Step 14 - Progress

I'm at Step 14. As there are only 28 steps, that means that I'm half way there !
Well, not quite half way to a million, as I'm only on £40-£80 at the moment.

But I do think that I've done well. I started this challenge on Nov 4th 2008. So I've only been doing it for 2 weeks. So within 2 weeks, I have gone from 0p to £40.

I know that £40 isnt much money, but considering that I earned that from nothing, I think its good.

My plan for stage 14 is to just sell my current stock.
That should take me to over £90 in total, so I could lower my prices to get possibly quicker sales if I want to get to the next step faster.

Total Cash - 26.83
Total Assets - 14.95
Overall Total = £41.78
In Step 14 - £40 - £80

Step 13 - Complete

Things aren't going too bad on the Ebay front.
In the last week I've sold another 2 LapLink cables
Cable 1 = 13.99 sale price - 1.38 ebay costs = 12.61

Cable 2 = 14.49 sale price - 1.48 ebay costs = 13.01

Thats a profit of about £10 each considering the buying cost of 2.99.
I still have 5 left so that will be another £50 profit when sold.

Total Cash - 1.21 + 12.61 +13.01 = 26.83
Total Assets - 20.93 - 2.99 -2.99 = 14.95
Overall Total = £41.78
In Step 14 - £40 - £80

Book recomendation - Share Trading

I've been recommended the following book to learn about Shares trading.

The Naked Trader: How Anyone Can Make Money Trading Shares

You never know when I will have enough doubling money to start trading!
So I have ordered it, and will let you know what I think.

Step 13 - Progress

The last sale went so well, that I've bought 6 more cables to sell - Cost = 17.94

The actual profit for my last sale was:
12.99 (sale price) - 1.33 (listing fee) - 2.99 (cost) = 8.67

I still have 1 cable, so if I can sell all 7 with the same profit, that gives a profit of 60.69.
Thats quite a bit more than doubling, but I'm not complaining! It would theoretically take the total to 82.83

Total Cash - £19.15 - 17.94 = 1.21
Total Assets - £2.99 + 17.94 = 20.93
Overall Total = 22.14
In Step 13 - £20 - £40

Step 12 - Complete

I changed the ebay listing to BuyItNow for 12.99, and it went in a few hours - that was quick!
Adding buyitnow costs 20p extra, but its definitely worth it to get a quicker sale.
I may have to buy a few more of these.

Sold the 2nd LapLink cable for £12.99.
So profit = 12.99 - 1.33 (listing fee) = 11.66

Total Cash - £7.49 + 11.66 = £19.15
Total Assets - £4.98 - 2.99 (cost) = £2.99
Total = 22.14
In Step 13 - £20 - £40

Step 12 - Progress

After the succesfull sale of the PC LapLink cable, I thought I would buy another 2 of them.
If I can make £5 on each sale then I would complete Step 12.

So I paid the same £2.99 each for them.
One is on ebay now, and I was going to put the other one on after it had sold, but I'm thinking of putting them on as buy it now, as I dont think I can wait 7 days for them to complete.

I know I should be concentrating on the step in hand, but I'm trying to think ahead to future steps. I think its easy to make £5 on a sale, but it will be a lot harder going from £80 - £160. I think I will have to change my plan once Im at that step.

Total Cash - 12.47 - 4.98 = £7.49
Total Assets - £4.98
In Step 12 - £10 - £20

Step 11 - Complete

Now I have a little money (£6.27), I can now buy things to make money.
There is a local shop selling returned items on the cheap, so I went to see what I could get.
I bought a USB LapLink cable for £2.99.
I checked on the net, and these can retail for up to £39, so I was sure I can make a little on this.

