homemade Peasant Bread in Pyrex Bowls

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I finally had a not-so-busy weekend 2 weekends ago and was able to make this recipe that I’ve been eyeing up for years. It seems like everyone in the Pyrex groups always makes this bread (since Pyrex bowls really work perfect for it) and I wanted to give it a try too, finally!

After the first rise

Before the second rise

The recipe that gets shared around is from AlexandraCooks.com and I’m sure it’s one of her popular posts!

I’m not really a huge fan of baking because I feel like it’s time consuming and you have to follow the recipe exactly. I’m more of a grab and throw in whatever we have on hand type of gal. But, this bread is really easy and I had every ingredient on hand, aside from yeast, which I grabbed at my weekly Aldi run. Flour, salt, water, sugar, yeast and butter. That’s it! I followed the recipe and had the dough in the bowl ready to rise in minutes. It literally was so quick (of course I had to give my Kitchenaid Mixer some love!), I had the dough rising in the oven and everything cleaned up in like 10 minutes. My dough was actually really wet originally and didn’t look like her picture, so I (probably) miscounted flour cups or something. I just added more flour until it looked like her picture and it was perfect!

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She mentioned used the Pyrex 441 size bowl (which was the smaller, orange bowl, which made the taller loaf on the right). 441 definitely worked better, so I’ll be sure to use two 441 bowls next time! If you don’t have these exact bowls on hand, check to see if you have any oven-safe bowls about 1.5 pints each.

Don’t forget, you can join the Facebook Group here to stay in touch!

March 14, 2017/by Brandi

In the Kitchen

Saving Money and Time by Freezer Cooking!

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In our household, we run very busy lives. Between our normal day jobs (which sometimes involve night work for both of us), our own businesses at home, and daily life (including trying to hit the gym 3 times a week), we’re rarely free to make dinner in the evenings. If I get home from work at 6 (which is early, if I go to the grocery store or gym, it’s around 8 when I’m getting home), by the time I work on orders Etsy and/or eBay, it’s too late to even make a dinner. We both love to cook and we have some amazing cookware thanks to my great thrifting and our lovely wedding presents, so cooking is really enjoyable for both of us, we just don’t have the hours in the day.

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A few times so far in 2017, including just last Sunday, we’ve had freezer cooking bursts where I or both of us, cook up the meat I’ve purchased that week and make meals for the coming week and also for the freezer. It really only takes a couple hours and we get about 5-10 meals each time, depending on how much meat I’ve bought. Instead of freezing whole meals, we really only freeze meat. Thanks to Aldi, I’m almost ALWAYS have fresh produce in the fridge which takes about 5 minutes to steam and thanks to the Instant Pot, if we want rice, I can knock it out in about 20 minutes. So that’s less than a 30 minute meal which is about all I have time for, plus so much less mess when the meat/stove portion is already cooked! Most of our meats thaw so quickly that even if I forget to take one out before work, that frozen taco meat can be heated in a pan or microwave in such a short time.

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I stock up on meats, #1 when we need meat, and #2 when it’s at a great price. My “buy” prices for meats are currently: Less than $2/lb for boneless skinless chicken breasts, less than $2.89/lb ground beef, $2/lb or less for ground turkey, and $0.69 chicken legs/thighs. Of course your prices are going to vary based off of prices in your area and the type of meat you’re buying. We don’t do much pork, but that’s another great addition.

Our favorite freezer meat recipes are listed below. These are simply ideas and you’ll want to pick ones that your family loves. These are our favorites and we are happy to eat them every week, usually it’s about every other week as we don’t cook dinner every single night.

