Stay-at-Home Money Maker

Last year, I wrote an entry titled, "The Gift of Fun Dollars." In that entry I discussed how I hand-rolled $65.00 worth of coins from our Fun Dollars change jar. I took the rolls to the bank for cash and presented the money to Corey. I was so proud to be able to give my husband, who earns 99% of our income, a monetary gift that he did not have to work for. That was over a year ago. This year, I did things a little differently with our change jar.

Just as a reminder, when Corey or I spend our Fun Dollars, we always round up to the next dollar. The change always goes into a change jar. We empty it out periodically and use the cash inside.
We have not emptied the jar since I cashed in the coins last year. We now have an entire year's worth of coins saved up once more. This time around, I did not roll all of them, just $53.00 worth. I took $43.00 to the bank to cash in this past Wednesday. I asked for $1.00 and $5.00 bills. I kept a $10.00 roll of quarters for change. I needed the cash for a yard sale.

I have been sorting and decluttering for a month now, ever since school let out on the 22nd of May. I started organizing in the garage. I moved into the toy room after the garage was entirely sorted, boxed and labeled. I have dug through closets and cabinets, and literally pulled everything out, room by room in our house. My general method of decluttering involved a large Sterilite tub, a trash can and a diaper box (150 count).

As I began in a new area of mess and junk, I would just dump everything out onto the floor. Sitting on the edge of the junk pile on a pillow, I would move through the junk pile, sorting my way through the mound. Items were tossed into one of the three recepticles. Items were either for saving (in the Sterilite), for getting rid of (in the diaper box, which would then go to the garage for cleaning and pricing), or in the trash. Some items I would pile on the floor next to the Sterilite. Those were things that I knew where they should live. These piles consisted of dishes, laundry, shoes, or certain toys.

Week after week I spent time with this project, and finally, after a month of attention, I was finally ready to host a yard sale. I started with $53.00. After taking out the starter money, and paying my friend who added some of her stuff to the mix, I was left with $96! I was shooting for $100, so not too bad! I gave Carrick $5.00 for his "help" (keeping Lily entertained during the garage sale hours.) I also gave Lily $1.00 for whatever she did to "help" (mostly she saw Carrick get money, so she needed some too.) I split the rest between Corey and Me. $45 each. Then I handed Corey the wad of starter money that I originally extracted. "Happy Birthday a few days early," I said as I handed him the money.

I took coins that were otherwise useless in such a massive quantity, used them to bankroll a garage sale, and ended up almost tripling my money! Talk about being savvy with Fun Dollars! I now have a little extra to take with me on my trip, Corey has a birthday present, and the kids learned about turning a small bit of money into a little more money.

Castles and Coasters visit- $35.00
Eating out with the kids all week while Corey was in Phoenix- $60.00
Add in cash from Garage Sale- +$45.00
Balance this pay cycle- $50.00

Happy Spending!

****I will be on hiatus in the month of July. We will be visiting family and travelling. See you all in August!!!***