Rondezvous with Resale

These last few months have been financially stressful. We are paying about $1,500 per month for Cody and Emma to be in daycare. This is why we had planned to start trying to get pregnant in October 2009 so that a baby wouldn't be due until Emma had started Kindergarten thus only one child needing to be in full time care. I don't know how, but we've been coming up with an extra $850 a month for Cody's daycare. That of course does not include, diapers, formula, clothes etc. I digress...

So in order for me to afford "extras" like new clothes, eating out, hair cuts, etc etc. I've had to think outside the box. I am an old pro (in my humble opinion) at eBay. But the shipping and wait time for auctions to end is an inconvenience. I decided to give the world of resale and consignment a shot. There is one resale store, Pumpkin Patch, near my office and about half a dozen more near our house. So over the course of one week I sold a HUGE tub full of clothes of Emma's that she has outgrown. I think the first round was about $70 worth (between three resale stores) and a ton is currently up for consignment.

It felt so good to get rid of (and find good homes for) those things that I decided to take a stab at selling my maternity clothes. For this I turned to eBay to have the best chance at getting back most of my investment. I didn't have to buy a lot of clothes this last go 'round thanks to all that my Aunt Lisa let me borrow! But I still have everything left from my first pregnancy and also the new shorts and tops I purchased, and paid a pretty penny for, while I was pregnant with Cody. On eBay alone I have sold over $150 in the last month, this includes other items besides maternity clothes. There were a few things that the resale/consignment stores chose not to purchase/sell for me so I have listed them on eBay as well and anything left will be given to friends or donated!

Before I began selling these clothes I had been holding on to (for what, I am not sure) I started selling baby items that we are not using. I had saved all of the Avent bottles, breastfeeding paraphernalia that I used when Emma was a baby and sold those on Craigslist; I think that sale totaled about $60. Now that I'm typing all of this out, I'm wondering where the heck this money went? Anyway, it's definitely been helping so we have some semblance of spending money! I sure was tired of bringing my lunch everyday, but now I know it can be done and it sure does help.

I don't know what Kindergarten will bring yet. At this point Redeemer is an option that we are seriously considering. So August might not be as much of a financial sigh of relief that we've been waiting for. Just praying for answers and waiting for God's plan to present itself!