Korean Beef (I’ll steam broccoli and make rice)
Taco meat (use for tacos, nachos, taco salads, etc)
Chicken tenders/nuggets *raw* (I’ll slice the large breasts into smaller pieces before freezing because it makes it faster to cook and I prefer the smaller pieces for stir frys)
Hamburgers (I’ll steam a veggie and it’s a great night for frozen fries or potatoes!)
Plain cooked ground meat (use for spaghetti and meat sauce, baked ziti, or any casserole meal that calls for ground meat)
Shredded BBQ Chicken/Pork (I fill a crockpot or Instant Pot with chicken or pork, add BBQ sauce, some water, and seasonings – let cook, shred, freeze)

We always store in freezer bags (quart size works well, gallon if you need bigger). You could use a foodsaver as well! We label each bag with a Sharpie. We freeze enough so at least one person, if not both of us gets leftovers for the next day. It’s really hard in my opinion to portion out how much meat should go in one bag, but sometimes I’ll grab a dinner plate and actually put the meat on my plate to get an idea of what my typical serving is, then I’ll eyeball and multiple by 4.

It’s so nice to come home from work and not having to make a huge meal and mess, but have a great dinner on the table! I always try to keep our favorite fresh veggies on hand for steaming, like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and asparagus. I’m also a huge fan of canned green beans 😉 If we’re going to be eating rice more than once that week, I’ll make a double batch and refrigerate the half for another dinner. We aren’t the healthiest eaters ever but we try to be mindful and avoid as many processed foods as possible, but usually after grocery shopping after a long day at work, I’ll come home and put a frozen pizza in the oven. It happens 😉 We try not to overload on carbs (rice is our favorite though) and I ALWAYS make sure to have veggies on hand. At the moment, with our busy lifestyles, this is what works best for us! I hope this motivates you to spend a few hours one night or Sunday afternoon cooking up some of your family’s favorite meals!

March 4, 2017/by Brandi

From My Home, In the Kitchen

My Review of Home Chef (Dinner Delivery Service)

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Update from 12/27 (below was written weeks ago): we’ve had quite a few of these meals now and they have all been fantastic. I love the recipes and food choices. Totally delicious and easy! I will gladly pay around $5-7 a serving for these meals. I do think that at $10 a serving isn’t something we’d do all the time, but I do think it’s worth it, especially for the busy couples!

If you guys are members of my Facebook Group, Savvy Shoppers, you probably took advantage of the great Home Chef deal I posted a few months ago. I wanted to review my 3 meals and service overall! But first, if you find yourself interested in a dinner delivery service, if you sign up here you’ll receive a $30 credit! It’s also very possible an additional $10 credit pop-up will come up while you’re making your account, saving you $40 (this is random though but most of us got it!). You’ll pay as low as $2.50-$5/serving shipped and that’s pretty awesome because these meals are great and I really enjoyed the service. If you order 3 meals, your shipping should be free, so play around to get the best price per meal for your family.

Without the credits, which you’ll receive when you sign up, the original price is $9.95 per serving. There is a $10 delivery charge. So for 2 meals for 2 people (4 servings all together), the cost is 49.80 shipped. Cheaper than going on to a nice dinner, definitely, but it is expensive for most of us who are couponing or budgeting the grocery budget. I love that they offer the credit though and it’s definitely worth trying for that!

With the promotion I took advantage of, I was able to score 3 meals for 2 people (6 servings total) for a fantastic price and I wanted to share my experience with you!

First, you choose your delivery day. I chose Wednesday. Your order must be finalized before noon the Friday before. The delivery period was Wednesday from 8am – 8pm. Unfortunately, FedEx was delayed (nothing to do with Home Chef) and our meal wasn’t delivered until after 10:30pm that night and it got left on our porch until morning. (Note: our next week’s delivery was delivered before dinner on Wednesday, no problems!). Due to how well the meals are packed, all of our food was still fine the following morning. Meals are surrounded by insulation and included are a bunch of ice packs! Each meal is packaged in a labeled bag (every 2 servings in a bag) and lasts for about 5-6 days in your fridge. A few of our items got a little smashed during delivery (tomato and jalapeno), I’d like them to offer a bit more protection for soft produce. Another complaint that I’ve heard about these services is that there is a lot of waste. I took a picture of what was left after one of our meals. It is a lot of plastic waste, but a lot could be reused and/or recycled so it didn’t bother me too much!

I loved how organized the meals are with the exact measurements and fresh ingredients. Each herb is carefully packed and all you need to provide (usually) is salt, pepper, and olive oil. I’m really not a recipe follower, but when most of the hard part is done, it’s really fantastic! I timed the meals (most take 35-45 minutes) and my times were about 5-10 minutes more than their times but I was taking pictures (and multitasking with other things) at the same time.

