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August 24, 2011, at 6:00 am If you're new to BFS, please subscribe to my RSS feed. It shows me a vote of support and keeps me motivated to keep your attention. If you have any questions or comments for me, please contact me and I'll get back to you asap. Thanks for visiting! About 5 months ago, I mentioned that I cut my hair (you can see the ponytail pics on that post) and planned to donate it to Locks of Love. Well, I didn’t. While looking up their address, I found their FAQ section. It takes 6-9 ponytails like mine to make one wig. I decided I rather sell my hair than let it wait around for 5-8 other redheads to send in their hair. But then life popped up, I forgot about my hair, and it got put in a bag on a shelf downstairs.
Selling My Hair
I found my ponytail on that shelf last week and decided to finally attempt to sell it. I checked out Craigslist first, but there is no local market for human hair. I was not surprised. Then I checked out Ebay and found a ton of human hair for sale. In fact, some of the auctions that were complete sold for $30-$60. I figured that my red hair with natural highlights had a fighting chance for the high end of that scale, so I went ahead and listed it. Here was my post:
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Human Hair Ponytail – Red, Never Dyed, Never Treated!!!
This is literally the hair off of my head!
As you can see from the picture, the ponytail is 14 inches or longer but the wave makes it curl at the end and look like a solid 12 inches plus a bit. Here are the rest of my details:
- I am Caucasian
- I am categorized as a strawberry blonde red head
- My hair has a natural wave
- My hair has never been dyed or chemically treated
- I use Pantene ProV Shampoo and Conditioner
- I do not smoke and live in a smoke free home
- My hair has more natural blonde highlights than the picture could capture
- I grew this out from age 24 to 28 before going back to a shorter hair cut
I do get things shipped out in 2 days or less! My ponytail will be placed in a plastic bag and then shipped in a well-padded envelope or box.
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I included a few pictures, set the post for 7 days, and listed the starting bid at $9.99 on Saturday, August 13th. It received a bid for the $9.99 within the first few hours of being up, so I was pretty hopeful. But then nothing happened for a couple of days.
My Hair Auction
When I checked in last Wednesday, it had received another bid and was up to $15.51. That made me feel a little bit better about offering free shipping, but I didn’t check in again until last Friday. It had gotten up to $31.01. I was happy it had finally broken the $30 target, but I was still thinking it was being under-valued since my hair is thick, soft, and actually one of my best attributes.
So last Saturday, August 20th, I started checking in on the bidding between blog duties. I’d answer a few emails and then check the listing. Still $31. I’d write a few paragraphs for staff writing and check my listing. Still $31. Grrrr. Finally, 30 minutes before my auction was up, a few more bids came through that took my hair from $31 to $42 to $51.51! Woot! I was finally at the high range for recently sold hair!
I was pretty happy and went and finished the staff writing post I was working on. About 45 minutes later, I realized I had not checked in to see how much my hair finally sold for. My husband actually brought it up.
I literally said, “It was at $51 half and hour before wrapping up, let me see…it sold for…HOLY MOLY, IT SOLD FOR $101.99!!!”.
My husband asked if I was kidding, but I wasn’t!!! My hair sold for $102!!!
There was a little bidding war right at the end and a nice woman from Reading, PA won my hair! She had even already paid! I immediately packaged up my hair for USPS and then emailed her to say thanks and to let her know I was shipping it out first thing Monday morning. She replied that she appreciates the speed since she was in the middle of finishing a couple of baby dolls for a customer. So my hair is going to some dolls. :-)
I asked if hair normally sells for that much and she said that red hair is more expensive than the rest and most hair is usually sold for $30 or more an ounce. My ponytail was 3.6 ounces and being sold all at once, so she thanked me for getting a good deal! Who knew?!
My Profit
After Ebay took their 8%-9% cut and Paypal took their little 3.9% bite as well, my $101.99 became a grand total of about $89. Oh well, it was $89 that I didn’t have before and a doll maker in PA is pretty happy. 
Have you ever thought about selling your hair? I will admit that I am impatient to grow mine back so I can sell it again, lol. Only about 3 years to go…
August 23, 2011, at 6:00 am
Welcome to the Festival of Frugality #294! I have been self-employed for more than a month now, but I still remember cubicle living. In honor of all of my readers that still have to commute every day, I’ve given each section its own employment one liner that I found at Weird Websites. Have fun!
Editor’s Picks!!!
Deja Moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull before.
Save Money
A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.
Budget and Travel
Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.
Frugality
Vacation is what you take when you can’t take what you’ve been taking any longer.
Shopping
Don’t be irreplaceable; if you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.
Investing
I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.
Banking and Insurance
A pat on the back is only a few centimeters from a kick in the ass.
Credit and Debt
Hard work never killed anyone, but why chance it?
Thanks for reading!!!
August 22, 2011, at 6:00 am
As you may have read, my husband was told that adding me to his work’s insurance plan was going to cost an additional $235 every two weeks. I was not happy. Well, I was on his paycheck this week…
My Health Insurance Premium
It wasn’t as bad as expected. Overall, I cost him an additional $165. I don’t know where they got the $235 estimate from. He went from paying $56.53 for everything to $221.76. That means I should cost about $4300 a year to insure instead of $6100. It still stings to pay so much for a mediocre plan, but it did end up being less than expected.
