Why hello there, you hunk of burning love. Are you feeling shy today?
No reason to hide. No one’s going to hurt you.
There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I think I saw a pair of blue suede shoes over by all the used sneakers.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I write a lot about food waste, and recently I’ve been adding a fair number of posts about zero waste. So naturally I’ve been thinking about how the two are connected.
Buying in bulk (the mainstay of zero waste) means that not only are you avoiding dreaded packaging, but you’re also able to buy precisely the amount of product that you need.
Require two teaspoons of garam masala spice for a recipe? Then scoop exactly that amount from the bulk bins!
And conversely when the grower/manufacturer decides the amount you need to buy, it’s inevitable that you end up with more than you would have intuitively bought. Case in point? The above oranges. (Keep in mind today is Wednesday, so six school lunches have already been prepared.)
Normally I do a big grocery shopping trip at the end of the weekend, but last Sunday was my son’s birthday, and every minute was dedicated to celebrating his fifteen wonderful years on planet earth. And since I worked Monday, my husband took up the slack and hit up our local Safeway. And like all married couples, we do things differently. Examples include:
Which is how the unnecessarily packaged oranges entered our house. A random amount, not based on how many school lunches we have to make this week, and featuring a single anemic looking yellow-ish orange that’s at risk for drying out before being claimed.
But the offending mesh bag of oranges is just a single example of how packaged food often leads to food waste. Five-pound bags of whole wheat flour go rancid before being used up, large jars of spices lose their flavor and those last two hot dogs grow toxic slime before they can get eaten.
But when you buy in bulk and make a conscious choice about the amount you’re bringing home, then there’s a good chance that you’ll actually eat the food you bought.
Have you noticed that bulk shopping helps you to waste less, or are you guilty of scooping more than you can use? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Today I am . . .
Now you. What are you doing today?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Happy 15th birthday to my sweet younger son. Born with extra energy and personality. Smart, artistic, soccer-obsessed and such a hilarious young man.
Thank you for choosing me as your mother.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Today I am taking it easy as a blogger. My house needs a couple hours of focused attention, and the Oregon sky just might eke out enough sunshine for a load of laundry.
Have a great Friday!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
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I wrote a post in 2008 describing what I called my Non-Consumer Living Room, but I thought I’d write up an update as much has changed. (By the way, you can click on the photos for better detail.)
Here’s the before. Very sedate, to the point of humorless. Like maybe your grandmother would really, really enjoy it.
And here’s the after of my living room today. A bit more fun with a more varied color palate:
What’s different?
What happened to all the old stuff? Either it found a new spot in the house or it got sold on Craigslist, baby!
Of course, no room is ever really finished. My styles and taste changes, plus it would be boring to ever stop tinkering with my house.
Boring!
Boring.
Are you a put it in place and never change it person or are you like me and enjoy the process of evolving a room? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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It’s time again for Non-Consumer Mish-Mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little bit about that.
Chair Addiction
Regular readers may have noticed that I have a teensy-weensy touch of a chair obsession. I buy them, I sell them, I fix them up and I gaze lovingly at them.
Hello, lover . . .
You know, like HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
So it should come as no surprise that a collection of Goodwill Thonet chairs caught my eye yesterday. Priced at $12.99 apiece, I immediately envisioned how great they would look painted bright glossy colors. (This hot pink one is insane!) But then my brain took over and bitch slapped my impulsive nature:
“Why are earth are considering bring home more chairs? There is barely enough room in the house for the chairs we already own!”
However, I have decided that it would be okay to go back and buy juussst one. (the one on the far right.) You know, for the dining room, our bedroom, the spare bedroom, the laundry room. Oh hell. I’m buying the damned chair, even if I have to screw it to the ceiling.
Maybe a bright sky blue . . .
Update . . . the chair was gone when I went to buy it. S’alright though, as I really didn’t need another chair.
The Simple Year is Up For Grabs
Kerry Wright Reifel decided in 2012 that she would do a year-long experiment where her family bought nothing new. Knowing nothing about The Compact, she dove into her project and started a blog titled The Simple Year. (Seriously, how was this perfect domain name not already nabbed?!)
Wright Reifel wrote that:
“So the goal for this year long experiment is to live simply. The goal is not to do without, I’ll still buy consumables (I just couldn’t figure out how to live without food, toilet paper and hair color), and we can buy things that are used or repurposed. Rather than buy replacements for broken or worn items, I’m going to attempt to repair.”