The first meal we tried was:

Chicken Breast with Saffron Beurre Blanc

with roasted Brussels sprouts and red pepper

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It was really good! I loved all the fresh veggies and the chicken was good quality.

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Pictured here is the Saffron that came with the meal. My favorite part about this meal was that we got to use Saffron without having to buy a bottle from the grocery as it is VERY expensive.

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Here is the waste from this meal. Baggies could be reused. The small condiment bottles could be handy too! And the veggie scraps are all compostable.

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We really enjoyed this meal! I do think I overcooked the chicken, but that was my fault. I should have removed the chicken sooner so the veggies could cook by themselves, which the recipe mentioned. Portion size was great.

Our second meal:

Acapulco Steak Tacos

with pico de gallo and cilantro-lime rice

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We loved the tacos! They were our favorite. Again, love the fresh ingredients and the meat was great quality.

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Here’s our tomato and jalapeno that got a little smooshed. I just cut around the bad part, you don’t use all the jalapeno anyway. Our lime had brown spots though, but again, I zested around it. Nothing major and it didn’t hold anything up for us.

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I love my Le Creuset grill pan! Great for avoiding the outside grill if the weather isn’t great.

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My plating isn’t beautiful but these are delicious! It came with enough for 6 tacos. You could certainly stretch this one into 3 servings, especially if you add some beans!

And our last:

Healthy Takeout Orange Chicken

with snap peas and jasmine rice

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Another great meal with fresh ingredients! I love that it came with all the sauces.

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I actually packed mine right up for leftovers. I ate mine serving over 2 days so again, I was very happy with the portion size! I wish they would have made a bigger warning about the spiciness of this recipe. Recipe stated that you could crush the red peppers for more heat. I cut 2 of them in half and stirred them in (I never crushed and left most whole), but it was SO SPICY. I love spicy foods, but this was a little much, so I will definitely be more cautious next time hot peppers like this are included.

So if you want to give this service a try, be sure to sign up with Home Chef to get your credit! Menus change every week and you get to pick which recipe you want from about 10 choices. I’ve been really enjoying the meals, the great quality, and just trying new stuff!

December 27, 2016/by Brandi

Frugal Tip of the Day, Managing Money, Thrifting

Week Five & Six: Paying for Christmas by Reselling!

This is my final “Paying for Christmas” post as today I shipped my last packages of the 2015 Christmas season! People were really waiting until the last minute for gifts… I would never do that 😉

I had some great luck these past two weeks! I finally sold a high dollar item I’ve had sitting around for awhile and I got rid of a lot of items, some that I just purchased! I also had great luck with the lot of Littlest Pet Shops I bought for $30. If you remember from last time, I’m just saying each piece costs me $2, even though there were WAY more than 15 items in the box, most pieces didn’t have much value. I love making money, what can I say?! Unfortunately, I still have a lot of items I didn’t have time to list before Christmas. It was my goal to get them all listed, but time always gets away (especially when you’re working full time and planning a wedding!) and I kept buying more stuff to sell! So I’ll continue listing and selling in my free time. It’s a hobby I enjoy, most of the time 😉 I’m very happy with everything I’ve managed to accomplish these last few weeks of 2015. I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep posting my sales after Christmas, but it’s honestly a great motivation to get things listed sometimes! Catch me on the Facebook group if you’re into online deals and frugal chit chat! I am happy to say that my 6 weeks of eBay sales have paid for all my Christmas presents! Read below to find out what recently sold!

