Step 1: Completed!

Last week we managed to complete Step 1 of our challenge!

We had spent our original $7 on five items of children's clothes and planned to sell them at the baby and kids secondhand market that is held every few months in our town. Jo had already booked a stall to sell off a lot of the clothing and toys that her kids had grown out of so it wasn't too much effort to add a few extra items.

The goal was to double our money. Because Jen had done such a great job finding bargains, Jo decided to price most of the items a little higher than double. And it's a good thing she did - one of the items didn't sell but the others made up the shortfall and we managed to make our goal of $15! (if you are thinking, hang on a minute, double $7 is $14, not $15! then take a look at our plan).


So here’s what we sold:

• a toddler size red hand-knitted cardigan – bought for $1, sold for $3
• a pair of baby jeans – bought for $1 but didn’t sell
• a pair of size 2 jeans – bought for $2, sold for $4
• a pair of size 4 jeans – bought for $2, sold for $5
• a Pumpkin Patch pale yellow knitted cardigan – bought for $1, sold for $3

Actually, the last item on that list – the yellow knitted cardigan – was not actually sold. Jo swapped it with the stall holder next door for a cute sleeveless jacket that was just the right size for her youngest son. Both items were priced at $3 so we think we can count this towards our goal.

As for the baby sized jeans – Jo will be listing these along with some other baby clothes on various internet selling sites so there is a chance that they will sell yet. And if they do then we will count the money towards our next step.

The market was an interesting experience. Overall Jo made over $100 profit from the day and learned many useful tips that she will share in a future post.

So – on to Step 2! We are currently planning how to turn our $15 into $30.

Step 1: What we bought

For the past week or so we have been looking for children's clothes to spend our $7 on, with the hope that we can sell them for $15 (or more!) at the baby and kids market this weekend. If we manage it we will have completed Step 1 of our 2 Coffees to $2 Million Challenge!

Since dragging two small boys around markets and op shops is not an experience Jo particularly enjoys, the bulk of the shopping was left up to Jen. Armed with a brief of what sort of things to look for she went shopping and managed to pick up the following:

• a toddler size red hand-knitted cardigan - $1
• a pair of baby jeans - $1
• a pair of size 2 jeans - $2
• a pair of size 4 jeans - $2
• a Pumpkin Patch pale yellow knitted cardigan - $1

We are pretty sure we can sell these for at least $15 - we'll try for more. The size 2 and 4 jeans both have adjustable elastic waists, Pumpkin Patch is a sought-after brand (a similar jacket in their current range retails for $37!!!), and who can resist a hand-knitted cardie!

The market is on Sunday - we'll let you know how we get on next week!

Jen+Jo

Step 1: $7 to $15

Today we're going to talk about our plans for Step 1 - $7 to $15.

This is the first baby step towards our two million dollar goal! Exciting! As you know, we have $7 to play with, determined by the cost of two coffees (if you're new here, check out our original post about our challenge). All we need to do to complete Step 1 is turn this $7 into $15 - should be easy!

In just over a week there is a second hand baby and kids market happening in our town, so we've decided to find $7 worth of second hand kids clothes that we believe we can sell for $15. As a mum of two young boys, Jo has a pretty good eye for kids clothes bargains and also knows what mums on a budget are looking for. So for the next week we'll be looking out in thrift stores and trash and treasure markets for a few items that we think we can resell for more.

We’ll be looking for three main types of baby and kids clothing:

1. Jeans - toddlers and young children spend a lot of time on the floor and as a result wear out their jeans fast (especially at the knees). We’ll be looking for jeans in good condition, preferably with an adjustable elastic waistband so they will fit a variety of sizes.
2. Knitted jumpers/cardigans - good woollen jumpers for kids can be hard to buy and hand-knitted tops look great on little ones. It’s getting near the end of winter but it will still be cold enough here to need warm tops for a while yet.
3. Shoes - like jeans, kids (especially boys) are tough on their shoes. And if they aren’t wearing them out, they are growing out of them. New shoes are a constant source of expense for parents so many will be on the lookout for a decent pair at the second hard market.

it's hard but we are really trying to only focus on one step at a time - it's easy to feel overwhelmed wondering how we'll double our money when we get into the hundred thousands! But the whole idea of this challenge is one step at a time so for now, baby clothes it is!

Do you want to join in the challenge? How would you turn $7 into $15?

Update: Here's what we bought!

2 Coffees 2 Million: The Plan

Our challenge is to turn the price of two coffees into $2 million by successive doubling. Think we can do it?

It actually takes just 18 doublings to get to almost $2 million. To keep the numbers nice and round we'll fudge things a bit - a few steps will be a bit less than double and a few will be a bit more but here's the plan:

Starting with $7...

Step 1: $15
Step 2: $30
Step 3: $60
Step 4: $125
Step 5: $250
Step 6: $500
Step 7: $1000
Step 8: $2000
Step 9: $4000
Step 10: $8000
Step 11: $15,000
Step 12: $30,000
Step 13: $60,000
Step 14: $125,000
Step 15: $250,000
Step 16: $500,000
Step 17: $1,000,000
Step 18: $2,000,000

Wow - it looks kinda scary but what's a challenge without the fear factor? We're going to give it our best shot and have a productive, interesting and fun time along the way.

Want to join in??

Jo + Jen

2 Coffees 2 Million: The Rules

Ok, so now that we've set ourselves the challenge of turning two coffees into two million dollars, we thought we probably should lay down a few ground rules! Here we go...

1. No betting.
While there is inherent risk in any money making venture, the idea here is to grow our money, not risk it on a get-rich-quick scheme. We won't be placing bets on the horses no matter how good the odds appear!

2. No using funds or items we already own.
It would be easy to raise some extra money by selling off things we currently own or making things with supplies we already have but that wouldn't be in the spirit of the challenge. Of course we will probably do plenty of other things to make money along the way and we may well blog about it but the money for this challenge is separate.

3. No spending the money outside the challenge.
As tempting as it may become to 'borrow' a bit of cash from time to time, we need all the challenge money working for us if we are going to do this so we are going to resist temptation to spend it until the challenge is over.

That's it! Three simple rules and we're off!

2 Coffees 2 Million: The Beginning

Photo by Jeffrey Bary

A few days ago, my sister and I caught up for a coffee at a local cafe. Among other things, we were discussing our respective financial situations - I am self-employed and my sister has a young family and we are both finding money pretty tight at the moment. My sister told me about a great blog she stumbled across by a woman called Kylie Ofiu, who writes about ways to make and save money. Kylie has recently started a money making challenge - an attempt to turn a few dollars into $1 million through successive doubling.

That sounded like fun! We could both use a boost to our incomes; being 30-something women with families to grow and support and long lives ahead of us. We both seek independence from the wage trade and desire more freedom. We have no desire to be rich, as such, but are both tired of struggling, tired of counting pennies, tired of worrying about whether or not we have enough money for the rent or the power bill. So why not? Let's give it a go! After all, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Kylie's challenge involved finding money to start with, whether it's 5c on the ground or $5. After paying $3.50 each for our lattes we thought why not just start with that? So instead of having a second cup (oh so tempting for us coffee-addicted sisters) we walked home in a flurry of excitement and determination.

So, here we go! We're going to do it! Do you want to join in? We'd love some company on this journey!

We set up this blog today to document the challenge each step of the way. While we're at it, we'll discuss various other money matters and ideas. And we'd love your input! If you are interested, go and have a read at Kylie's blog for some inspiration!

And don't worry, we're in this first and foremost for fun, so it won't be too serious. 

Today is Day 1. We have $7 in a jar. Let the fun begin!!

Jen+Jo