Speaker 1: Episode seventy two, Flipping Frugally. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast,
Speaker 1: where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity rights, and
Speaker 1: live a rich your life. Here your host Jen and
Speaker 1: Jill with that thing. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and we
Speaker 1: are excited about this episode. It is one that we
Speaker 1: have gotten a listener request for. And the more I
Speaker 1: get into it, the more I think my husband Travis
Speaker 1: should probably be on the show instead of me, because
Speaker 1: I he uses all of these tactics for flipping things
Speaker 1: from yard sales, script stores, even from Facebook marketplace to
Speaker 1: make a profit. And we're going to share those tips
Speaker 1: with you today. I'm gonna get into it. Yes, but
Speaker 1: first we want to talk about our Fruital Friends meet
Speaker 1: up tomorrow tomorrow in Washington, d C. We're so excited
Speaker 1: to meet some of you in person at Calorama Park
Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. Tomorrow, September seven, at five thirty pm.
Speaker 1: We are going to hang out, play the playground with
Speaker 1: children and eat some food that we bring ourselves. Expect
Speaker 1: nothing other than frugality to be happening. Yes, We're We're
Speaker 1: really not investing anything into this meetup and we're just
Speaker 1: going to show up and hang out and chat and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun. So Tomorrow, September seven p m.
Speaker 1: Calorama Park in Washington, d C. Tell your friends, and
Speaker 1: we really hope to see out there. See you there. Yes,
Speaker 1: and our sponsors who make it happen, who pay for
Speaker 1: our trip to Washington, d C. Not really, but kind
Speaker 1: of we wish. Yes, also brought to you by buying
Speaker 1: and selling. The trick with this sponsor is the selling part.
Speaker 1: Most of us can get on board with the buying,
Speaker 1: but the payoff comes from selling that thing or something
Speaker 1: else at a greater amount than your purchase. This comes
Speaker 1: in handy when trying to avoid hoarding, when attempting your
Speaker 1: hand at a side hustle, or when trying to get
Speaker 1: your spouse off your back about all the hobby equipment
Speaker 1: you're purchasing. Just say, don't worry, babe, I'm selling other stuff.
Speaker 1: Buying and selling, saving marriages and bank accounts since the beginning. Yes,
Speaker 1: if it weren't for the selling, we would be in
Speaker 1: a bind here. The two have to be in a
Speaker 1: symbiotic relationship for this to work. Yes, completely symbiotic. Speaking
Speaker 1: of buying and selling, Yeah, this is not a side
Speaker 1: hustle that I have ever well, that I have ever
Speaker 1: wanted to try. I have now tried my hand at it,
Speaker 1: and we will hear about that later, but this has
Speaker 1: never been something that I have been super interested in.
Speaker 1: I am really on board with the buying part, but
Speaker 1: just I buy less so I don't worried about selling
Speaker 1: and I can feel good about my buying and not
Speaker 1: worry about the money. This is something that I do
Speaker 1: enjoy doing, although I have seen first hand a lot
Speaker 1: of the pitfalls with it, so I will talk about
Speaker 1: that in this episode, but certainly something to consider on
Speaker 1: the side. Yes, Travis, my husband, however, this is his jam. Um.
Speaker 1: He loves browsing thrift stores, going to yard sales. He
Speaker 1: is on Facebook Marketplace more than he is actually on Facebook,
Speaker 1: and he loves my ending treasures, and in order to
Speaker 1: find more treasures, he has to sell things before he
Speaker 1: can bring things in. That's kind of our role. Now.
Speaker 1: One of his favorite things to buy is cars, and
Speaker 1: he loves buying cars off of Facebook Marketplace, but he
Speaker 1: does it in a way that he kind of pretty
Speaker 1: much breaks even with his car purchases and motorcycle purchases.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of use it for a time and
Speaker 1: then sell it again. Yes, so that's the extent of
Speaker 1: my knowledge. But we looked at some experts on the
Speaker 1: subject and look through a few of their articles. We're
Speaker 1: going to share kind of what to look for, how
Speaker 1: to do it, want to avoid. So this first one
Speaker 1: is from online selling experiment dot com and it is
Speaker 1: flipping one oh one. So, Jill, what did you like
Speaker 1: about this one? Great tips in this article and something
Speaker 1: that they point out that I also love is that
Speaker 1: when flipping things, you can start at any price point.
Speaker 1: So if you're asking how much money do I need
Speaker 1: to get started, really anything even zero. So the article
Speaker 1: talks about a flipping challenge that they would even recommend
Speaker 1: for people who want to kind of get into this,
Speaker 1: where you would start with five things that you already
Speaker 1: own to sell, so there is no purchasing of anything
Speaker 1: from the start, just kind of identifying things around your
Speaker 1: home that you can sell and allow the sales of
Speaker 1: those things to be your quote unquote seed money that
Speaker 1: you can then invest at a small degree on other
Speaker 1: things that you could then flip for a profit. The
Speaker 1: thing with flipping is that you're not just breaking even.
