I had two tubs of baby toys, the baby crib set, and some infant clothes (with the tags still on!) that I wanted to get rid of.

I was poking around Craig’s List to see if that might be a good avenue to sell the items.  I happened upon a link to a consignment sale though Kid’s Closet Connection.  I had never heard about it before, but it sounded great.

They hold sales twice a year.  You sign up to be a consignor through the web site, log in your the items that you want to sell, print out tags, affix them to the items, and drop off at the sale.  You don’t have to be present to sell the items.

The part I liked the best was the web site where you could check the status of all of your items during the sale.  On the last day, you can choose to mark your items down 50% or leave them at the full price.  You can also choose to have the unsold items donated at the end of the sale or pick them back up.

I sold all but 4 items and made $60.00.  Not too bad.  For me, I was more interested in finding homes for the items than making money.  The last time I took things to Goodwill and saw them thrown into a pile as big as a football field, my heart sank.  I like knowing that the items will continue to be useful or to bring joy to another family.

I also found some great clothes for L.  He had very few summer items, so I got him some really cute short outfits, and E got a few things as well.

It definitely takes some time to get the items cleaned, organized, price, and tagged, but I really enjoyed the experience.  Would highly recommend.

Since LM doesn’t read yet, I added the pictures. I just took photographs of the items, printed them out as a contact sheet, cut them out, and used double-sided tape to adhere them to the printout.  I was pretty pleased with the results.  I then put the whole thing in a plastic sleeve, so we can use a dry erase pen with it.

There are only three items on the list right now; there are a few other things like picking up toys and taking his plate to the sink that we expect him to do just as part of being part of the family.

For each “extra” task, he gets $0.25. I know there is a lot of discussion about whether to pay your kids or not, how much to pay them, when to pay them, etc.  Some people don’t think you should pay children; some people think the payment should just be automatic and not tied to specific tasks.

Right now, we are going to try this approach and see how it goes.  Immediately after completing the task, he colored in the circle and got a quarter.  He put the quarter in a jar that he has in his room.  The jar is for spending, and he has a piggy bank for saving.  Eventually, I would like to add a third container for giving, but I just want to take one thing at a time with this.

Tonight was the first night we used the chart, and he was super excited to color in the circles next to the tasks.  He was so disappointed that the silverware in the dishwasher was dirty, so it couldn’t be put away.

You wouldn’t think that a four-year-old could run a vacuum, but he wrestles that thing all around his room and actually does quite a good job.  A reminder to me not to underestimate him!

Since 1998, I have used Quicken to track finances.  There is some interesting data in all of those entries.  Take grocery bills, for example.  Starting the first full year we were married (2003), here is what we have spent on groceries:

2003 $2859.79

2004 $4211.39

2005 $5413.42

2006 $5661.68

2007 $6675.73

2008 $6681.77

We are on pace in 2009 to spend about the same as in 2008.

Clearly, the amount we have spent has more than doubled in six years.  What I don’t know is how much of that can be attributed to inflation and rising food costs on one hand and just increased spending on our part.

How does that 6681.77 break down?  That fed three people, three meals a day; W and I both pack a lunch.  Let’s say on average we ate out two meals a week*, which is accounted for in a different Quicken category.  3 meals a day  x  7 days a week  - 2 restaurant meals = 19 meals a week  x  3 people = 57 meals a week  x  52 weeks a year = 2964 meals / 6681.77 = $2.25/meal.  Is that right?  That seems ridiculously low.

*Most weeks we don’t eat out at all, but times like vacation we eat at restaurants more.

http://www.donorschoose.org/

Teachers can register their specific needs (lab coats, digital cameras, art supplies, etc.) and people can then donate money toward the items.  You can search for projects by location or by type.  So you can support your local school system or a subject near and dear to your heart.

On some receipts, there might be as many as five or six different categories, and it is time consuming (and inexact–have you ever read a receipt and how know idea what the code stood for) to divide and calculate everything up.  For example, if I go to Target and buy milk, a birthday card, laundry detergent, and a shirt for LM, the corresponding categories would be: groceries, gifts given, household, and clothing.

Wouldn’t it be great if I could dock my iPod Touch at a kiosk in the store which would then download the receipt onto the iPod.  I could build a library of frequently purchased items and their corresponding categories.  When I got home, I could sync the iPod with Quicken, automatically importing the data.

OR…I was just thinking that the whole docking thing would include a lot of start up costs, etc. for the hardware.  What if stores provided you with a card, like a gift card, with your receipt electronically on it.  With a small device at home, like a credit card processing machine, you could read the card and import it into the computer.

OR…what if the store had a website where each shopper had an account.  After logging in, you could download the data from the website.

When you think about it, it seems kinda crazy to be dealing with tiny slips of paper.  There should be an option to get the same information that is on a paper receipt in electronic format directly from the source.

I did sell a few books at the family yard sale, and the rest of those went to charity.  I actually had about 60 set aside to go to Abebooks and Powells.  I even went to the trouble to type in each of the ISBNs into both sites to see which one  would pay the most.

Unfortunately, maternity leave ended before I actually got them boxed up and sent away.  Today, after sitting out in the basement for over three months, I just took them to the Library’s book sale.

Part of me is sad to see them go; I enjoyed reading a lot of them, and they represent a different time in my life.  Another part of me is glad to get them out of the house finally.  Hopefully someone else will buy them and enjoy them.

Like any self-respecting, overeducated individual with two Master’s degrees, I have a lot of books.

I just finished reading The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, and William D. Danko.  New York: Pocket Books, 1996.  It was a quick read.  Maybe because it is 13 years old now, I did not find anything too revolutionary in it.

In it they outline seven factors for millionaires: 

1. They live well below their means 

2. They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conductive to building wealth

3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status

4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care  

5. Their adult children are economically self-sufficient 

6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities 

7. They chose the right profession 

This also goes along the lines of “minding your own business” from Rich Dad Poor Dad.