Earn $100 extra Per Month Challenge - June

In one of Ramit's emails he talks about how it is important to try to earn extra money. He does consulting/freelance and so I think it is MUCH easier for him to do this. As I mentioned I am a teacher and so I think it is difficult for me to do this unless I am interested in getting a second job- which I am not because I am also a wife and mother.
So I challenged myself this month to try to figure out how to come up with extra money. I did not start out by trying to come up with $100 like Ramit recommends but as I started doing it I figured $100 was a good goal.

Now it is not recommended by Ramit to sell things as a continual method of earning more money (unless you are making things) because eventually you will run out of stuff. Unfortunately I make nothing so I did sell stuff to earn money and this will have to be my option until I run out of stuff. I have a lot of stuff so we will see how far this gets me.

I started out by selling books online through bookscouter.com. It scouts out places that buy back books (such as Amazon.com) and then links you to their site.

So book selling so far:
-$2.25
-$9.50
-$16.00
-73.20
Total - $100.95
Then, I went on Craigslist and did a beta test on a website and got:
-$20.00
So for June, my total thus far is: $120.95!
I think I still have a couple of book orders still out there that are coming soon so my total for June might to up. If they get here in July I am counting them towards my July total.
I am also planning a garage sale for two weeks from now to help me with my July sales.

I know this has nothing to do with money but it is my release and so I write about it anyways. I love to read and I started reading my Maeve Binchy again. I am starting from the beginning so I am starting with Light a Penny Candle. I have read all of her books two or three times each and I just love them so I am starting again.

Bills Bills Bills

Trying to be organized and ensure that we pay off our monthly bills on time is such a pain. We accrued a bit of debt when I stopped working to stay home with my daughter. We are trying to get back on track and into smart spending and saving. It just seems that as soon as you finish with the bills more bills come in! What an exhausting process. Yet another reason my dream job is to be either an heiress or a princess is that I would have an accountant!
In our organizational process we are making sure that our bills are on time. We finished automating our bills. First of all yes, I did skip a chapter of Ramit's I Will Teach You To Be Rich because it was on investing. We are heading out of town next month to visit family and we are not saving money to invest right now it is all going toward getting the car up to par and the trip. I will have to go back to that chapter upon our return.
We sat down with all our bills and decided which bills needed to be paid at the beginning of the month and which needed payment at the end. We went on our banks website and signed up for auto-payment. It was unbelievably easy and I can't believe that I did not do this earlier. Mind you I am a bit nervous that something horrible will happen like our checks won't get deposited or something and then we will drown in it all but in reality I think it will turn out great. I think it will be REALLY helpful while we are out of town.
You know, if you are reading this (which I know not a soul is because I have one of those trackers on my blog) and you are in college or fresh out of college you really should buy this book. I wish I knew more about finances when I left college. I would have been so much better off now than I am. 'nuff of that - like I said, I am not going to lament my past but ensure my future!

On a personal note, I am thinking of re-reading my books by my favorite author, Maeve Binchy. My husband bought me one of her books called Echoes, but as it turns out I already owned it and read it. I might read it again what the heck. She is an amazing storyteller if you ever feel up to looking into her books.