What I did to Make an Extra $2,750 in a Month
Almost a month ago I posted about making an extra $20k this year (mainly by ‘flipping’ items) and how you can do it. You can read it here. (Edited, I now make $10,000 a month reselling things. Read about it here).
I said it worked out to be about $2,000 a month, so here’s my breakdown for extra cash this past month which worked out to be $2,710 plus with a few other savings I was able to make I stashed aside an extra $4,500.11 in my savings!
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1. Sold Stuff I Already Owned – $2,120
I sold some jewellery and a few other things for $2,120. While the jewellery is technically worth a lot more, I wanted it gone and the price was good enough.
I had tried selling it privately a few times and it didn’t work, so I took it into Cash Converters and wasn’t totally offended by the price offered, managed to push them up a little from their original offer to a figure I was ok with.
I wanted it done by a certain time and having it gone made me feel so much lighter. That alone was worth more than the money.
2. Bought Things To Sell – $15
I only sold 2 items ($25 total, the purchase price was $10, so $15 profit as my fees come into the postage cost). Although, I also picked up a few things on the $2 rack that are currently listed for around $10 each. Considering the main aim of this was to buy stuff to sell, it’s not a great start! I explain why I couldn’t do as much as normal further down.
3. Extra Services – $575
I did a few extra services I don’t normally do this month resulting in an extra $575. I have a variety of skills including being a qualified hairdresser and beautician which sometimes come in handy when I have the free time and feel like it.
Total extra for my first month – $2,710
Bonus Extras
On top of the extra income, I did a few things which saved money. While I am a huge advocate for finding ways to make more, saving money and money management is crucial to financial success.
1. Refunds – $755
I went over my expenses, services I am paying for or have paid for to cancel what I don’t need. This resulted in $755 saved. One was a service I had cancelled then this month they deducted the service fee. I saw it immediately and had it refunded, plus confirmed the service was cancelled. I decided to put this straight into savings.
Another part of this was a service I paid for last month for 12 months, but no longer need as I found a free alternative. They happily refunded the remaining 11 months. The last part of the $755 was an online order I did for click and collect which did not arrive after a week. It was meant to be for my birthday and taking over a week meant my birthday had passed.
Their customer service was atrocious both in-store and on the phone, so I won’t be ordering from them again.
2. Reduced Rent – $600
Long story, essentially I was interstate most of this month and did not have to pay rent in Melbourne because of it. I paid a nominal amount where I am staying but this saved me another $600.
Problems This Month
We all hit a roadblock at some point. This month I had a few problems which reduced what I could do. I think it’s important to acknowledge and learn from these issues.
1. Issues in my Personal Life
I had a few issues, resulting in me leaving the city for a few weeks so I was not home to be able to buy stuff, list it and store it. Kind of hard to do a flip challenge when you don’t have space or time and are travelling.
2. Kids Around 24/7
I love my kids dearly but due to the issues mentioned above, we have been together 24/7 for most of the past month, including school holidays where normally I would have them in vacation care some of the time. This severely reduced my capacity to work at all, let alone do the flip challenge.
I’m happy with what I did achieve though and we had some great time together.
My Thoughts on the 2017 Flip Challenge so far
I have an extra $4,500.11 in my bank account, so to me, it’s an awesome challenge. I haven’t completely done the ‘flipping’ part as well as I planned, this month I will focus on that more.
My overall aim was to make an extra $20,000 in 10 months, show how you can and hopefully encourage others to do things to make money.
Are you doing the 2017 Flip Challenge or another money making challenge?
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Marilyn vorobieff
Wednesday 2nd of January 2019
Love your site,I love the idea of Flipping I've tried it last year to no avail, I seem to be demographically challenged.I live in the blue mountains)
The Thrifty Issue
Wednesday 2nd of January 2019
I used to live in Western Sydney. If you're ever down St Marys, Penrith or Minchinbury there are a few good ones down there (well, there was). Queen St in Sy Marys had Anglicare (that was amazing) and Vinnies on a little side street that were great. Minchinbury Salvos had a huge bargain basement section that you could sometimes fill a bag for a few dollars etc.