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Why We Are So Bad at Buying Happiness

Why We Are So Bad at Buying Happiness

"Those who say that money can't buy happiness aren't doing it right."  Have you heard that joke before?  Well, it turns out that there is more than a kernel of truth in there. People are generally bad at buying happiness because: 1. We buy to keep up with the Joneses / ...

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Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

I wrote a hair post in both 2007 and 2008, so I suppose it's only appropriate to continue the tradition in 2009! This post is dedicated to recession's impact on hair budgets. The recession is a major reason why I've been neglecting my hair a bit during these past several months: ...

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Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, not stuff: I've decided to make this my mantra to live by. It'll be hard, because I like nice things (ex: shoes), but guess which of the following I remember the most? (a) A $100 leather jacket purchased in Buenos Aires, that I've worn ONCE in 3 years. (b) A $45 hour-long horse ride on ...

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What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

Sex And The City: The Movie is coming out in May! I am so, so excited, and I'm betting that many Sex And The City feel the same way. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda - you ladies have been missed! (By the way, I love the photo below - head-to-toe ...

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5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

I've been struck by a bad case of the travel bug lately... I haven't been out of the country since 2007, which seems like a long time. CB and I are saving for Galapgos, but we also want to travel quite extensively in the intervening months before our Big Galapagos ...

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Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate school is a significant undertaking both in terms of time and money. During the last few months, I've felt some pressure from concerned family members about going to graduate school. I know they only want the best for me, but I'm glad I followed my gut instinct and ...

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Should Parents Pay For College Education

Should Parents Pay For College Education

A college education has, for a large percentage of society, become the de rigueur entry-level degree. "Should parents pay for college education" is a question where the answer is always, "it depends." In today's economic climate, I imagine that many parents are having the difficult talk with their kids ...

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Free GMAT Study Resources

Free GMAT Study Resources

Taking and prepping for standardized tests isn't cheap, fortunately, there are many free study resources available online. I've taken advantage of most of these resources when I was preparing for my test last year. Hopefully you will find them helpful as well. Free Online Study Materials The GMAT Uncovered by ManhattanGMAT: A ...

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7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

Rejections during job search are disappointing, to be sure. Nobody likes to be told that they were qualified candidates, but the management has decided to go in another direction. In this environment, however, rejections are common-place through out the job search and interview process. After the initial disappointment wears off ...

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How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

Hosting a dinner party is always fun, but right now I need my get-togethers to be budget-friendly as well. Remember when I made crab cakes? That was for a group of 5 or 6 friends. The crab cakes were delicious and everyone loved them, but, crabs are expensive! Two pounds ...

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Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Every time the holidays come around, feel-good human-interest stories surface. This is a time to give to others, help those in need, and realize that the world is not as cutthroat or as competitive as we may believe. But is it true? Can people be purely altruistic? The authors of Superfreakonomics (the ...

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The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

It's happened. I fell for the sultry dance, hard. (I even made its own category!) I leave class with a big smile on my face. I read Argentine tango forums and blogs. I fall asleep thinking of boleos and molinetes. I'm not sure how my wallet feels about the possible financial ...

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Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

New Cars are shiny, gleaming, loaded with the latest technology and features. New cars get the big commercials on TV, where they swerve confidently in snow storms, zoom down idyllic country lanes, and maybe even dance a little to the sound of a state-of-the-art in-car sound system near a trendy ...

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Disney World Recap

Disney World Recap

I realized that I haven't really talked about my Disney World adventure (aside from the Dining Plan review) on this blog yet... and well, that oversight must be rectified! If you have any specific questions about Disney World, please ask away and I'll do my best to answer. We Got To ...

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Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job fairs can be a great opportunity for applicants to interact with many different companies. But if you don't prepare adequately, job fairs can be a disaster. Last week, I attended a job fair - prior to the event I debated whether I should go. I had heard the horror ...

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How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

Wait, you mean you never had a credit card education class in school? Okay, me neither. The quality of education these days! But there's no reason that high schools or colleges shouldn't offer a class like this. After all, credit card education isn't an awkward topic like the other type of ...

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Do It Yourself Jewelry – Does It Save Money?

by WellHeeled on November 9, 2009

wire-wrapped pearl necklace

I made this pendant over the weekend – CB’s mom has a lot of tools and beads to make her own jewelry, and she nicely said that I can make something on my own. So while CB was out working on his car, I just grabbed a pearl bead and some silver wire and went to work.

