The addiction of Ebay....

Before christmas i was constantly ebayer for about 3 weeks, searching the house of items we no longer needed, placing them online, and then watching throughout the week to see how many watchers there were on items, seeing the bids creap up during the week and then the all important bidding wars in the final 5 mins.
This benefited us hugely with many of our christmas presents coming off ebay so it didnt feel like we was spending a penny but can you become addicted to the world of ebay, from a sellers and a bidders point of view?

From a buyers point of view ebay isnt what it used to be, and thats because of the fiancial climate and the deals the shops offer today. When Ebay first started you was normal guarnteed a bargain, but nowdays you  have to shop around as with so many stores having half price of sales nearly all year you can actually be paying someone more money for their second hand cast offs than brand new in a store with which you can take it home that day and not have to wait for that seller to take it down the post office (and this sometimes isnt always very quick i must add). I know i sold some games and was even asking myself why these people were bidding so high when they could go on websites such as play.com who offered the game cheaper and free delivery but who am i to judge, i definatly didnt moan when i saw the income in my paypal the next day.

With this in mind i think think i could become addicted to the bidding side of the ebay world, however from a sellers point of view its very different.

I started my ebay selling again last week, whilst i had a week off work i managed to find various bits and pieces i no longer wanted or needed, and so took a few pictures and half hour later i had them placed for sale on ebay.
And the addiction starts from there, once i put four items on i felt like i needed to find more and so was hunting the whole house in case i had missed something that someone else may possibly want. and from there everyday im reviewing my status do i have an watchers, are there any bids?. Its definaty more exciting from the sellers point of view.But if i feel like this and i feel like i am quite a tame ebayer how far do people go to get that thrill from the bidding wars and how much are you willing to sell just to get that bit of delight from seeing your unwanted prosessions go up by £1 at a time.

I found an article on bbc news website which explained that some doctors believe that it isnt the item itself that give ebayers an addictive buzz but the excitement of bidding against others and winning.

In some cases people bid on things they dont need just to get a buzz from the ebay bidding.

There are even some extreme cases featured within the article as follows

"Some people come because they have been fired from work - doing eBay at work is not permitted, so they seek therapy after something like this happens.
 
"One woman was in debt by $400,000 and took a second mortgage out on her home and all the money from her retirement account.

I personally dont know how people can take it to these extremes but some people dont have the control.

So for now im just going be happy with whatever I from my unwanted items, and be happy when i do find an ebay bargain.

Im independent an woman, even with a boyfriend.

Yesterday I took on the task of painting the hall and bathroom, and even if i do say so myself it looks fab.
Obviously I have now have two transformed rooms but what i got out of it most was the feeling of independence, and the feeling that although I have a boyfriend who I live with it doesn't mean he has to do all the tasks which i know some women who say is a mans task such as the DIY.

Having lived with my mum for the last 19years i have watched her take on all the tasks around the home, wallpapering, painting and other forms for decorating all on her own. I remember asking her once how she knew what to do but it just shows what i must of picked up as no one told me what i needed to start my transformations yet i set off to wilkinsons and returned with paint, brushes, masking tape and pollyfiller for the holes.

So yesterday i got up early, put the music on and started painting the bathroom, after the first coat i looked around and thought yeh that looks good, so i continued on the bathroom and went onto the hall and just finished before James came back to me amazed. I think it even surprised him what i had done and how good it looked.


And after all the whole day i looked around and thought why do women rely on their men. I have got to say the women in our family have a go at a lot of stuff ourself but im sure in most familes DIY is left to the men, but why?? i felt such an achievement from what i had done and felt so much more independent.
I would definalty encourage more women to get up and do things themselves and not rely on them men, because if i had left it to James it would never have got done, but by me taking charge i got the bathroom i wanted and the achievement overall.

What does Marriage mean?

I have always believed and still do that marriage is the coming together of two people who care and love eachother.
However i think that today people have changed the meaning of marriage with lavish weddings and fancy dresses taking over the real meaning of what the big day is all about. Which is fine if people wish to use the day to show off however because of shows such as Four weddings i believe some men out there believe that this is what all girls want and are then put off to get married, and therefore the  real reason for a wedding the symbolism of love is lost.

Yes one day I do want the fabulous dress, and the church wedding and reception with friends and family, but to be honest thats not the real reason getting marriage is on my mind. I believe getting married shows two people commiting to eachother for life, with their love and the ring symbolises eternity as its never ending.
James and I do have different views on marriage, he doesnt feel he needs to get married to show his love, which is right but i feel that a ring would show the commitment was forever.
And there are of course lots of couples who are with eachother for years, have children who dont get married, some never do.

