Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2023

SandyShores

More un-nesting done this weekend, but also a lot of resting so not quite as much done as I'd hoped.  I've made a promise to list all of the clothes this week.  There's way more than 20 items - so at an average of £3 will hopefully be worth it.  MrShores sent me to the diy store last week as he'd run out of a certain item.  While un-nesting the garage today I found a whole box of the diy item.  Its not even the money, its the time I'd wasted running round buying the stuff, and the fact that we've now got two boxes of them cluttering up the garage.  As soon as I've finished the bedroom, the garage is next!

Moving is a good time to declutter, but I've had my fill of moving so I need to get (and keep) on top of it all now.  I'm not a hoarder but I hate just throwing things away if someone else can use them.  Giving stuff away takes time, whereas putting it in the bin is seconds though.  

SandyShores

Ran out of time to put everything on V1nted yesterday due to dawdling, and then MrShores wanted to watch a programme together.  So I planned to get up early today then slept in - whoops.  But I must list everything soon - it helps to do postal trips together.  I also sold a couple of items on fb marketplace, which is useful as I realised I'd stupidly put the credit card amounts in the wrong column on the spreadsheet.  For some reason I thought my statement would be about £400 this month and £400 next month - not sure why as the statement date is only today - so the statement this month totals £800.  Its going to be tight this month so I'd better get selling.  Honestly, what am I like - too much spending is definitely confusion causing.

SandyShores

Whoop woop to seven items sold on v1nted in only 3 days.  Still 6 items left to sell, and more to list.  I seem to be collecting a pile of empty coat hangers so may drop them at the charity shop when I drop off a bundle of clothing I've set aside.

I'm taking delivery of the desk and chair tomorrow, so looking forward to sorting that out.  It will also free up space for wrapping the parcels up, as well as a place for my sewing machine.  Love it when a plan comes together.  There's also a few more things in the office that need to go onto fleabay so it really will be a busy but hopefully productive weekend.

savingholmes

Well done on the sales and good luck with the £400 target.

SandyShores

Thanks savingholmes, I've done the payday shuffle and have £18 left of personal spends for the rest of the month once all the regular payments are made. Luckily I have some expenses to claim and a refund to take back so that will give another £60 (although the expenses won't arrive until the end of the month).  I have £25 cash from some FB sales, and more cash to come from the v1nted sales - just started receiving the news that they are ready to pick up by the sellers - should be around £45.  There's lots of clutter in this house to sell (even though its all stuffed into cupboards) so I need to keep on with it.

Having the unexpected £400 is motivating me to keep selling stuff though I'm going to keep the credit card spends to a minimum this month - its cost me £2,000 to clear both this month.  The house is starting to look lovely, its amazing what a difference a few blinds and curtains make, not to mention the lovely bedroom furniture.  I'm glad I've taken the plunge and ordered it all, but line drawn under now, and no more large credit card bills - it reminded me of the days of minimum payments and being up to the credit limit (and not in a good way).

It is delaying my mortgage OPs, but I will definitely be back on track by July latest, ready to go while enjoying my beautifully styled home

SandyShores

Popped a few more items up for sale x 8 today.  Lots of people have added them to their favourites and already had one sale plus £30 ready to cash out.  I'm feeling less financially challenged and hopefully will have more sales soon. I'm running out of used post bags so I'll head to the pound shop tomorrow when I return my item to the M of S.  I've set up my new table at the end of the office for my sewing machine, its quite long so its a useful space to do my parcel packing.

Now that the bedroom furniture is in place, and I'm on my way to decluttering all the clothes, I can start to move onto the next areas - garage and office.  The office is just clutter and if I clear it out a bit I will have some space for the paperwork currently stored in boxes in the garage.  That should make some space in the garage otherwise that area will be a bit of a challenge.  Looking forward to getting it done though.

MrShores did some work in the garden today, assisted by moi of course, and its starting to look a lot tidier.  A bit of sunshine would go a long way.

savingholmes

Glad that you are managing to sell stuff. Sounds like you are making great inroads into make your home more streamlined and rejuvenating too.

SandyShores

Thanks @savingholmes, I've been able to use the cash from my sales for two social events now and still have a fiver left over plus a v1nted balance of almost £50.  My bank balances have hardly been used, which is great considering the balances are a little lower than normal.

The v1nted sales have slowed down, but I've got a few more items to list.  Anything that doesn't sell will go to the local dress agency or charity shop.  I'm also starting to sell some other bits on fleabay, I've done the research and its all ready to go on this weekend (80% off fees too).  Mostly stuff for a fiver, but a couple of larger value items too. 

Its great having the bedroom almost clear, its so much more relaxing. The craft room is next - its already starting to feel like the cosy space I envisaged.  I have a craft table, a chair and a kallax unit with boxes, but need to trade my desk in for a smaller one.  I won't be spending out on that for a couple of months, in the meantime I'll get on with the sorting and selling.  Its incredible how many desks are for sale secondhand at the moment so I don't think I'll get much for my old one but will give it a go.  I'm thinking of adding wall storage such as a pegboard, making some ribbon holders and buying one of the 1kea rails with hooks and cups.

SandyShores

Few more sales listed on v1nted and fleabay - 3 items sold already, so more posting tomorrow!  There are a couple of bits I need to put on fb-selling and I have some old @pples - computers and phones - that I should get rid of.  Then its more or less done - woohoo!!  I'll still be sorting and selling regularly - I'm going to make it a weekly or monthly task. 

I always think my thread isn't very mortgage focused, but at the moment its about getting the house sorted so that everything will then be directed towards paying it off (and we can just enjoy it on that journey).  I'm nearly there with house sorting, but it feels a little bit like when I became debt-free, a pressure disappeared and I lost a bit of focus.  Now that the big costs are gone (apart from a desk and a set of garage hooks) I'm keen to get on and overpay overpay overpay!!!  July will definitely be the month to start seriously.  In the meantime these small amounts are being put to good use.  I'm really looking forward to the summer this year - it should be a major turning point for us.

I was thinking about how much I've been spending, and how I've been frittering a bit lately.  When I was on my debt-free journey I made every penny count and I need to return to this.  I also used to think about ways to make more money - so that's going to be another aim.  Selling these bits and pieces has reminded me just how much small amounts add up.  I'm sure you used to be able to run a small business, and as long as you didn't make more than £1,000 profit you didn't have to report it.  I know its only £1k but its worth thinking about as £80 a month off the mortgage would be great.  Thinking hat going on about how to make £20 a week.

Edit - Looked up a few bits about the £1k Trading Allowance on the 'net - and it is okay to be employed and earn up to £1k from a small business without submitting tax returns etc:  Trading Allowance whilst Employed

I've also just realised that one hour extra a week at my job would give me that £80 a week comfortably.  Not that there is any overtime (and anyway that would be taxed), so I need to think about what I can do outside of work in my current field, or I have mentioned before that I am looking at getting into a new field of work in the future - so maybe there is something there to be investigated. 

SandyShores

I like the look of this site I just found: Make Money Without a Job.  Haven't looked into it in depth so will have a good review of it tomorrow.  From an initial glance it looks good and even has a section on the Trading Allowance.  I think one thing I need to do is check with work if I need to report to them that I have other earnings.