Tag Archives: Shopping

Taking Another Shot

December 3, 2025 Kasanje Leave a comment

I watched a video on YouTube the other day that I felt especially compelled by. It got me to stop and think a bit more about my previous YouTube channels and to reconsider posting videos.

When I decided to close GameGirlsGallery (GGG), I also deleted my ASMR and Thrifting channels as well. They other two had fewer than a hundred subscribers, so it wasn’t any real loss.

After 18 months, GGG had well over a thousand subscribers and I regularly got comments and engagement on the content I posted. The decision to close the channel was difficult, but necessary. It was the same with removing that type of content from this website (Hard Choices: Removing Site Content).

Well, yesterday, I decided to go ahead and try again with YouTube. I’m terrible with following through on plans, but I will try to do a live stream every Wednesday and a recorded video once a week.

Ideally, I would like to be able to livestream with my phone, but you need 50 subscribers to do livestreams using the YouTube app. I thought about doing it in the office, but its so messy here, I’d be quite embarrassed.

I ordered an action camera off of eBay for 20 bucks and that should arrive sometime next week if holiday traffic doesn’t slow the parcel down. Its magnetic and has a lanyard and metal pad that can fit under clothes. That will allow me to film while I am out sourcing, but still keep my hands free.

I really wanted an Insta360 Go 3S, but its way out of my price range. My wallet can’t handle anything that fancy. Hopefully, the generic I bought will be able to manage my needs.

Other than videos related to eBay, I will likely include some slideshow videos of my domestic travel blog series.

Anyways, the channel is @FatWalletRefugee (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzS1MYRiA570YCdXuEEQ-g)

Thanks for reading. See you next time!

Errant Literary

My 40th Birthday

November 19, 2025 Kasanje Leave a comment

I don’t feel much older than last year, but there is a distinctive sense that comes with the big four-oh.

I awoke earlier than expected. After lazing in bed for a bit I decided that I would take advantage of the early start. I drove to the Treasure Hunt store, stopping by Starbucks for my free birthday treat along the way.

I ordered the Tomato Mozzarella Panini. I had gotten in the driveway and then realized I had mistakenly hit “in-store pickup,” so I had to maneuver out of the line and find a parking space.

Once I got inside, it was incredibly loud. The seats were packed with customers and the space behind the counter was abuzz with activity.

The pickup didn’t take long at all. I was soon back outside and walking to me waiting car. Upon my first bite of the sandwich, the spinach sort of flopped out. It was wet and soggy and sort of bland. The rest of the meal tasted good though. I paired the sandwich with a pear and that was my breakfast.

I stood in line at the Treasure for around 10 minutes before they opened the doors and everyone began filing in. I had brought my own bag, so I didn’t bother grabbing one of the big blue ones the store provides.

I went straight to the clothes bin and got some nice picks.

Amazon Basics Men’s Pajama Pants Size XL

Dickies Men’s Blue 4XLT Long Sleeve Shirt, sealed in bag.
6 Licensed NHL New Jersey Devils Tee Shirts, 5 Large and 1 XL.
9 Amazon Basics Men’s Pajama Pants Size XL, sealed in bag.
2 Amazon Basics Women’s Gingham Button Front Shirts.
2 Gradual White UV Block Tee Shirts, size L.
Soothefeel Women’s White One-Piece Tennis Outfit, size L.
Kanu Surf Women’s Purple Floral Rashguard, size small.
SENFURE Women’s Bodycon Dress Square Neck Pink Small.
Tru Luxe Blue Mixed Stripe Shirt XS Button Front Smocked.
Croft & Barrow Women’s Black Long Sleeve Top Snowflake Sequins Glitter Metallic S.
Fiori Green Long Kurta with Sequence Embroidery M-40.
NY Islanders Sports Cap by Zephyr ZHATS.
Bass Outdoor Men’s XL Fishing Button Front Shirt.
Sharp SWJF300 Water Filter.
Radwear High Visibility Work Wear Hot Pink Vest.
Exofficio Men’s Performance Travel Underwear Black.
Stance Men’s Casual Socks 3-Pack Combed Cotton Blend.
Naviskin XL Long Sleeve Tee Shirt, Teal.
Gradual Navy Blue UV Block Tee Shirts, size XL.

There were two items I picked out too hastily and didn’t notice large stains and other damage. Not a big loss, just 2 bucks.