These past 2 weeks I sold:

Princess Polly Pockets and Magic Clip Dolls
Bought for: $4
Sold for: $40 shipped

Germ Guardian Air Filters (2)
Bought for: $0 (shipped to us on accident, seller didn’t want them shipped back)
Sold for: $26 plus shipping

Le Creuset Butter Dish and Shakers
Bought for: $8
Sold for: $30 plus shipping

Littlest Pet Shop Dachshund
Bought for: $2
Sold for: $75 shipped (WOOT WOOT)

Littlest Pet Shop Beagle
Bought for: $2
Sold for: $16.99 shipped

Littlest Pet Shop Chihuahua
Bought for: $2
Sold for: $14.50 shipped

Cathrineholm Red Pot
Bought for: $8
Sold for: $250 plus shipping (WOOT WOOT)

Hazel Atlas Red Stripe Bowl and Cup
Bought for: $3
Sold for: $26 plus shipping

Etsy Profits: $24

Flash Notes Profits: $8.39
*Students, did you know you can upload your notes and study guides and people will buy them? Did you know they’ll buy them 2+ years after you graduate? Neither did I! But a few times a year I get a few bucks in my Paypal, especially during exam season! I guess I won’t ever take them down! Looking back, I wish I would have uploaded a bunch more!

That makes this week’s net profit (this is after Paypal fees, eBay fees, and all other expenses): $423.63
Week Two’s profit: $137.41
Week One’s profit: $105
Week Three’s profit: $82.89
Week Four’s profit: $79.25

Total profit: $838.18

If you haven’t read the previous posts in the series, please click the links below!
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four

December 22, 2015/by Brandi

Managing Money, Thrifting

Week Four: Paying for Christmas by Reselling!

This week I had a number of sales but nothing too huge. It seems people like to shop on the weekends the most so I need to get things listed for this weekend! This week, I was happy to get rid of those Skylanders because I knew I wasn’t going to make much money off of them (6+ months ago they were selling for about $25 each, but I waited too long). I also wanted to get rid of the Holt Piggy Bank because I spent a lot on it, mainly because I knew it was something special and I couldn’t let it sit at Goodwill (#collectorproblems). It was also in perfect condition! And then you’ll see some new things in the sold category, Littlest Pet Shops! Hopefully you have a bin of these in your basement collecting dust, because they can be a great money maker! I’m no expert at them by any means, but I’m trying to catch on fairly quickly. I picked up a lot of LPS (Littlest Pet Shops for short) off a yard sale Facebook page for $30. It was a cardboard box full of animals and the buildings. I’ve been going through the animals, picking out the ones worth money and working on making a profit off the lot! I’ve already made back my money selling just 2 of the pets and I have an $80 dog listed! It’ll take me a bit to finish sorting through and then everything that isn’t worth much, I’ll probably toss back on a yard sale page (or eBay, who knows!) for $20-$30, especially the houses and buildings that are missing doors and accessories.

I also toy around on Etsy, but it’s definitely not my #1 spot. I included my Etsy profits from the week though!

You’ll notice if you add up my sold prices and look at what I actually made, it is a pretty crazy difference. Item costs, shipping and fees take a large cut of the profits. If you’re looking into selling on eBay, keep in mind they charge about 10% of the selling price AND shipping. In addition, Paypal takes a cut of $0.30 + 3% (approximately). It doesn’t sound like a lot, but these fees really add up. I owe eBay a good chunk of change each month and Paypal sucks it right out of your earnings when it’s deposited. I can’t complain though as eBay has proven to be a great way for me to make some extra cash this holiday season. As usual, I still have plenty of items to list so I need to get moving! It is so, so busy around here! Don’t forget to keep up with us on the Facebook group if you’re into online deals and frugal chatting!

This past week I sold:

Two Skylanders Trap Team
Bought for: $13 (I planned to sell when they were selling for more money, but I didn’t get them listed when I should have)
Sold for: $27.50 shipped s-l1600 (10)

Littlest Pet Shop Collie
Bought for: $2 (I bought a whole box of pets and houses for $30, so really, it was less than $2 but this will just keep things simple)
Sold for: $32 shipped

Little Pet Shop Corgi
Bought for: $2 (See above)
Sold for: $12.99 shipped

Holt Corky Pig Piggy Bank
Bought for: $15
Sold for: $44.67 + shipping

Etsy Profits: $20.35

That makes this week’s net profit (this is after Paypal fees, eBay fees, and all other expenses): $79.25
Week Two’s profit: $137.41
Week One’s profit: $105
Week Three’s profit: $82.89

Total profit: $404.55

If you haven’t read the previous posts in the series, please click the link below!
Week One
Week Two
Week Three

December 10, 2015/by Brandi

From My Home, Managing Money, Thrifting

Week Three: Paying for Christmas by Reselling!