Speaker 1: The goal is to actually earn more money off of
Speaker 1: that thing than what you paid for it, and maybe
Speaker 1: even what you put into it to make it look
Speaker 1: better or nicer. So that's the goal, not just to
Speaker 1: be spending time buying and selling things. Yeah, we've all
Speaker 1: heard of that challenge where the guy starts with the
Speaker 1: paper clip and then just trades up um and eventually
Speaker 1: he ends up with something big, like a car. That
Speaker 1: was his goal was to see if he could get
Speaker 1: from a paper clip to a car, and yeah, dude
Speaker 1: got to a car. Spent no money. So I love
Speaker 1: this idea of a zero buy in and then only
Speaker 1: using the money that you get off of that to
Speaker 1: to grow and build. One of my problems with doing
Speaker 1: side households and building businesses, I have trouble putting money
Speaker 1: back into it. So I think starting with the mindset
Speaker 1: of at first I'm going to spend everything I make
Speaker 1: but not invest outside money, I think that even helps
Speaker 1: you grow a flipping business faster and definitely more safe.
Speaker 1: So I love that idea. And you can also begin
Speaker 1: free as well by just being aware of what's on
Speaker 1: the side of the curb. Especially in the summer, like
Speaker 1: spring summer time when people are doing yard sales, and
Speaker 1: after the yard sales they just put stuff out for free.
Speaker 1: So that can be a helpful way to find some
Speaker 1: some decent stuff that you could flip that you picked
Speaker 1: up on the side of the road. Yeah. Another way
Speaker 1: to get free things, um is in your buy nothing group.
Speaker 1: So I actually witnessed this gone wrong recently in the group.
Speaker 1: Somebody got something for free and then listed in Facebook
Speaker 1: marketplace and somebody found it and got really Yeah, I
Speaker 1: got really upset. Didn't take time to hear the story
Speaker 1: behind it. It was for they were trying to build
Speaker 1: a counseling service for kids with autism stuff and the
Speaker 1: love seat that they got ended up having a broken leg.
Speaker 1: So instead of giving it away, they tried to sell
Speaker 1: it for a little money and you know, put that
Speaker 1: back into that business. But people were getting mad without
Speaker 1: ever hearing the story. So I would recommend if you're
Speaker 1: going to do something like that, being honest, Like if
Speaker 1: you see something that's being given away for free and
Speaker 1: you think that you could, you know, really spruce it up,
Speaker 1: like a piece of furniture or something and resell it.
Speaker 1: Just be honest about it and and don't kind of
Speaker 1: don't try and hide that because that can magnifire on you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely not etiquette to get something from a buy
Speaker 1: nothing group and then turn around and sell it. But
Speaker 1: if you're honest about it, people might be willing to
Speaker 1: but they could choose somebody else if they know that
Speaker 1: that's your intention. Um, so be aware of that. But
Speaker 1: even free things on Craigslist, I don't think anybody's really
Speaker 1: expecting you to not. I think it's more there's more
Speaker 1: freedom to do what you want if you just get
Speaker 1: something for free off of Craigslist or Facebook marketplace versus
Speaker 1: the buy nothing group. There's a bit more etiquette involved
Speaker 1: there for sure, and then they're starting with paying just
Speaker 1: a little bit. So you definitely want to learn how
Speaker 1: to look at things and see how you can make
Speaker 1: your max profit. So the places that you would be
Speaker 1: looking to find cheap items would be garage sales, auctions,
Speaker 1: state sales, thrift stores, flea markets. And we're talking about
Speaker 1: not the trashy like made in China bulk stuff that's
Speaker 1: at the flea market, but the flea market has like
Speaker 1: a thrift store side that would be kind of the
Speaker 1: place to look UM and then Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and
Speaker 1: other community based apps UM like next door or something.
Speaker 1: So those are a really good way to find sometimes
Speaker 1: free items, but mostly you're gonna be paying for them,
Speaker 1: just not very much. When you're looking at these places.
Speaker 1: If you are confused as to whether something is cheap,
Speaker 1: whether something is a good dealer not, you can really
Speaker 1: easily go to um eBay dot com or the app
Speaker 1: and you can search for completed items and sold items,
Speaker 1: and you can see what things are actually sold for.
Speaker 1: So you don't want to see what things are listed.
Speaker 1: You want to see what they're selling for, and that's
Speaker 1: how you're gonna be able to tell if what you're
Speaker 1: buying is a good deal. UM. Sometimes you can even
Speaker 1: see recently sold things on Facebook Marketplace, or you can
Speaker 1: message people and say is it still available, and if
Speaker 1: they say no, then you kind of know, like how
Speaker 1: much it was either sold for what they listed for
Speaker 1: or a little bit less. And that's a big pitfall.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people will just look up
Speaker 1: and see, oh, other people have it listed for this amount.