I think maybe they were short staffed because the manager was running the register and he’s usually at the back counter on the PA system the other times I’ve gone inside.

Oh, and I picked up two sealed bags with Microfiber Golf Towels. Also a nice find.

Shopping

La Femme 1st

March 20, 2025 Kasanje Leave a comment

About Us

Our mission is to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience and quality clothes at affordable prices.

The apparel in our shop has been sourced from a variety of sources, including thrift shops, yard sales, and liquidation stores.

Feel free to make an offer on any of our garments. We offer free returns on all items.

For delisted items, message us through eBay @LaFemme1st or drop a comment on this post.

Featured

Women’s One Piece Backless Swimsuits Deep V Neck Laced Up Adjustable Cheeky Tie ($8.99) Available in Small (Orange), Medium (Red), Large (Red, Teal), Extra Large (Red, White).

Sweaters

Buffalo David Bitton Sweatshirt Women’s 2XL Pink Pullover Top Stitched (SOLD)

Jouica Women’s Turtleneck Oversized Sweater (12.99)

Dressbarn 2x Sweater Cowl Neck Cable Knit Turquoise ($14.81)

7th Avenue Design Studio Women’s “Bow Blouse” ($13.99)

Lane Bryant Sweater Women’s Size 18/20 Maroon (SOLD)

Turnbury Sweater XLT Blue 100% Extra Fine Merino Wool V-Neck (SOLD)

Shirts & Tops

ExOfficio Women’s Dryflylite Long Sleeve Shirt w/ Dual Front Zipper Pockets (SOLD)

Adidas Ultimate Tee XL Women’s Pink Polyester Cotton Stretch Activewear (SOLD)

Alice & Trixie Sleeveless Tank Top (24.99)

UA Women’s Heatgear Tech Shirt Vented Athletic (8.99)

Free To Live T-Shirt Green Women’s Large (Delisted)

Coupe Collection Women’s Blouse Plaid French Cuff Embroidered (Delisted)

1250 North Ladies XL White Dress Shirt 100% Cotton ($22.99)

UA Velocity Short Sleeve Shirt Jacquard Camouflage (SOLD)

Jackets & Pullovers

Columbia Jacket Women’s 2X Teal Switchback III Full Zip Hooded Water Proof +Size (SOLD)

ONLY Sherry Cropped Bonded Biker Jacket Moto Orange Size 36 ($28.99)

Mondetta Women’s Cozy Fleece Shirt Jacket (SOLD)

Lands End Women’s Metal Button Weather Resistant Coat with Detachable Hood ($24.99)

Philosophy Republic Clothing Women’s Faux Leather Olive Green Jacket ($22.99)

Nike Element Shirt Women’s Large Dri-Fit Running Gray 1/2 Zip ($11.88)

Pants & Shorts

Secret Treasures Pajama Bottoms soft Plush Sleep Lounge Pants Women’s size Small (3 Sold | 7 Available) ($6.25)

RAINBEAU CURVES Women’s Plus Size (22-24) Navy Capri Yoga Pants (SOLD)

Women’s PFG Tidal II Shorts Blue – Plus Size 2X 5L (SOLD)

All In Motion Women’s Gray Camouflage Mid Rise 5″ Run Shorts ($20)

7 for all Mankind Dojo Flared Wide Leg Trousers Mid Rise 25 (30×30) Made in USA (SOLD)

New York & Company Bright Pink Sateen 4” Gramercy Shorts Size 18 ($11.99)

Apt.9 Shorts Size 16 Torie Mid Rise Cuffed Blue Hawaiian Cruise 98% Cotton Blend

Member’s Mark Ladies Lounge Shorts 4 Way Stretch Relaxed Fit 2XL Polyester Blend

Old Navy Shorts Women’s 16 Bermuda Railroad Striped Cotton Twill Chino Clubhouse

G Gradual Women’s High Waisted 4″ Bermuda Shorts with Side Coin Pockets Athletic

Other Items

Abercrombie Fitch Beanie Scarf Set Knit Yellow Yarn Vintage Clothing 100% Wool (SOLD)

Kolob Women’s Leopard Print Hat 100% Polyester Flexible Crushable VTG (SOLD)

Official Trump 2024 Hat “Save America Again!” Embroidered Pink Cap for Women ($25.88)

Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Oil w/ Vitamin E, 4oz, Natural Scent (Delisted)

Side Hustles

What Sold on eBay: Q4

December 22, 2024 Kasanje 5 Comments

See Last Quarter Sales (Q3)

My numbers are up considerably compared to Q3. Starting December 20th, I was raised to “Top Rated” seller status, and I now have a nice badge on my profile.

