How to Thousands Every Month
3 months ago we started a challenge to make $20,000 this year as part of the 2017 Flip Challenge (read more about it here, basically a challenge set by Gary Vee to make $20,170 extra this year).
Broken down, $20,000 by the end of 2017 was $2000 a month or $480 a week from the date we started.
We made our goal each month so far and all of it has been flexible around other commitments.
How We Are Doing
In month one we made $2,750. In month two, we made nothing due to travel, hospital and other complications.
Month 3 (this month) we made $8,741.38 in this challenge, after expenses.
This makes my total for the past 3 months $11,451.38 in extra money made, plus an extra $1,355 saved (by refunds and reduced rent). New edit – we now make over $10,000 a month. Read how here.
In the first post, I listed a bunch of options and will share more further below, along with some tips.
Disclosure, there are some affiliate links for products we use in this post. We only recommend things we personally use.
How to Buy Things to Resell
This month we had 2 big items we sold and a bunch of miscellaneous items, including clothes, beauty products and some books.
Sale item 1 – $1,500
Sale item 2 – $5,605
Sale miscellaneous items – $1636.38
Total profit $8,741.38
What Do We Sell?
Clothing such as rockabilly brands, other clothing brands such as Cue, Review and brands we know cost over $250 new.
There is a selection of books we look for that sell well, mainly finance, business, and health non-fiction books.
Kitchen utensils and appliances such as Tupperware and other ‘expensive’ items, certain beauty items (anything from a party plan like Jamberry sells well), and a few times we bought and sold cars for a profit.
Cars are not something we do regularly, but if the opportunity arises, we will take it.
Sell what you know about, can easily recognise and know the resale value of. You will need to answer buyers questions to knowledge is important.
Where do We get Items?
Little church-associated op shops are better than the big chains as items are usually still priced low e.g. 50cents.
$2 racks and bargain basements for second-hand stores are the next options and only occasionally do I hit up garage sales.
Knowing what to sell makes it quick and easy to scan through, select items and go.
Doing it when you are already op shopping for another purpose means less time used too.
How do We Know What Will Sell?
Do a quick search on eBay. Search the item you want to buy to sell, check sold listings to see if it sold and for how much.
If it’s a good price, it’s worth getting. If not, don’t do it.
How do We List Them?
Take photographs of the item from different angles in good light with a clean background using my phone.
Often this is on a piece of card, a freshly made bed with a white sheet or on wood floors.
Add a new listing on eBay via the eBay app, add a clear description, include the fact you are selling other items, try to offer fast and free postage (as in free postage and item posted within 24hrs of sale) for better results too.
Most people buying tend to want what they are buying now and they want what they perceive to be a bargain so free postage helps.
Price based on what similar items are selling for from your own research, not what eBay suggests.
How do we Store Items we are Selling?
Clothing is stored in a section of our wardrobe so they are all ironed and fresh, ready for postage.
Some items are stored wrapped in boxes, others are placed together at the bottom or top of this section of the wardrobe too.
We do not have a large home so only allocate this section of the house to it.
With books, there is a specific bookshelf the books we sell sit on.
Other Income Options
Buying things to sell isn’t the only option to make extra cash.
You could rent a room to a boarder or list a room on AirBnB, rent your garage for storage or to a local business, check out how to make your mortgage pay for itself.
What skills do you have which you can amplify such as freelance writing, admin skills can see you become a virtual assistant, blogging has been a great source of income for us, offer ironing, clean houses, mow lawns etc.
22 ways to make money on the side.
Basically, get out there and hustle. How do you want to spend your time? What has the highest return on investment for you (both in time and money)? Do that!
Tips For Saving More
Hustling and making more money is one thing, but saving what you make and finding other ways to save money will help too.
In our first month of this challenge, we saved $4,500.11 by selling stuff, getting a few refunds, paying less rent (full details at the bottom of this post).
1. Save All the Extra Money
Any extra money you make which hasn’t been included in your regular budget could be put in a savings account or split between savings and debt.