Speaker 1: But like you said, if it's not selling for that amount,
Speaker 1: then don't think you can get that amount off of it,
Speaker 1: So definitely be aware of what it's actually selling for
Speaker 1: and the version of the thing that you have, because
Speaker 1: sometimes we can also look something up but it's a
Speaker 1: different addition or it's better quality and that's why they're
Speaker 1: getting that amount. So it does require some honing in
Speaker 1: of this skill of assessing value, knowing what you can
Speaker 1: get for something. And with this flipping thing, there's kind
Speaker 1: of there's a couple of different angles to it or
Speaker 1: ways to approach it. You could just find something where
Speaker 1: the person selling it doesn't fully know the real value
Speaker 1: of it, or they are aware, but they would just
Speaker 1: want to get it out of their hands. In that case,
Speaker 1: you may need to do nothing to the thing, just
Speaker 1: turn it around and sell it for more than what
Speaker 1: you bought it for. In other instances, it could be
Speaker 1: that you see potential in a thing, you buy it,
Speaker 1: you have to clean it up, either you need to
Speaker 1: put some elbow grease into it, or you need to
Speaker 1: actually put some resource into it, whether that's a fresh
Speaker 1: coat of paint or new legs or whatever it is
Speaker 1: that you know, if it's furniture, that you're actually maybe
Speaker 1: putting a bit of money into it. And then selling
Speaker 1: it for not only more than what you bought it for,
Speaker 1: but also more than what you're the cost of fixing
Speaker 1: that thing up. So different degrees of what the flipping involves,
Speaker 1: but we're talking about it all right now. Never like,
Speaker 1: never forget the cost of actually improving the item, so
Speaker 1: whether it's paints, stains, tools, because that has to be
Speaker 1: factored in to the deal. So if there's a really
Speaker 1: good deal on something, um but it just needs too
Speaker 1: much work to be worth the profit, then you may
Speaker 1: have to pass and move on to something that maybe
Speaker 1: not as good of a deal but needs less work.
Speaker 1: And some great places to sell these things once you've purchased,
Speaker 1: you've done you you've added your touch to it would
Speaker 1: be to look to sell on Craigslist, Facebook market places
Speaker 1: for Facebook Marketplace, but also yard sales sites Facebook if
Speaker 1: you're a part of local yard sales, side by and
Speaker 1: cell groups, eBay, Amazon. Also you've got your apps like
Speaker 1: offer up or let go, So these are some places
Speaker 1: that you could try to sell your items. Yeah, if
Speaker 1: you're flipping like brand name clothing, then posh mark look
Speaker 1: at the different outlets that are the best at selling
Speaker 1: specific things. There is a couple that makes a killing
Speaker 1: on flipping things because they will flip large items and
Speaker 1: ship through eBay. So that's what they specialize in and
Speaker 1: they know what they're doing. So look at what sites
Speaker 1: are selling what well, and then you will have your
Speaker 1: best chance of making the most profit by listing your
Speaker 1: item in that marketplace. So there's also Etsy two if
Speaker 1: it's something that's a little craft sier, our vintage. Um,
Speaker 1: so yeah, don't just list everything on Craigslist or marketplace.
Speaker 1: Try and hone in on where it's going to sell
Speaker 1: for the most money. So I want to mention this
Speaker 1: is not in the article. This is your my own
Speaker 1: slice of wisdom on this. So some of the pitfalls
Speaker 1: things to be aware of when flipping is Number one,
Speaker 1: that you have the space for these things. If you
Speaker 1: are starting to collect, well, first of all, I would
Speaker 1: just say go slowly before you kind of dive into
Speaker 1: getting a bunch of stuff, make sure that it works.
Speaker 1: Make sure you you've got an eye for these things
Speaker 1: that you're able to sell before you're spending a ton
Speaker 1: of money on just purchasing stuff. But then make sure
Speaker 1: that you've got the space for it. So, especially if
Speaker 1: you're looking to do larger things like some furniture, even
Speaker 1: small furniture, that you've got a spot for it, and
Speaker 1: that you're not just hoarding a bunch of stuff. Also,
Speaker 1: it's it can be a pitfall where things might not
Speaker 1: be worth what you thought they were or they're broken.
