New Addiction

I have wanted to sell my old textbooks on Amazon for over a year now. I finally listed the books on Amazon over the weekend. I have already sold six books and made over $80. I think I have become addicted to selling my belongings on the Internet. I started selling the textbooks I did not want anymore. Then, once orders were being placed, I started pulling books from around my room and in my closet to sell. I am about to open up the boxes of books stored in my closet. I am even considering selling the school books I originally wanted to keep.

I have found a few problems in my Amazon experience so far. One of these problems is packaging. I bought cushioned envelopes at the post office to package two books in this morning. Amazon allots $3.99 to cover the cost of shipping. Each envelope was $1.39, though! Since my new addiction to making money from Amazon is more important than the package looking nice, I gave up using the cushioned envelopes (yes, since this morning). I found used, manila envelopes in my house and will be using those for the next four books sent tomorrow. I may run out of these soon, though. The other problem I encountered is the requirement that books be sent within two business days of someone placing an order. I am going to be making several trips to the post office in the next two weeks.

Since I am leaving for Rome in mid January, my parents are going to be left with the remnants of my addiction. They do not know that yet, though...

Goal: Do Not Spend Money

It is extremely difficult to not spend money in the two weeks before leaving for Roma. I am attempting to save money for my semester abroad, but there are too many things I need money for. I went to Star 31 last night to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday, and I spent $38. My best friend turns 21 in a few days, so there is more money I will not have for the four months in Roma. Not to mention the $300 I just had to pay to get my car back from being towed in Philadelphia...

My goal for the next two weeks or so is to not spend money. I am going to limit myself to spending money only for my best friend's 21st birthday. The rest will stay in my bank account.

I need to get creative and think of ways to make some money before leaving. Since winter break is shorter for those studying abroad, no employer will hire me for seasonal work. Any ideas about how to make some money over winter break?

18 days

Eighteen days. There are 18 days before I board a seven-hour flight to Fiumicino. Now that the fall semester is over, I cannot delay preparing for the four months in Roma and the subsequent week and a half in France.

I have taken care of a few minor preparations. I started this blog and downloaded Skype in order to keep in contact with everyone at home. I finally read the program manual that I did not have time to completely read this past semester. I contacted several public relations and advertising firms about applying for summer internships. Finally, I made my "To Do" list, because my OCD tendencies are kicking in right about now. That will take care of the rest of my preparations.

The next few months, I will document my preparations for the semester abroad and living in- and traveling around- Europe. Keep an eye out for future posts!

Ciao!