For someone who has never wire-wrapped before, I was very happy with how the necklace turned out. The pearl looks as if it’s floating in an orbit of silver, and I maintain that the unevenness and asymmetry are intentional and only increase its charm. ;)

Although I love this necklace (partly because I made it), I don’t think making my own jewelry would be saving any money, per se. Quality beads / materials / tools can get quite expensive. CB’s mom has a large cache of materials to work with – but it costs a lot of money to build up such an inventory. Then, there’s the monetary value of the time that one spends working on the jewelry. Jewelry-making probably won’t turn into a full-fledged hobby for me, but it’s nice to be able to make something pretty once in a while.

One of the good things about making jewelry is that it can potentially turn into a money-making hobby. My one excursion into DIY jewelry, however, made me wonder how much of a profit those wonderful Etsy jewelers turn.

More expensive items has bigger profit margins, but on etsy the prices are all fairly low for jewelry. $100-$200 seem to be around the high-end of the range for jewelry prices. Especially people who sell a pair of earrings for $10 or less – how do they make money? After accounting for the time they spend making the piece, the raw materials cost, and the fee they pay to list on etsy, the profit margins must be quite thin.

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Megan November 10, 2009 at 7:23 am

I don’t know if that was a hypothetical question or if you are really curious, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. A lot of successful Etsy sellers have their own popular blogs, maybe they could do a guest post for yuo? I’m sure they wouldn’t give out actual numbers, but it could be neat to see how they price their work so that it is affordable and allows them to earn a living wage. Etsy seller Lillyella comes to mind. I have bought a few items from her, she does beautiful work.

Reply

Investing Newbie November 10, 2009 at 10:11 am

Love the new Header!

I’m not really jewelry wearer so I can’t comment on this. I usually try to buy the cheapest set of earrings from Claires or Forever 21. I love it when it comes in bulk too, like 12 earrings for $3. LOL.

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Carrie November 10, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Etsy prices are kind of all over the place. A lot of the sellers are clearly undervaluing their own time but some sellers must think that everything they touch turns to gold. It really helps to have an idea what the materials would cost and how much time it would take to do it yourself when shopping on Etsy.

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FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com November 10, 2009 at 12:23 pm

You know, I wondered about that too

But a lot of what people make for low/thin margins, is that

A) they buy the items in bulk, costing less than $1 per item

B) the items are already pre-made and not made by hand, like the Antique Poppy Leaf Pendant thing or whatever

Some sellers just string that Poppy pendant on with 2 chains and call it $15.

It looks cute, and to ME, looks worth $15, until I checked how much they paid for each pendant, and realized they were making a $13 margin each necklace!

The way more expensive stuff, is the handmade stuff like silver rings, or stamped out things..

Ask Ginger, she made me that silver ring that i won in the giveaway, and it is CLEARLY handmade, which I love love love.. but she told me that it was expensive to even rent the studio to do silversmithing and then the time involved…

I have my favourites on Etsy for sure.. and I’m starting to learn what everything really costs, and then I evaluate what I buy on there.

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Wellheeled November 10, 2009 at 12:51 pm

@ Megan – I googled etsy and Lillyella and this article about her quitting her day job to do Etsy full-time came up. If you haven’t seen it already, you might be interested! http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/quit-your-day-job-lillyella-2522/

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Megan November 10, 2009 at 2:08 pm

@Wellheeled – that’s how I found her. Love her stuff and her blog!

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Pearl Necklaces November 18, 2009 at 10:03 pm

I definitely agree that it's fun to make your own jewelry, and it might be great for a one time thing, but it can get SO expensive. I make my own earrings and just to get started I felt like I had to spend over $100 to get good materials to make a few sets. So, I totally understand. But I love the necklace you made, isn't it fun to have people give you things to create what you want! Love it! Thanks for sharing!

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AjewelryFan November 23, 2009 at 6:08 am

Designing jewelry yourself saves the money in a sense that if others also appreciate your creations then turn this hobby to home based business, this thing is also helpful for the mothers who are looking for their infants and can't go outside; to pass the time in healthy activity and make some money also.

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