Speaker 1: So doing your best to make sure that something is
Speaker 1: working before you buy it, doing your research on what
Speaker 1: is this thing actually worth? What could I actually sell
Speaker 1: it for, which we already talked about. Also keeping in
Speaker 1: mind your time investment. Sometimes we can think, oh, look
Speaker 1: at I flipped that furniture for fifty bucks, But if
Speaker 1: you spent twenty hours on it, was that really a
Speaker 1: good flip? So paying attention to how much time you're
Speaker 1: putting into something. Another pitfall here is just is not
Speaker 1: selling it, not not being able to sell it, which
Speaker 1: sometimes we can't always know that ahead of time and
Speaker 1: you might lose money on something. But to be able
Speaker 1: to keep track of that of what things are selling,
Speaker 1: what things aren't selling. And another pitfall would just be
Speaker 1: liking the thing that you picked up and not selling
Speaker 1: it and instead keeping it, which that's okay every once
Speaker 1: in a while, but you're if you're finding a pattern,
Speaker 1: then you might want to back off on thinking that
Speaker 1: you're starting aside hustle and really you might just be
Speaker 1: starting a collection. Yeah, oh my gosh, bitten there those
Speaker 1: are all great. And to figure out how much something
Speaker 1: is worth again searching online, like Jen said, looking at
Speaker 1: what things have actually sold for and recognizing that just
Speaker 1: because something might be worth a lot brand new, does
Speaker 1: not mean that is worth anywhere close to that now
Speaker 1: that it's been used. So just be realistic and be
Speaker 1: realistic about others expectations like on Facebook, Marketplace or buy
Speaker 1: sell groups. On Facebook, people are looking for yard sale
Speaker 1: or garage prices. So to think that you're going to
Speaker 1: flip this piece of furniture and sell something for three
Speaker 1: fifty dollars is probably not realistic. People are not going
Speaker 1: onto those sites looking for boutique pricing. Yeah, so they
Speaker 1: are more I think, more willing to look at boutique
Speaker 1: pricing on eBay. Yeah, where you're selling it can make
Speaker 1: all the difference, yeah, for sure. And so now that
Speaker 1: we have talked about how to sell, let's talk about
Speaker 1: what to sell. So this article is from like to
Speaker 1: Dapple dot com and it is the easiest items to
Speaker 1: flip from drift stores etcetera. So, Jill, what's your input
Speaker 1: on this one? Yeah, interesting things that they listed of
Speaker 1: what to sell. I wouldn't disagree with it. I don't
Speaker 1: think that it's an exhaustive list by any means. One
Speaker 1: thing that I would definitely agree with They listed out
Speaker 1: six things. Number one is designer brands. So absolutely people
Speaker 1: are always looking for designer brands. So if you pick
Speaker 1: up a nice Patagonia vest at a yard sale, absolutely
Speaker 1: you can probably flip that, particularly on a site like
Speaker 1: posh Mark or maybe even Facebook Marketplace for a decent
Speaker 1: percentage more and what you paid. So. Second thing, collectibles,
Speaker 1: So this is especially great if you have a passion
Speaker 1: for a certain type of collectible. They mentioned Beanie babies,
Speaker 1: funco pop like things. They're just little action figures, fury Bones,
Speaker 1: American girl dolls. So if you if you like something
Speaker 1: but it may be overrunning your house, or you can't
Speaker 1: afford a full collection, or you don't want a full collection,
Speaker 1: this is really something that you can focus on and
Speaker 1: hone in on because you'll be able to know what
Speaker 1: is most profitable and um, you know what you'll and
Speaker 1: you'll enjoy doing the research on what you can get
Speaker 1: the most money for versus you know, something boring to
Speaker 1: you that you won't like doing the research on. That's key,
Speaker 1: you do have to like the thing. They also list
Speaker 1: records as being decent things to flip. I have not
Speaker 1: tried this, so I couldn't personally speak to this, but
Speaker 1: I suppose it's possible. I think records are becoming more
Speaker 1: popular amongst hashtag millennials, So if you do find some
Speaker 1: some nice records on well known bands, it could be
Speaker 1: worth looking at. Probably eBay would be your best bet
Speaker 1: for something like that, kind of similar to the idea
Speaker 1: of collectibles, that people might be looking for specific records
Speaker 1: and especially if it's in good condition. Yeah, might be decent,
Speaker 1: but again you've got to be interested in it. If
Speaker 1: you're not interested in records and you're trying to learn
Speaker 1: all about what people are looking for, then it might
Speaker 1: be a bit more difficult. Yeah, if you're not a
Speaker 1: record nerd, that's not one for you to start with,
Speaker 1: because honestly, they're really hard to find records nowadays that
Speaker 1: are affordable because everybody thinks their records are worth money.
Speaker 1: So that's the first thing people check for if they
Speaker 1: or their parents are there, your parents have records because
Speaker 1: everybody thinks that there's is worth something, so it's really
Speaker 1: rare to find one that's just being thrown out at
Speaker 1: a yard sale. You really have to know your stuff,
Speaker 1: and it takes time to figure out what's worth something,
Speaker 1: so you kind of have to go in knowing that stuff.
