GOING GOING GONE ~ THE FUN OF GOING TO AN AUCTION

Going to the weekly auction two times a week is on our entertainment / work schedule. Every once in a while during the summer we have another auction at a sellers home. Those can be the best and also can be the most exciting.Wednesday we had an auction in a great neighbor. Doctor and spouse moving to another city. They had beautiful things from art to collectible glass to home items. Lovely furniture and everything between including a collection of Greatful Dead items.
The only problem is the auctions are long, outside and unless you bring a chair you usually stand most of the time. Sometimes you can find a place to rest on a step of the porch.
You can meet and watch alot of interesting people and just watching some of the bidding can be fun. Things can go for hardly nothing and then some times you wonder what are they thinking. It can be easy to get caught up in the bidding and over pay. Now if it something you really want okay but if you are planning to resell than care needs to be taken. We watched some collectible Peanuts a 5 book set go for about $100 to $125.  I am not a Peanuts collector but if I could of bought at a steal I would of bought to resell. I knew that would not happen and I was right. The runner up bidders quit at $95.00 and were disappointed. I leaned over and whispered they probably could find on line at Amazon for about that or less. They were excited and thankful to hear that bit of news.
What I did want was a set of Sherlock Holmes in slip case and we got them I am happy to report. Paid a fair price and will resell.  But until they sell they are mine and are displayed on my living room side table.
Then there was the table of books. Most of the books were common novels. There were a few by local writers or photographers. I would of loved one of the photography books to resell but it went for more than I wanted to pay. But the best part is I had spent a little time looking at the books with my cell phone in hand. I went to Amazon and put in the ISBN to check prices. Some were pennies and others were a few dollars. Then came the treasure. There was a copy of " A Mirror of Nature Nordic Landscape Photography 1840 to 1910 ". Meant nothing to me but after searching the number I found 3 copies selling on Amazon for over $600.  Found this unbelievable so went to Abe books and found there were 3 or 4 copies also selling for over $600. At least one of the sellers are different from the Amazon sellers. The auctioneer would grab about 10 to 15 books for the bidding.  I was bidding against others when this book came up. No one knew what the others were interested in. That can be good and then can also be a problem if wanting different items. I did win this book paying a small price for it.

So treasures can be found everywhere. It probably will take a long time to sell this book but I can wait for the right buyer to come along to want this rare treasure of photos.
Thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together.. Grace

Now Is The Time To Look At Our Finances Past And Future

With the year coming to an end it is a good time to look at our finances. How did we do this year? Did we accomplish our goals and follow our budget? Was it a good year or tough year. For us it was a tough year. We decided to move home to Minnesota.

Good because we are now near the children and grandchildren.
Bad because we lost income and the cost of moving from Texas to Minnesota was costly. Then in September I got sick and ended up in the hospital. I am thankful that we had insurance but we still have hospital/doctor bills to pay off.

Now is also the perfect time to sit down and look at where we want to be this next year. What are our goals and dreams.

This process starts first with looking at our monthly income and monthly expenses.
Our monthly income is fixed with retirement and pensions. Our other income is flexible with our Internet book business. We can only cut our costs so much increasing our income is the only answer.

If you need to increase your income to accomplish your goals there are ways to do this.
You can go to your boss and ask for a raise. Be ready with reasons why you should get this raise.

Maybe you can work over time or get a second job.

Another answer is to find a way to make extra money using a talent or skill you may have. I know some one who is handy with tools and makes bird feeders to sell on the side. We have for years bought and sold books on the Internet. This is where we will have to increase our income this next year.

Another way is to clean and sell the clutter to pay down debt. As debt goes down life gets so much better. I have so much stuff in our home that needs to be sold. Books, vintage paper and just waiting to be sold . Costume jewelry to be sold. I may try and re purpose some of it to sell.

By looking at our expenses we can determine what is important to us. We do not need or want a new car or fancy furniture.

What we would like to do is pay off our used car and my hospital bill. We want to travel and see the beauty around us. We have dreams. What are your dreams? Now is the time to start looking at where we have been and where we want to go next year.

Thanks for stopping by...Grace