So I put it on ebay, and it has sold for a grand total of £10.01.
Ebay costs were 82p, to profit was 10.01 - 2.99 - 0.82 = £6.20

Total Cash - 6.27 + 6.20 = 12.47
In Step 12 - £10 - £20

Step 11 - Progress - Found another 1p

Well, I didnt find it, but my friend found it on a pub floor, and handed it straight to me.
He doesnt even know that I'm doing this challenge!
Maybe he thinks I look like I need the pennies ;)

Total Cash = 6.26 + 1p = £6.27
In Step 11 - £5 - £10

Step 10 - Complete

I sold the trading cards on ebay for a total of £4.25.
selling costs were 57p, so thats a total proffit of £3.68.

I've decided that any money I make over the target will stay in the pot for the next step.

Total Cash = 2.58 + 3.68 = £6.26
In Step 11 - £5 - £10

Step 10 - Progress

I'm planning on getting through the next few steps by buying and selling on Ebay.

The first thing I'm selling is something I already had, so no cost to me - trading cards:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280283127614&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

I need to make £2.50 to get to Step 11, so considering Ebay charges, I will need to sell for over £3.50.

Current Cash - 2.58
In Step 10 - £2.56 - 5.12

Stage 6, 7, 8 & 9 - Complete

Having a root around the house, I've found lots of loose change.
This really is lost money, money that has been lying around unspent for years inside the sofa, etc.
I guess in my mind (at least in the past), copper isnt real money. No-one wants a pocket full of copper, so its just left in the house, and never spent.

So how much did I find? £2.40 - so I now have 2.58

That means I have now jumped a few steps to complete Step 9 (£1.28 - £2.56).

This is a good stage to be at, as now I should be able to start using the money I have to make more money.

Current Cash - £2.58
In Step 10 - £2.56 - £5.12

Steps 4 & 5 - Complete

I thought the 1st few steps would be a lot harder, but its amazing how much you can find just lying around.

I found 12p, taking my total to 18p - completing 2 steps in 1 find.

Current Cash - 18p
In Step 6 - 16p - 32p

Step 2 & 3 - Complete

I have managed to complete steps 2 and 3 in one go.
Someone had left 5p in the rejected coins tray in a parking meter. Nice one!

Im now at 6p, so I only need 2p to complete step 4 now.

Cash = 6p

Step 1 - Completed

Easier than I thought, a colleague who left about a month ago had left a single penny on his desk.
He must have left it for me.

Step 1 - Complete!

Cash = 1p

Step 1 - the beginning

The first rule of the game is that I have to start by finding 1p.

So tomorrow I will be searching the streets to find one.
How hard can it be?

The Doubling Challenge

Welcome to the start of my journey.....

I've just finished reading an article by Stuart Goldsmith called 'How to Double your way to a MILLION'.
I thought it sounded like an interesting challenge, and you never know, if I manage to make it, I'll be a happy man!

The challenge basics are, start off with a penny. Somehow, double it to 2p, double to 4p, etc until you get to £1,000,000......... How hard can it be?

There's a total of 28 steps, detailed below.

Step 1 - find 1p
Step 2 - 1p - 2p
Step 3 - 2p - 4p
Step 4 - 4p - 8p
Step 5 - 8p - 16p
Step 6 - 16p - 32p
Step 7 - 32p - 64p
Step 8 - 64p - £1.28
Step 9 - £1.28 - £2.56
Step 10 - £2.56 - £5.12
Step 11 - £5 - £10
Step 12 - £10 - £20
Step 13 - £20 - £40
Step 14 - £40 - £80
Step 15 - £80 - £160
Step 16 - £160 - £320
Step 17 - £320 - £640
Step 18 - £640 - £1280
Step 19 - £1280 - £2560
Step 20 - £2560 - £5120
Step 21 - £5000 - £10,000
Step 22 - £10,000 - £20,000
Step 23 - £20,000 - £40,000
Step 24 - £40,000 - £80,000
Step 25 - £80,000 - £160,000
Step 26 - £160,000 - £320,000
Step 27 - £320,000 - £640,000
Step 28 - £640,000 - £1,280,000

Wish me luck! :)