Speaker 1: One that you don't have to know a lot about
Speaker 1: is the next one. Furniture, because people half the time
Speaker 1: don't care about the history. They just want it to
Speaker 1: look good. They don't care if it's actually from the
Speaker 1: mid century, but if it's a mid century modern look like,
Speaker 1: they'll buy it. Yeah. I will say furniture has been
Speaker 1: hit or miss for me, so I wouldn't put a
Speaker 1: whole lot of time or money into this if you're
Speaker 1: just getting into it. And I would also say start small,
Speaker 1: as in coffee tables, end tables, chairs, that kind of thing,
Speaker 1: stools before taking a deep dive. Um. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: ails at the end, but I've had some furniture fails. Uh,
Speaker 1: And I'll explain a little bit of why I think
Speaker 1: that was towards the end of the episode. But I
Speaker 1: think my best my best advice here is to start
Speaker 1: small and do pairs. So if you're looking at an
Speaker 1: end table, people are more likely to buy a pair
Speaker 1: of end tables than just one, So I would say
Speaker 1: don't even invest your money, even if it's a cool
Speaker 1: end table. I mean, unless it's super cheap, sure try it,
Speaker 1: but I've I've had much better luck when I've been
Speaker 1: able to sell things in pairs, particularly with end tables,
Speaker 1: So just keep that in mind of well, what would
Speaker 1: you want. If there's just one cool chair, you're less
Speaker 1: likely to sell it then if you have a set
Speaker 1: of cool chairs. And they also list board games, so again,
Speaker 1: this is another one I have not dabbled in, but
Speaker 1: possibly especially since people are super interested in vintage stuff
Speaker 1: right now, things that might remind them their childhood. So
Speaker 1: your classic board games like Monopoly and Dominoes and things
Speaker 1: like that, um could be worth more than what you
Speaker 1: might pick them up for at a yard sale. But again,
Speaker 1: if you're not interested in it, then don't try to
Speaker 1: get into the super niche thing. Yeah, so this would
Speaker 1: be a really good one for a board game lover
Speaker 1: because the example they give on here is that they
Speaker 1: just bought a Star Wars edition of Monopoly, the Office edition,
Speaker 1: and then they bought it for twenty bucks, and then
Speaker 1: two years later that same board game was listed for
Speaker 1: seventy dollars on eBay. And yeah, and so sometimes it's
Speaker 1: just that there's a limited run of a special edition
Speaker 1: and you buy two, don't open one, and then in
Speaker 1: a few years when someone's like, oh man, they made that,
Speaker 1: I wish I could buy that, they'll pay a premium
Speaker 1: for it when they find it online. That's what you've
Speaker 1: got to sit on it. And that's the pitfall is
Speaker 1: that there are so many people who keep things because
Speaker 1: they're like, it's gonna be worth money. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: worth money, you know, the Beanie Baby saga. Yeah, which
Speaker 1: that's debatable on whether or not that whole thing worked out,
Speaker 1: But there is a fine line here with this whole
Speaker 1: flipping thing is that it can get into hoarding territory,
Speaker 1: which is the opposite of the minimalism lifestyle that we
Speaker 1: definitely support. Yeah, and then the last one is video
Speaker 1: games and consoles. So again this is when you really
Speaker 1: have to know about because some games are worth a lot,
Speaker 1: some are worth nothing, And they could have the same
Speaker 1: characters or ones for this gaming console and once for another,
Speaker 1: and one is worth a lot of money, and one's
Speaker 1: not worth anything. So it's if you enjoy gaming and
Speaker 1: game consoles, then this is a good one to go.
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't invest a lot of money. The author
Speaker 1: said is they re sold like hotcakes on Craigslist and
Speaker 1: they made about a hundred dollars each on the PS
Speaker 1: two and three consoles. You know, text your kids pictures
Speaker 1: if you run into something and you think it might
Speaker 1: be worth KEEPS three we're on PS. Sorry mom, Well
Speaker 1: you know what we're not sorry about. The bill of
Speaker 1: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 1: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 1: is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your
Speaker 1: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 1: that bill anymore. That build buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this
Speaker 1: is the bill of the week. Hi, Jen and Gael.
Speaker 1: My bill of the week might sound like a bit
Speaker 1: of a stretch here, but stick with me. My bill
Speaker 1: of the week is my rescue greyhound who's named Willie.
Speaker 1: I think that adopting a rescue animal is definitely the
Speaker 1: most frugal way to get a loving new pet. Willie
Speaker 1: is an ex racing greyhound, so he went from living
Speaker 1: a sad and lonely life in his kennel to lounging
Speaker 1: around on our couch, eating snacks on cheese and getting
Speaker 1: all the pats and cuddles that he can handle. So
Speaker 1: not only did we save hundreds of dollars by not
Speaker 1: having to buy a pure bred dog, We've given this beautiful,
Speaker 1: graceful animal a wonderful new life, and I think we're
Speaker 1: all pretty happy for it. The morrow of the story
Speaker 1: here Adopt, don't shop. Thanks frugal friends. Lots of love
Speaker 1: from Australia. Bye yea Christie that is not a stretch
Speaker 1: at all, and his name is Willie. I love it.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for sharing. I think in a previous
Speaker 1: episode I showed that my nickname is is Willie. My
Speaker 1: grandmother calls me Willie. So me and greyhound Man we
Speaker 1: got a lot in common. I love greyhounds. We personally
Speaker 1: had a greyhound racing track near my house. So a
Speaker 1: lot of adopted greyhounds in this area, and I love
Speaker 1: them so and I think they're they've just abolished racing
Speaker 1: and so now they're all looking for homes, and so
Speaker 1: I really want one. But and thanks for calling us
Speaker 1: from Australia. Yes, Christie, that's all the way. All of
Speaker 1: our listeners to Australia shout out who we'd love to
Speaker 1: come to a meetup in Australia right If we could
Speaker 1: raise money for that, we just have to be a
Speaker 1: lot of lucrative sponsors. Yeah, like not pennies, but someday.