We say split it because you need an emergency fund of savings and if you have debt, you need to pay that off fast!
2. Round Down Your Accounts
Every time we log in and check our banking we round the accounts down.
If our everyday account has $104.33 in it, we transfer the $4.33 to our savings account.
These small amounts add up over time and can help with your savings without taking a huge chunk at any time.
Many banks offer this as an automatic option now.
3. Compare And Save
Get the best deal on everything. Go over all your expenses e.g. mobile, internet, home phone, electricity, gas, water, health insurance, car insurance, pet insurance, home and contents insurance, whatever insurance you have, any regular bill you pay for, you need to do a comparison.
A quick search on Google will tell you if you could save more money by switching providers or ask your current provider for a better deal.
Try these 31 ways to make and save $200+ to get you started. Also, read how I saved over $4,000 in the annual financial review.
4. Check Your Discounts
If you are on a pension, have a health care or seniors card, are you getting all the discounts and benefits you are eligible for?
Check a list here (it is dated, but most information is relevant).
Always check Groupon on entertainment, beauty, food etc. Waxing, laser hair removal, dental treatments, car services and more can be found there.
You can check the reviews and do a Google search to make sure the offer is with a good company, saving you loads!
Check out 10 ways to get coupons and discounts in Australia.
Are you a member of all VIP and loyalty program? Check our list plus read the comments as people are adding more there. You get birthday vouchers, discounts, freebies and more.
Get cashback and do a search for discounts with all your online purchases. My favourites are Shopback and Honey (read more about them here). They are all free to join.
What are you doing to make and save money?
For more ways to make and save money follow us on social media:
The Thrifty Issue Facebook Page
The Thrifty Issue Facebook Group
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Thank you! I am headed into an entire new part of my life. I “need” to become independent after 37 years of marriage. I am unable to have a regular job due to chronic pain. I have read and researched everything lead I came across. “Work from Home ” is where my search began. LOL So many scams! I continued to search for “unconventional” work. I believe I have found that, in you! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I am going to continue reading all that you have to offer. Learning and working towards my goals, one step at a time.
Thank you, Michelle! I am glad you have found it useful. I have loads on here and on another site I own http://www.kylietravers.com.au. Completely understand the chronic pain and trying to live with that too. It is not easy! Good luck with it all.
I’m on the Disability pension, so I certainly need more money to do any more than just barely survive (and that’s with help from my parents!)- but with flipping, is that income I need to declare? I’m also probably not going to be able to get into it anytime soon, as I’m completely housebound- but I’m definitely looking forward to giving it a go!
With the rockabilly clothes (which I also have extensive experience with ), do you find that the rockabilly clothing sale sites on Facebook are any good? They’d be too expensive to buy from, but would it be worth trying to sell through them, rather than eBay?
Hi Katherine, for Centrelink, all income should be declared. For tax, declaring as income would depend on the circumstances, how much you make etc. Generally, people do it as a hobby and if you earn under a certain amount it does not need to be classed as a business nor included for tax. Make sure you accurately track all your expenses and income for it. If you end up making consistent income or large amounts, it should be declared.
What I would probably do in your case is start it as a hobby, see how you go and declare when consistent, but take into account when declaring the income you have already made as well.
For clothing, I have sold mostly on eBay rather than Facebook, but this week I sold exclusively on Facebook, so it depends which you want to do.
I do know of people who buy things online from discount sites, closing down sales and even eBay that they know they can resell in groups for more, so it’s possible to do reselling that way without needing to leave your home. Depending on your postage needs and what you are selling Australia Post, other couriers and Sendle all pick up as well if needed.
Hope that helps!
It does, so much! Thank you.
Great post, thank you. We have been having a clean out at our house and sold over $1,000 worth of stuff in the past two weeks. We use our local and regional buy swap sell on Facebook as a first port of call and eBay after that or for very high value/niche items.
I’m sharing this post over on the Retiring not Shy! Facebook page.
Thanks, Jan! $1,000 is brilliant. You must be so happy. And thanks for the share!