Options and Suggestions
In case you are looking for more options too, here were some suggestions from my readers about this:
Daniel from Sweating the Big Stuff said:
Did you look at other insurance options (searching through aggregators online)? I did a little research awhile back and found reasonable plans for about $100-$150 a month, so a pretty big discount over what it sounds like you currently have.
Shawanda from You Have More Than You Think said:
You may want to check out the National Association of Health Underwriters: http://www.nahu.org/consumer/findagent.cfm. It seems very difficult to navigate a health insurance policy without an expert holding your hand. It can’t hurt to speak to a professional.
Andrea from So Over Debt suggested:
I did some research before switching jobs and I was shocked at how cheaply I can insure myself through a private plan. I looked on Esurance, and I can get an Anthem plan with a $500 deductible for about $140 a month. The coverage is actually better than what I have right now through my employer.
Amanda from Forget Regret warned:
The big difficulty I found when I had private insurance was that maternity coverage costs a FORTUNE…like an extra 400 bucks a month. I opted not to take that coverage, but we would have been in big trouble if I had accidentally gotten pregnant….
Geoff from Don’t Do It Yourself reminded me about other insurance (I’m on liability only with low mileage, but this may apply to others):
Thinking about other types of insurance…..now that you work from home have you considered adjusting your car insurance to reflect that you don’t have a commute? I clasify my car as “leisure-only” and save a bundle.
My Current Plan of Attack
I do think I can be insured cheaper elsewhere. I will start looking into new plans and all the suggestions above in September and make up my mind by the time the next open enrollment period rolls around in October. Either I will find out that my current plan is okay or I’ll find an even better option to jump on.
Did you have any other suggested sites or companies for me and others to check out? What do you think about the $165 biweekly rate?
August 21, 2011, at 3:09 pm
This year’s 2nd Annual Plutus Awards are open for nominations until next Sunday, August 28th! As a blogger that started towards the beginning of 2010, I am soooo excited to be way more eligible this year for some of the categories! And there are a lot of categories! Whether you include any of my sites or not, I’d highly suggest nominating your favorites because I know every blogger who sees their name will be just as thrilled as I would be!
This year’s winners will be announced at the Financial Blogger’s Conference that I am just too excited about!!! It would be amazing to win just one, single category overall in front of all of the bloggers I have read and respected for the past 2 years!!!
- If you do notice my staff posts all over the place and like them, please nominate me, Crystal Stemberger, for the “Best Blog Contributor / Freelance Writer” category!
In case you do want to include Budgeting in the Fun Stuff (http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/) in some of your nominations, these are the categories that it would fit into based on the rules:
- Best Multi-Part Personal Finance Series – http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/quick-info/diagnose-your-financial-health/
- Best Lifestyle Blog
- Best Written Personal Finance Blog - I know how NOT humble that sounds, but some of you have sent me emails about my writing specifically.
- Best Designed Personal Finance Blog - Again, I have received lots of emails about my header and layouts, so this isn’t just me being big-headed, lol.
- Best Personal Finance Blog for Entrepreneurs - I talk about self-employment here and even more at How I Make Money Blogging
- Best Personal Finance Blog for Generation Y or X
- Best New Personal Finance Blog (created in 2010)
- Best Personal Finance Blog: One Author
- Blog of the Year - Believe me, I know this is a VERY long shot, but I did just say that I’d technically fit into these categories, hahaha.
And if you like How I Make Money Blogging (http://howimakemoneyblogging.com) as well, here are the categories that it would fit into:
- Best-Kept Secret Personal Finance Blog
- Best Personal Finance Blog for Entrepreneurs
- Best Personal Finance Blog for Careers
- Best Personal Finance Blog for Generation Y or X
- Best New Personal Finance Blog (created in 2011)
- Best Personal Finance Blog: One Author
No matter who you nominate, thank you for being my readers!!! I truly appreciate all of you!!!
August 21, 2011, at 6:00 am
The Saved Quarter Challenge Update
I joined The Saved Quarter Challenge this year and was aiming to save at least $21,000 by the end of 2011, but we hit that goal in mid-June!!! My new goal is to save a cool $42,000 by the end of 2011 instead! That would be a tiny bit more than 50% of our GROSS pay from our two full time jobs (my husband’s and the one I had before I quit in mid-July)!!!
Here’s how I’ve done this week for the Saved Quarter Challenge:
- Emergency Fund/Savings - $1250
- Home and Auto Maintenance Account – $500
- Extra Cash for Investments – $1375
I received my last regular paycheck on August 3rd, so my blogging income is not considered savings automatically anymore. I’ll know after the 14th of every month how much of it can be socked away like it was this week.
The new $42,000 goal is hopefully going to be reached solely through 100% true savings – 401(k), Roth IRA, emergency fund/savings, home and auto maintenance account, extra cash for investments, and blogging income up to August 6, 2011.