Speaker 1: If you are one of our friends in Australia or
Speaker 1: America or anywhere, please give us a call at Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends podcast dot com slash ill and leave us your
Speaker 1: bill of the week. We would love to hear from
Speaker 1: you across all ponds and waters. Good one, Jen, And
Speaker 1: on that note, it's time for ground. Oh god, it
Speaker 1: felt it felt, it felt right at first, and then
Speaker 1: it felt wrong. Yeah, it's really just an experiment on
Speaker 1: what I can do with my voice. I'm glad that
Speaker 1: you have a spaced practice, a safe space over here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: safe with our thousands of listeners there. I do forget that.
Speaker 1: I just feel like I'm in a bedroom alone right now,
Speaker 1: but I'm not. Apparently. Well, let's talk about our flipping
Speaker 1: fails and triumphs. Jen, Yes, we flipped and we failed,
Speaker 1: and we've flipped and we've won. Yeah, and we're going
Speaker 1: to share what worked, what didn't, and why we think
Speaker 1: that they worked and didn't. So my first will start
Speaker 1: with my fail And so we flipped last year a
Speaker 1: fifth wheel RV and it was we were inspired by
Speaker 1: Jill and Eric to do this and on Instagram a
Speaker 1: lot of r V renovation pictures. So I thought that
Speaker 1: because we were frugal and savvy, we could get this
Speaker 1: r V. We went with the largest r V that
Speaker 1: we could find. It was thirty eight feet for slideouts.
Speaker 1: It was humongous, and that we would flip it frugally,
Speaker 1: got a what I thought was a good deal turned
Speaker 1: out to be average. We didn't overpay, but we shouldn't
Speaker 1: have paid what we did, and couldn't sell it because
Speaker 1: it was so big and so specialized that it wasn't
Speaker 1: marketable to the general public. And it was also older
Speaker 1: and people wanted newer because some sites have age restrictions
Speaker 1: for our views and it didn't fit those and I
Speaker 1: didn't know that when we bought it. Um So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things that we didn't know, and we
Speaker 1: got in too big, too fast, and we ended up
Speaker 1: selling it and we broke even maybe made a couple
Speaker 1: of hundred dollars, but for all of the work we
Speaker 1: put into it, um, it was just not worth it
Speaker 1: and all of the time it's spent. It just we
Speaker 1: bought it in May Have two eighteen and it just
Speaker 1: got picked up um And so that was a big fail.
Speaker 1: But we didn't lose money, and sometimes you have to
Speaker 1: lose money in order to learn lessons that big so
Speaker 1: I'll take it. But we did have some smaller winds.
Speaker 1: Probably our biggest one was a king size bedroom set
Speaker 1: and Travis found it on Marketplace, didn't ask me before
Speaker 1: he bought it and just bought it for I think
Speaker 1: it was a hundred bucks and it was way too
Speaker 1: big for our bedroom. It was king size, but all
Speaker 1: of the furniture was huge, and there were a few
Speaker 1: things cosmetically wrong with it, but it was a full set,
Speaker 1: so it had the short dresser, the tall dresser, the mirror,
Speaker 1: the headboard, and he scuffed out some of those imperfections,
Speaker 1: made it look pretty and ended up selling it for
Speaker 1: four hundred did maybe like fifteen twenty minutes of work,
Speaker 1: so that was a really big win. People do love sets,
Speaker 1: so some of my fails. One was a hutch that
Speaker 1: I bought it was very It was a mid century hutch,
Speaker 1: so to me, super beautiful. I got it at a
Speaker 1: drift store for about thirty five dollars, so very inexpensive,
Speaker 1: and then I redid it, in my mind, very beautifully,
Speaker 1: kind of stand in different parts. Did some white paint
Speaker 1: accents on different parts of this mid century hutch, had
Speaker 1: like awesome sliding glass on the top, drawers and cabinets
Speaker 1: on the bottom, mid century legs. Love it. Tried to
Speaker 1: sell it, tried to I spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: fixing it up, tried to sell it, sell it, sell it.
Speaker 1: Eventually I did use it because I liked it so much.
