Work from home

The Goodwill Outlet – 30lbs of clothing in 4 hours

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Today, I spent 4 hours at the bins and brought home 30lbs of clothing. I’m trying hard to find more within a short amount of time, but this seems to be average for me. I know I’m slow. I’m still looking things up on my phone. Some items I know will sell, but for some brands, I forget. That could be what’s slowing me down.

My typical schedule at the bins is source for 1.5 hours and then start sorting for rejects. I get there at opening so that I will get a cart – they are gone within hours by those who take 4 or 5. I’m usually mentally done by noon.

My “peave” for today: A lady was next to me busy picking clothes out of the bins. She kept moving toward me as if I wasn’t there and finally got right in front of me looking for and pulling clothes right from me, clearly crossing a boundary. Yes, it’s dog eat dog world at the bins, but most people are a little more respectful.

One of my finds from another visit:

A Floppy Seat Cover. My bins charge $.99/lb, so I got this for about $3 and sold it for $15+ shipping.

Homeschooling & Working from Home as a Single Mom

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My heart’s desire is to continue to homeschool my three children even though I am now a single mom of three kids. Two are in elementary and one in PreK.

I’m not sure how I will be able to support myself, but I’m going to try. I know there are plenty of single moms and dads who make it work.

At first I thought I had to “settle” for a 8-5 job. I wasn’t sure how that would work since I haven’t worked in 15 years. However, I realized my desire is to stay home with my kids as much as I can. I want a flexible schedule to be there for them for whatever is going on. I also don’t want them in day care or before/after school care. I know how it feels to have both parents working outside the home. My parents weren’t available during the day for me.

As I started Googling “working from home” online, I came across the idea of selling on Amazon through their FBA program. It reasonated with me. I learned all I could about it and started about a year ago. Selling online is not new to me. I sold heavily in eBay before I had my first child 9 years ago. Because of this, I learned quickly.

My first summer, coincided with the first summer where my kids would be at their dad’s for 2 days at a time. I worked long hours going to thrift stores to find books to sell. Books are cheap and require less capital than other things. I used this time to experiment with selling.

Once school began, I struggled balancing it all. I hate to be working when my kids aret available, so I probably did less than I should or could have.

Over a year’s time, I have built my business to a point where there’s no turning back mentally. I can’t fathom doing anything else.

My business has grown, but not to a point where I can live off of what I make. I’ve made some adjustments and have started eBay on the side. Selling on eBay can give me a quick turn around of capital since capital has been a big issue. My capital is usually tied up in unsold inventory at Amazon. I don’t always have the money to buy more inventory to sell. eBay has helped a lot.

I look forward to seeing how much more my business will grow in the next year. I know more than I did and can use that to my advantage.