Stuff For Sale!

So, today I managed to list a few more items for sale on EBay, mostly things I'd liberated from a craft box that had been languishing in the bedroom, beneath another pile of clutter.  Some cross stitch patterns - a wedding sampler I'd previously stitched for my sister's wedding in the summer, Holly's Cats pattern book which had been the first cross-stitches I ever did and Springtime by Pierre Auguste Cot, my most recently completed cross stitch project.  I know for a fact that I have at least two more patterns I no longer need, but they have mysteriously disappeared so will have to wait until they emerge from wherever they have gone to hide.

I also listed some E-Z rub on transfers that I found - I think I probably bought them about seven or eight years ago, certainly before we moved house, and never got around to using.  There are two sets of blue alphabet letters, some ivy leaves and ivy borders.  Also found in the same craft box was a handmade lace jug cover, which I honestly cannot remember acquiring - I have literally no idea where it came from or how long I have had it!  It's very pretty and delicate though.  Finally from the craft box, a set of three cushion covers which I think we probably bought in Turkey, with the intention of putting them on the sofa in our old house, but then moved and had a totally different colour scheme.

The last item I've listed on EBay is a promotional DVD from the newspaper of Flight of the Navigator, which I found in the drawer whilst sorting out the camping equipment - don't ask me what relevance it has to camping or what logic inspired us to put it there in the first place!  The other item which has been liberated from the camping equipment is a set of 12 Wag Bags - basically toilets in a bag, the idea being that you put this bag with special "powder" in it into a bucket and use it as a toilet when you are camping.  The "powder" turns liquid to solid and the whole bag can then be sealed up and disposed of (it's biodegradable).  Back when we first decided to try camping I was very worried about the idea of getting up to use the toilet in the middle of the night, imagining all sorts of threats and dangers to a wandering lone female on her way to the toilet block!  Therefore the idea was that we'd have a bucket and these bags in the tent so I wouldn't need to venture outside the tent.  This is a great idea, but I soon realised that the toilet block is normally warmer than the tent in the middle of the night, and actually I was quite happy to go and linger in it for quite a long time, at least until I'd warmed up a bit!  Hence the bags never got used.  I am now selling them on UKCampsite.co.uk - they cost about £30, so the other half will be happy if I can pass them on to someone else, as he never saw the point in the first place.

I also managed to make a list of the Usborne books I have available for sale, leftover stock from when I was an Usborne Organiser.  If I could sell them all at half the RRP that would be £139 or so.  I emailed the list to a friend who home educates her kids and she's agreed to buy about £27 worth of them so that's a good start.

In other financial matters, it has been a quiet day - no post means no new bills or increased prices.  Due to it being half term, we also managed to not leave the house so didn't spend anything either.  I've decided to take charge of the weekly shop, as the other half has a tendency towards buying fresh pasta, speciality cupcakes and other non-essential items. I, on the other hand, can manage a trip round Sainsburys without even looking at the aisles we need nothing from.  I am planning on trying out the supermarket comparison sites tomorrow morning to try to get the bill down even lower, although I suspect any savings made this way may be negated by extra petrol to get to the various supermarkets on offer.  We will see - I'm going to try to stick to the £90 budget, although last year we overspent each week by about £14.