Total This Week: $3125
We can save what we do because we live off of a little more than my husband’s salary as a school librarian ($38,000 take home pay). That means we save most of what I make blogging from home and what my husband makes from his hobby job of reffing. Reffing usually brings in $2000-$3000 a year and blogging is bringing in $35,000 or more a year (we’ve already hit more than $24,000 for January-July 2011), and I get to keep about two-thirds after taxes.
Total to date: $35,713 guaranteed, $6,287 to go.
Additonal Info
I will continue posting monthly and yearly blog statistics and income updates, so stay tuned at the beginning of every month!
In case you didn’t know, Alexa traffic rankings are determined by the numbers of hits a site gets by people with the Alexa toolbar. If you want to be part of this ranking community, you can download the Alexa toolbar here.
If you don’t already, you can follow me via RSS or Twitter by following those links.
You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter with exclusive, subscriber-only giveaways by using the subscription form in the right sidebar ———>
To learn more about the Yakezie, the blogging group that has helped me in SO many ways, check out my Yakezie page! Feel free to email me if you are a Yakezie member or challenger and don’t see yourself on the list!
If you are interested in seeing how I went from an 8 million plus Alexa rank and 3 readers to where I am today, you can see My Blogging Checklists, which breaks down everything I do related to blogging. If you want to see how I have started bringing in more than $3000 a month in less than 18 months, you can check out How I Make Money Blogging.
I have also started a new site, http://howimakemoneyblogging.com/, which will cover how I currently make money blogging and my transition to a work-from-home blogger!
THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING THE BEST READERS EVER!!!
August 20, 2011, at 6:00 am
My Favorite Posts this Week
Guest Posts at BFS
Thank you both!
I Staff Write…A Lot…
Giveaways
Blog Carnivals
If you are hosting a carnival that includes Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, please email me so I can include it in my roundup. Thanks!
Top 5 Referring Sites to BFS from Last Week:
- Free Money Finance
- Yakezie
- Get Rich Slowly
- Smart Passive Income
- Squirrelers
Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.
As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too. 
I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as me!
Please subscribe to my brand new newsletter to receive weekly updates and links to exclusive, subscriber-only monthly giveaways!
The newsletter subscription box is at the top of the right sidebar —————>
If you click the “Subscribe” button and nothing seems to happen, wait a minute to see if you received the confirmation email anyway. We are working on the problem but my only other option right now is to use a pop up, which annoy the crud out of me.
My Other Sites
I have started a new site, How I Make Money Blogging!
Let me know what you think!
August 19, 2011, at 11:40 pm
The following is a guest post on behalf of Money Supermarket.
Marilyn Monroe many have sung that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but you don’t need stacks of cash or precious gems to impress your loved one.
In these tough economic times, obvious displays of wealth can be a little vulgar, which is great news if you are financially challenged at the moment!
There are many ways to date for less and have a blast without resorting to robbing a bank. Using credit cards can be a help and you can maximize fun and minimize costs with these tips.
Firstly, think about all the free attractions and amenities in your neighborhood and city. Often times when we’re flush with cash, we overlook these great resources.
The United States is blessed with nearly 400 national parks, which offer spectacular scenery and opportunities to take on the elements or simply enjoy the views.
Wherever you live, you are not far from one of these protected areas. Yellowstone was the first designated National Park and if you live in Wyoming or parts of Montana and Idaho, you can visit the tumbling waterfalls and the famous Old Faithful Geyser.
Many of the national parks do not charge an entrance fee, so pack a blanket, a picnic for two and some little treats to enjoy a romantic but inexpensive date.
Instead of boring old sandwiches, take smoked salmon and cream cheese bellini pancakes, shrimp marinated in lime and coriander and chocolate-dipped strawberries. These little luxuries won’t cost a great deal, but will turn the picnic into more of an occasion.
Use your credit cards to pay for additional extras, such as a guided tour, or if you’re both the adventurous type, a rafting or tubing experience down the river. That will certainly make an impression and create some memories!
You don’t have to be in the great outdoors to have a good time, as most major cities have plenty of cheap or free attractions.
If you live in Washington, for example, the free and fun museums operated by the Smithsonian Institute can be an interesting place for a date.
There are thousands of museums throughout the US with free or low-cost entry and their unique surroundings create a special backdrop to a date.
In these locations, you can meander around the exhibits, have fun with interactive displays and simply chat and get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere.
Another way of enjoying an experience without the full price-tag is to sign up for discount websites such as Groupon and Living Social, which regularly offer meals, entertainment and attraction entrance for a discounted fee.
In addition, call the restaurant or venue to check if they have any special offers or sign-up to their website or facebook page and receive money-off vouchers. Remember, retailers and restaurant owners are suffering in this global recession, so just by asking nicely you may get a great deal. They would rather have your business at a lower cost than not at all.
Take advantage of any reward vouchers or points that you receive from using your credit cards. Often times we forget about these, so check yours now and you may be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy your date whatever you do and have fun!
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DISCLAIMER I am not a professional or a financial advisor. BFS posts are informational opinions only. Please make your own financial decisions based on personal research or see a financial advisor.
Also, there are paid links on this site. There is no obligation on your part to purchase any products advertised on this website.
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