Soon the goverenment are making it that co habitents get the same rights are a married couple if they live with eachother other, so will the real meaning of marriage get lost if there is no need to get married anymore................

Will whatever anyone else thinks, one day i will get married and it will be because i want to show my love for James and not because I want to show off on my big day x

Everyones having babies, or pregnant but me....

Everywhere I look lately women everywhere seem to be pregnant. Working in a clothes store i must notice this alot more with pregnant women coming in and buying their yet to arrive bundle of joy clothes, and also the parents shopping for their little ones who are all snuggled up in their pram.

You turn on facebook and theres people declaring they are expecting with their first scan photo turning into their profile picture.

I would probaly have not taken any of this in if it hadnt of been for my reocurring brodyness that has appeared over the last couple of months, and due to this all i think i when will it be my turn and why is that not me.

I suppose it all started when one of my friends had their little girl 7 months ago, and spending time with her bundle of joy, holding her in my arms but also seeing how much she had effected my friends life that she now has a piece of her to look after, which i think is amazing.
My other friend then had a baby boy and I have also now got a 2 month old niece.

I have always had a plan since being with James i thought we would buy a house within the next year, i would get engaged by the time i was 22 be married by the time i was 24 and start to make a family by 25. Therefore i didnt even think i would want children for another 4 years, but since spending time with all these babies all i can think of is i want one.

But is my brodyness just my emotions due to spending so much time with babies or is my body really saying i want a baby, and if that wasnt enough to think about am i really ready to have a child of my own.

I feel like i could become a mum now, looking after someone we created, watching them grow and become their own person, but then theres the thoughts that they will change your life for ever- lack of sleep, not being able to do things in your own time and that there is someone depending on you all the time.

But am i too young to be feeling like this, i know my friends are the same age and have children but am i too young to be feeling as brody as i am, that it is effecting my emotions meaning i cry at times for no reason, and babies are always on my mind.

Im not someone who judges women for having children at a young age, as they have so much to deal with and therefore i admire them for what they do.

What i dont understand is why people judge others when they dont no that person. When shopping with my friends and their babys i often push the pram and the amount of stares we get for being young and with babies. But infact we are 21, a full adult, and when we was born our parents were 21-22 and so twenty years ago it was the norm, and there was no one being judged.

I thought i might be able to but the feelings at bay by watching One Born Every Minute a documentary on channel 4, following expectant mothers in their stages of child birth. There i was watching these women screaming in pain, asking for gas, air and drugs to stop the pain but at the end of it seeing the baby in their arms all i could think of was it was worth all the pain in the end so even that put the feelings at bay.


I think i just have to get used to my emotions now, and work out how i really feel and what i want for the future, and for now enjoying being an Auntie.

I suppose it would be rude not to introduce myself.........

As the title suggests im a twentysomething girl, currently 21.
I live in the town of Basildon in the well known county of Essex, and no we're not all typical essex girls, and in fact the few essex girls featured on TV arent what you really find in Essex.

I am a Store Manager for a well known vaule fashion retailer in Wickford, you may have seen the town featured on the recent Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and those featured have also been in my shop, i dont think this can be called a claim to fame though.

I studied at the King John School in Benfleet, where I studied for five years, and met some amazing people.

I then went onto college to study travel and tourism, which i was sure was to be my career choice, i had plans to become a travel rep, and at the time had an obession that i would one day own a red uniform like in the advert and work for Virgin Airways. However i was a love struck teen at the time so those dreams ended when i thought i was so in love and gave them up for someone i havent seen in two years.
I then went on to apply for jobs in travel agents and when i wasnt getting any job offers and was fed up of refusuals i went to apply for promotion from saturday sales assistant to Assistant Manager, which two years later led me to where I am today.

Fashion wouldnt of been my first choice of career however had always been a topic i enjoyed, I loved textiles at school and always thought i could be a fashion designer until my nan told me one day it was all very good drawing pretty pictures of outfits but i would have to make them as well and that i couldnt just get someone else to make the patterns, so that idea went out the window, unfortunatly after my mum had brought me a sewing machine for my birthday.

I now however love working in the fashion retail business, merchandising is my strongest theres nothing like the buzz i get when i can look at what i have created on the shop floor at the end of the day.

When im not working you will normally find me at home with my boyfriend James, normally snuggled on the sofa watching either CSI or Friends (we own the box set, watch it on E4 and still it never gets boring). That is unless Call Of Duty takes over the TV which is always at least once a day.

And just so i dont miss anyone out i have the most amazing family.

So theres not much more a girl could want.