I skipped a week two weeks ago because I was on vacation and surprisingly (and lucky for me because I didn’t close any listed items on eBay) nothing sold! As much as I would have loved the sales, not having to worry about someone shipping my items while I was gone was great! Nerdboy and I are finally engaged. We enjoyed a beautiful and romantic vacation Jamaica. It was so nice to get away! When we came back, we said goodbye to our family pet, our 14 year old Golden Retriever, Jake. When Wednesday came along, we started Thanksgiving festivities. We traveled to visit family on Thursday and Friday and returned back home this past weekend to start Christmas preparations! I hadn’t listed anything for sale in a good two weeks. Obviously I have been quite busy, but it’s a bummer because you can’t really sell anything if you don’t take the time to list it. I’m doing much better this coming week and already listed a few new things, so week 4 sales are already starting!

Thanks to Thanksgiving sales, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I’ve bought a quite a few Christmas presents! I think I’m almost done shopping for people. Honestly, I have no idea how much I’ve spent though but I will tally it up and compare it to my earnings to see how well I’m doing. I still have plenty of items to sell, but time is ticking and I need to get listing and selling! I’ve also picked up some great deals on Amazon, so keep up with the Facebook group if you’re into Amazon deals!

I sold on eBay only and at this point, I hadn’t listed anything new in two weeks so the CHA-CHINGs were surprising! I sold an item on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and then that Saturday. I guess people were in the shopping mood 🙂

This past week I sold:

Pyrex Refrigerator Set
Bought for: $13
Sold for: $80 shipped

Beauty and the Beast “Chip” Bank
Bought for: $2
Sold for: $20 + shipping

Melissa & Doug Trunki
Bought for: $4
Sold for: $34.99 + shipping

That makes this week’s net profit (this is after Paypal fees, eBay fees, and all other expenses): $82.89
Week Two’s profit: $137.41
Week One’s profit: $105
Total profit: $325.30

If you haven’t read the previous posts in the series, please click the link below!
Week One
Week Two

December 2, 2015/by Brandi

Frugal Tip of the Day, Managing Money, Thrifting

Week Two: Paying for Christmas by Reselling!

I had another week of some great sales that I’ll be sharing with you guys! So far, I’ve bought a few Christmas presents but I’m still in the positive and haven’t gone over what I’ve earned from reselling yet. Luckily, I don’t have many people to buy for and I’ve been really frugal with the spending. 😉 I’ve actually picked up quite a few amazing presents for way less than retail at thrift stores, which I realize sounds pretty awful, but I promise it’s pretty cool. I would have never thought to buy gifts for people at a thrift store, but when you find Lego sets New in Box and American Girl dolls for dollars… how can you not?! I’m either buying them as gifts or buying them to resell, and some of my recipients would be very grateful for these items that I would otherwise not be able to afford (or choose not to pay) retail for. I’ve also picked up some great deals on Amazon, so keep up with the Facebook group if you’re into Amazon deals!

This week I sold on eBay, Amazon, Facebook and a textbook site. I don’t know how some of these people have hundreds and thousands of listings on eBay. I find it so time time consuming to take pictures and write up the listings, but maybe I’m just super slow. Of course, when my phone goes $$CHA-CHINGS$$ it’s totally worth it, but it is tedious, so warning to anyone wanting to get started.

This past week I sold:

Beauty and the Beast Mrs. Potts and Chip Tea Set
Bought for: $6
Sold for: $69.99 + shipping

Three textbooks
Bought for: $0
Sold for: $57

Pyrex Pink Gooseberry Bowl
Bought for: $1
Sold for: $14 + shipping

Pyrex Butterprint Bowl
Bought for: $1
Sold for: $14 + shipping

That makes this week’s net profit (this is after Paypal fees, eBay fees, and all other expenses): $137.41
Week One’s profit: $105
Total profit: $242.41

If you haven’t read the previous posts in the series, please click the link below!
Week One