My quantity sold for the last 90 days is up 56%, however, I did see a considerable drop in the click-through rate on my listings.

Another good news was that I got my first few sales in the new shop @LaFemme1st. I had started wondering whether operating a separate channel for women’s apparel was a good idea, but it seems to be working out now.

I also have a free account with Flipwise that I use to track my inventory for La Femme 1st. I get up to 24 listings per month without having to pay for the service. I highly recommend it for new eBay users.

I have eliminated two of the Excel spreadsheets I was using to catalog my goods and expenses.

I realized that some of the data I had entered was inaccurate and that I had included clothes that I had gotten for free, and then some items just didn’t get included at all.

After clearing those other files, I implemented a new system for cataloging my inventory and sales. I am able to just enter the number of items I purchased and the document calculates to total cost for me.

eBay Excel Sample

I can also include purchases from obscure stores or yard sales and it will keep track of these expenses. I learned how to do a lot of these types of Excel operations in my accounting lessons.

My best sales this quarter have been the Levi’s work shirts I picked up at the liquidation store last month. 13 shirts, all new with tags, mostly in XL or larger sizes, including Big & Tall shirts. A great find. The only issue was that two shirts had security tags attached. I need to find a magnet to remove them.

I also sold the snowboard coat I got at Goodwill. That had been a bad purchase decision. I was glad someone bought it, but I did lose about 75 cents in the end.

Another bad buy was the motorcycle jacket, which finally sold after marking it down over 60%. I did manage to make a slim profit on it.

My most interesting sale was for a Patagonia Hawaiian shirt. I had no idea they made Hawaiian shirts, and it sold within 5 minutes of listing.

I sold it for $40, but looking back, I probably could have gotten closer to $75-80 for it. Apparently, it was a rare vintage shirt. I’ll have to be more careful with items like that in the future.

Side Hustles

Treasure Hunt Liquidator’s

November 8, 2024 Kasanje 3 Comments

My mother and I visited the local Treasure Hunt store in Raleigh to see what was available. We went on a Wednesday, the $1 day before they restocked the bins. We got some interesting items, mostly arts and crafts stuff.

I picked up a DeWalt Carbon Fiber Hammer Tacker-Stapler, it was in rough shape but I think it still works. I also got a MeshForce WiFi Extender. The little light comes on when you plug it in so I think it works.

Both items were scuffed up a bit, but I think I’ll be able to sell them.

We went back to the store on Friday to see the new items priced at $12 each.

The store was packed with people. We arrived around 11 AM and noticed a few electronic items I was interested in but decided not to take any chances.

All of these items are product returns and only some of the boxes say whether the contents were defective or broken.

I found a great deal though in the clothing bins. Apparel items were all $8 on Friday and I picked up 13 men’s Levi’s shirts for $104 total. The listed MSRP on the shirts was $68.50 and clearance stickers were marking most of them down up to 70%.

The tags all say 2024, so these shirts were all recently released. I checked Levi’s website and I can see that they are still listed at around $45 on a discount.

They came in good sizes ranging from 2XL all the way up to 4XLT. I’ve listed them on eBay at $34.95 each. I am hoping they will get picked up as we roll through Q4.

Unfortunately, one of the shirts was missing the tag and another one had an ink tag still attached to it. I need a strong magnet to remove it without setting off the ink bomb.

Other strategies included burning them off, but I think that risks damaging the fabric. I’ll set those two aside for later.

Queuing in the checkout line.

I’ve had 8 buyers this last week with gross sales of $145 and a net return of $47.03 after fees and cost of goods. My experiment with disabling promoted listings last month was a big failure.

So, I am now always enabling promotions on my listings. It’s not worth trying to go without to save some money. I’ll have to bring down my costs by either sticking to the $2 bins at the Goodwill or by focusing on only selling New With Tag items that I can charge higher prices for.

I am lucky in that the local Goodwill shops do not individually price items on the rack. All shirts and pants have a set price and everything in the bins is two bucks. Sweaters and coats get higher prices, but not a whole lot more unless it is a big heavy ski jacket or something similar.