Speaker 1: Then circled back to try to sell it again, and
Speaker 1: people just weren't in the market for it for whatever reason. Um,
Speaker 1: So we ended up just donating it to a local
Speaker 1: thrift store because we didn't have the space to store
Speaker 1: it I think, I mean, we live in a hundred
Speaker 1: seventy square feet, so we can't use it right now,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't worth it to us to put it
Speaker 1: into storage, so we ended up just giving it away.
Speaker 1: So not a huge loss, but I did. But as
Speaker 1: far as time goes, I spent a lot of time
Speaker 1: refurbishing it, and I think some of the pitfalls with
Speaker 1: that was Number one, people just aren't as interested in
Speaker 1: massive furniture, particularly hutches, despite the fact that it was beautiful.
Speaker 1: I think the upcoming generation in purchasing homes and furnishing
Speaker 1: their places are not as interested in some of these
Speaker 1: more dated pieces, even though it's mid century, which people
Speaker 1: are into. I don't think people are utilizing hutches as
Speaker 1: much as they were. I also think I didn't have
Speaker 1: the time to be as patient with it, probably in
Speaker 1: a couple of Like if I had waited a long time,
Speaker 1: I might have been able to sell it, but I
Speaker 1: didn't have the storage for something so large. So that's
Speaker 1: why I always recommend small um just for your own
Speaker 1: storage sake. But people are more likely to purchase something
Speaker 1: if they don't have to borrow a friend's truck or
Speaker 1: figure out dimensions and whether or not it will fit
Speaker 1: in their minivan. Like, it's just a whole lot more
Speaker 1: complicated to figure out selling large things. Also, our boat
Speaker 1: a relative fail a relati to win. But Eric and
Speaker 1: his dad intended on flipping a boat that they found
Speaker 1: for a really good price, and what actually happened was
Speaker 1: we all fell in love with it and never sold it.
Speaker 1: So we still have it and we do enjoy it
Speaker 1: most weekends of the summer. But that was not a
Speaker 1: flip whatsoever. That was just a purchase. Yeah, we've been
Speaker 1: out on that boat. It's fun. It is fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I'm grateful for finding a new I don't know, hobby,
Speaker 1: but definitely wasn't a flip, and that's what they said
Speaker 1: it was going to be. That's okay. Some my winds
Speaker 1: uh coffee tables. I don't know why, maybe it's just
Speaker 1: our area, but people have bought a lot of different
Speaker 1: coffee tables that we've done. I picked up one for
Speaker 1: two dollars at a thrift store, restained it, repainted it,
Speaker 1: and ended up selling it for seventy dollars. So that
Speaker 1: was an awesome flip. And then another one that was
Speaker 1: like an old chest, you know that, like a big
Speaker 1: old do you know what I'm talking about? Like that
Speaker 1: you might have packed all your belongings in on the
Speaker 1: Mayflower kind of luck, like an antique chat trunk, thank you,
Speaker 1: And we just added legs to it and sold that
Speaker 1: for like two hundred fifty dollars, which was amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and small things, dishes, kitchen ware. I would say another
Speaker 1: one of my big tips is anything that you can
Speaker 1: do a porch pick up with where when you're selling
Speaker 1: it on marketplace or on a yard sale site, that
Speaker 1: it's a low enough cost that if it gets stolen, okay,
Speaker 1: But you can do quicker flips on small things when
Speaker 1: it's not like you've got to meet up with the
Speaker 1: person in the Walmart parking lot. That's you can waste
Speaker 1: a ton of time trying to meet people. So if
Speaker 1: you're comfortable enough with small things to do porch pickups with,
Speaker 1: that could be a quick turnaround on money. And of course,
Speaker 1: as Jen mentioned, our r V was an amazing flip.
Speaker 1: We got to live in it and then we sold
Speaker 1: it at a profit, which ended up paying for my
Speaker 1: master's degree. So that was a big flip that turned
Speaker 1: out real nice for us, not just in basically free living,
Speaker 1: but also making a profit. So we're doing it again.
Speaker 1: You were you were patient, and it took a little
Speaker 1: while to sell it did, but you were able to
Speaker 1: sell it real well. I'm hoping that the one we
Speaker 1: live in currently will be less difficult to sell because
Speaker 1: it is smaller and it is newer it's a two
Speaker 1: thousand and fifteen so I think if we sell it
Speaker 1: within a year that we'll do decent on that. But
Speaker 1: we'll update you' all on that one. Yes, yes, So
Speaker 1: moral of the story. Start small and you have a
Speaker 1: better chance of succeeding long term. And if you're interested
Speaker 1: in flipping um and you'd like to take like an
Speaker 1: actual course on it and have access to like experts
Speaker 1: and stuff, there's a site called Flea Market flipper dot
Speaker 1: com and they actually have a Flipper university. So if
Speaker 1: you go to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash flip,
Speaker 1: you can check out their courses and see. I mean
Speaker 1: that's if you can't if you really need someone to
Speaker 1: hold your hand and you really want acts, if you're
Speaker 1: really excited about this and want access to experts like
Speaker 1: that is the benefit of taking a course. Um. So
Speaker 1: you don't need it, um, But if this is something
Speaker 1: you you would really love to get into and um
Speaker 1: talk to real experts about, then definitely Frugal Friends podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash flip and you can check out those
Speaker 1: they're Yeah. I would encourage people too that it's okay
Speaker 1: to be an opportunist with this. You don't have to
Speaker 1: label yourself as a flipper to just even do this once.
