How a couple sold jewelry to fund their vacation

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Rob Scores and his wife, Julianne, had Puerto Rico on their dream vacation list for a long time. So when the opportunity to go there with their friends presented itself in February, they jumped at the chance.

However, because the trip was an impulse, they had to get creative to be able to cover the $5,000 it would cost. Although Scores says they would have taken the trip anyway, they wanted to have more money available so they could make the most of their trip – and avoid going into debt.

Their solution: sell the items they no longer need.

“There were some things we had to do to find the money and part of that was selling jewelry (Julianne) found while she was going through a jewelry box,” Scores told CNBC Make It.

Here’s how they made their dream vacation come true.

The Austin, Texas-based couple lives well on a joint six-figure income. Julianne lost her full-time tech job in 2023, which made money a little tighter, but they still feel comfortable managing their usual expenses, including some credit card debt and payments on a truck, Scores said. Julianne took on freelance assignments while looking for full-time work.

Julianne also sold a house she owned in New York last year. She had previously rented the house to a friend, Scores said. When the friend wanted to move, Julianne decided she didn’t want to become a homeowner remotely and that selling the house would be the best decision.

The profit helped bolster the couple’s savings, allowed them to complete a bathroom renovation in their Austin home and even allowed them to consider going on vacation. They were able to save money by splitting the cost of their Airbnb and rental car with their friends, but since Julianne works from home and Scores travels primarily within the contiguous United States for work, the couple wanted to make the most of this news. destination.

The contents of an old jewelry box helped ensure the trip wouldn’t break the bank.

“(Julianne) doesn’t tell me the budget, she tells me to start thinking about it and she’ll let me know if it’s good or not,” Scores says. “She says she found some jewelry that didn’t mean much to her or that was from an ex and she thought, ‘I don’t know what to do with it.'”

The couple decided to try selling the jewelry — necklaces and earrings — that Julianne has had since she was a teenager, Scores says. After going through the reviews on Google, they decided to take a chance with TheAlloyMarket.com. To their surprise, the jewelry earned the couple $729 that they could spend on their trip to Puerto Rico.

When it came to selling the jewelry, the couple had “no hesitation,” Scores says.

“She told me, ‘I’m not going to do anything with it…no matter what we can get in return,’ and then we were surprised at what we got in return – I mean, the cost of the ‘gold isn’t really low right away.’

It’s true: the price of gold has increased by more than 12% year-over-year since April. The couple’s profits didn’t cover their entire trip, but it chipped away at the total cost of $5,000. Julianne handles the couple’s budget planning, Scores says, and knew they could comfortably manage the trip given their overall financial situation.

“Being an adult is the ultimate money game,” he says. “You want to do something, you figure it out, and you put the plan in place to make it happen.”

The couple has a general savings fund, but Scores says they didn’t want to dip into it too much to pay for their trip. Selling the jewelry allowed them to achieve this goal while continuing to do excursions in Puerto Rico like snorkeling and off-roading.

The trip was well worth selling the jewelry, Scores says, and the buyer kept the process simple for him.

“It was very simple, and for things that were lying around the house,” Scores says. “It helped us supplement (and) ensure we could go on vacation.”

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