I’ll see if I can get my spreadsheet uploaded in the coming weeks to give a bit more transparency on how much I am earning and spending with this venture.

Errant Literary

Car Hunting (part 6)

May 9, 2024 Kasanje Leave a comment

See part 5 here: Car Hunting

Well, things are certainly moving along fast now.

What ended up happening was I found a somewhat local dealership that had a Nissan LEAF SV Plus available and it only had 17k miles on it. For $15,998 I felt it was a good deal. After the regular fees, I was quoted $17,422.19 and a separate charge for delivery of $149 (75mi).

Last week, we went to the dealership to take the car for a test drive. It was a long trip and it was my mother’s birthday, so we stopped at the H-Mart in Cary to procure some choice pastries and on the way home we swung by the Red Robin for her free birthday burger and the Starbucks for her free birthday coffee. Plenty of sweet freebies including a cake from the Publix grocery store.

The car took some getting used to but I found the drive very smooth. The only issue was a loud buzzing sound, however, I found it to be a bug stuck in my dreadlocks. Some weird cross between a moth and a carpenter bee I’d say. It managed to free itself while I was pulled to the side of the road searching Google for “buzzing sounds” and the Nissan Leaf.

Cutting ahead now to the present, I have scheduled delivery and I am expecting a cashier’s check ($10k) in the mail for my down payment. I will be financing the remainder of the balance ($7422). I’ve got another check for $4,000 coming soon and then I can probably put the rest on my US Bank Altitude card which has a 0% promotion running.

The next hurdle was getting a “binder” from the insurance company. I initially spoke to the insurer for the house and my relatives’ vehicles but was told I was too old to be on their policy without being a joint owner.

I was directed to start my own policy, however, the quote was $533 per month which was too much given my small income. I tried Progressive, but their website was down, I called the General and was quoted $1,538 per month.

Finally, I used a generic website which led to a phone call with an insurance agent from Direct Auto Insurance. This ended up being the ticket. I received a quote of $224 per month, which is still a bit much, but better than the others.

The binder was handled smoothly and I should have the details sent over to the credit union that will handle the financing and the lien. I’ll have a few more calls to make tomorrow with the dealership and possibly the insurance agent, but otherwise, I think I am pretty much set.

At some point down the road, I want to get a custom license plate with my name on it. That’ll cost $33 with fees. I also want a DashCam, I have been looking at the Vantrue Element 1 for $71 on Amazon. I may make a post about that later.

Thanks for reading. Be safe and be happy.

See part 1 here: Licensed!

Errant Literary

Car Hunting (part 4)

March 30, 2024 Kasanje 1 Comment

We’re almost into April now, but I have finally narrowed down my search to two final selections. Interestingly they are both from the same manufacturer: KIA.

It turned out that I had misunderstood the difference between how Hybrids (HEV) and Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV) work and their technology. My misunderstanding led me to discount PHEVs from consideration initially.

That confusion has been cleared up thanks to a YouTube video I recently watched. I am now looking to purchase a KIA Niro PHEV.

It’s a smaller SUV with a range of 510 mi total between the gas and battery. The MPG is 53 City / 54 Highway on the latest models. I would be looking for an older used model, so those numbers will likely be reduced.

The second vehicle I am looking for is the KIA Soul EV.

This is my backup plan if I cannot find a Niro in my price range (16k). The Soul is mostly seen in the wild as the standard Gas model since it is rather inexpensive, but I want the EV version. It would be great if KIA had made an HEV version, but we can’t have everything we want.

The Soul EV was actually discontinued in the US back in 2019 after they ran out of parts for manufacturing the cars. Called the e-Soul in Europe, the cars were in high demand and KIA made the decision to stop selling them in the US and focus on the European market instead.

Unfortunately, the US models only ever got up to 111 mi of range for the 2018-2019 models, while the older ones cap out at 93 mi of range. By comparison, the e-Soul gets around 221 mi of range for the 2020 model. I tried looking for imports but have so far had no luck.

The upshot for buying a Soul EV is the sticker price. Since the cars are relatively old now, the prices have dropped considerably. Not as cheap as the BMW i3 I previously wrote about, but it is still cheaper than a Niro Plug-In (22k+).

But, I still have time to find the right vehicle for me. I’ll keep you posted.

Shopping