Speaker 1: If you come across something that you know is worth something,
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that now you've got to keep doing this,
Speaker 1: Just do it once. I did this on chairs one time,
Speaker 1: Like I'm trying to get out of it because I
Speaker 1: don't have storage for things. But I found these amazing
Speaker 1: hairs for ten dollars. But I knew I could get
Speaker 1: way more, and sure enough I got fifty dollars a
Speaker 1: piece for them. I got a set of four of them.
Speaker 1: So even if you're going going around shopping and you
Speaker 1: realize that I might be able to do this just
Speaker 1: one time, great and go have a date night with
Speaker 1: that money, or go out with your friends whatever. Just
Speaker 1: doing a one off thing if you find something could
Speaker 1: be a great idea. Yeah, but be sure that it's
Speaker 1: worth something before you Yeah, by it? Good word. Yes.
Speaker 1: Speaking of hoarding and a bunch of stuff this September
Speaker 1: are Frugal Friends book club book is The Minimalist Home
Speaker 1: by Joshua Becker. We have read The More of Less
Speaker 1: by Joshua Becker, had him on the show. He is
Speaker 1: fantastic and I was inspired by what y'all are reading
Speaker 1: in the Frugal Friends community group, somebody was reading The
Speaker 1: Minimalist Home and I was like, we need to do
Speaker 1: that in the book club. So thank you. I can't
Speaker 1: remember who it was, but you inspired this September book
Speaker 1: club book and we will be giving it away. And
Speaker 1: if you want an opportunity to win a free copy,
Speaker 1: here's how you do it. Leave us a review on
Speaker 1: iTunes or Stitcher, then screenshot that review and email it
Speaker 1: to us at Frugal Friends Podcast at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: We select winners at the end of the month and
Speaker 1: it is based off of how many people submit a
Speaker 1: review to us. So the key here is emailing it
Speaker 1: to us, and we give it away one book for
Speaker 1: every five reviews that are submitted. And if you want
Speaker 1: an example of a great review that is helpful, we've
Speaker 1: got one from lx boicago Um and it's hashtag the Best.
Speaker 1: It's five stars and they say I started my frugal
Speaker 1: journey a few months ago and was worried about finding
Speaker 1: resources that were meaningful to me at this point in
Speaker 1: my life. Enter Jen and Jill. You're funny, helpful, and creative.
Speaker 1: I love hearing their ideas. Keep it up so much.
Speaker 1: That means a lot to us. We want to be
Speaker 1: a resource to people at a certain point in their lives,
Speaker 1: and so that is awesome. I'm glad we entered entered
Speaker 1: in Yes, hashtag the best awesome. Well. Excited to see
Speaker 1: you all in the Frugal Friends Facebook group this weekend
Speaker 1: and this week and we'll see you again on Friday. Yes,
Speaker 1: and again if you're in the Washington, D C. Area,
Speaker 1: please come out tomorrow Calorama Park and uh and we'll
Speaker 1: hang out. We'll be frugal, see you tomorrow. Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Syria. Um. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'm going to be able to not
Speaker 1: bring snacks to share. You could against the rules, I know,
Speaker 1: but we keep telling people we're not going to. But
Speaker 1: there's a part of me that's like, oh, I want
Speaker 1: to bring you something, just under promise over deliver. That's true. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's you know. I was talking about Allegian Airlines because
Speaker 1: that's because Travis Works were Allegian and people were saying
Speaker 1: good things about it, and they were like, I'm so
Speaker 1: surprised that I liked them, Like this happened, and I was.
Speaker 1: They were like my flight wasn't even late, but they
Speaker 1: still gave me a fifty dollar credit and I was like,
Speaker 1: under promise, over deliver. Put that on a bumper sticker.
Speaker 1: That's how you get it done. I wonder if we
Speaker 1: would ever go back through all of our podcasts and
Speaker 1: just make a list of all the things that we
Speaker 1: think are like mug or bumper stick or worthy. I
Speaker 1: bet Eric could do that for us. Yeah, I bet
Speaker 1: he would have all the time to do that. Yes,
Speaker 1: he doesn't. He doesn't do anything else, so right, you
Speaker 1: mayy capable? Oh yeah, those shirts? We got to talk
Speaker 1: about those shirts. Yes, we either will you'll see them
Speaker 1: soon enough. Oh did you go? I meant to respond
Speaker 1: to you. I'm sorry I did not respond to you.
Speaker 1: M M. I'm gonna stop recording, okay,