However, that year has ended, and Wright Reifel is looking to hand her successful blog over to someone new. Someone who is also looking to do a buy-nothing-new year and she’s searching for the perfect blogger. Mind you, she’s serious about this, and will want writing samples and a serious commitment.
If you are interested in taking over The Simple Year’s reigns, please e-mail Kerry at:
kerry3835@yahoo.com
Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook Discussions
As interesting as I perceive the blog to be, there’s often more action going on over at The Facebook Group. Why? Because I am only one person, someone who has a hard time keeping up with blogging since I am gone from the house from 6:30 A.M. – 8:30 P.M. two days per week, plus, you know . . . Mad Men. (I am loving the addition of the actor James Wolk to the cast, and totally called that he was there for Joan.)
Here are just a few recent posts that have been recently bandied about over on Facebook:
“I have been fortunate to always have been in the American “middle class” but my husband came here as a refugee with nothing but a few clothes. His education was interrupted by war and his family has know poverty, but he has been successful in America. At first he took any job he could get- restaurant dish washer, janitor… but after we were married he was fortunate and got a union job and developed skills through experience. But we know that skilled manufacturing union jobs are rare now, he got lucky and has never been laid off or had his job sent overseas. He is also very frugal by nature, not having a need for a lot of stuff, expensive entertainment, new cars, etc.”
“Just got back home from moving our daughter out of her college dorm room. I was alone with the car and two big dumpsters. I had always teased the family I was going dumpster diving, so I took a peek in them. The stuff these kids threw out. Saw large plastic cups, oranges, personal products, tote bags, a ream of paper. Everything was either now dirty, damaged, or too deep to reach, bummer…. I managed to score two big boxes of Puffs, still in the store plastic. The school was encouraging the students to donate instead of pitch, hope it worked.”
“Does anyone have any recommendations for free (or extremely inexpensive) ideas for outside spaces? We lost all of our outside furniture (which I originally found curbside and repurposed) due to hurricane sandy. We are in a place that has a great outdoor space and we are at a loss over where to start. Living in a very seasonal climate, we do not want to spend a lot of money on furniture and decor that will only be used for a few months. Thank you!!”
Comments and questions often generate dozens of responses. There are thousands of members, so it’s great resource for frugal and environmental problem solving. It’s a positive community, and I highly recommend it.
Click HERE to join the free group.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I just finished reading Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25 and the Search for the American Dream by Adam Shepard. In this book, the young author chronicles a year spent in Charleston, South Carolina as he rises from life in a homeless shelter to a comfortable existence with $5000 in savings, a functional car and a furnished apartment.
Shepard’s foray into immersion journalism was prompted by Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America, writing that:
“My story is a rebuttal to Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, the books that speak on the death of the American Dream. With investigative projects of her own, Ehrenreich attempted to establish that working stiffs are doomed to live in the same disgraceful conditions forever. I resent that theory, and my story is a search is a search to evaluate if hard work and discipline provide any payoff whatsoever or if they are, as Ehrenreich suggests, futile pursuits.”
And although I really enjoyed Ehrenreich’s classic investigation into America’s low wage workers, I too had problems with it. I remember wondering why she never pursued group housing options (she always lived alone) or why she never bought a thrift shop slow cooker to prepare her own meals from dried beans. (I recall that she ate at Arby’s a lot.)
Shepard was laser focused on meeting his self-set goals, and was smart about pursuing paying work, keeping expenses down and working hard even when that work was wholly unpleasant. (Think picking up dog poop during a hot South Carolina summer afternoon.) And while American policy makers comfortably debate the theoretical issues of poverty, Adam Shepard took the pragmatic approach and put himself, body and soul into his investigation.
Opposite spectrum politicians want you to believe that America’s poor are doomed because they’re set up to fail, or conversely that America’s poor are that way because they’re not working hard enough. Of course, the answer is never so black and white. The answer lies left of center for some and right for others. There is no single answer. Not to mention the issues of layoffs, medical bills, divorce and life’s other unexpected goodies. And yes, Shepard is a healthy young white man, but that doesn’t mean that his experiment can or should be discounted.
Shepard was able to go from homeless with $25 to housed with $5000 in savings within the span of a single year. And he also writes about a fellow co-worker who at age 25 was able to buy a brand new house employing the same techniques of consistent hard work and sacrifice. He’s showing how the American Dream is still possible. It’s not easy, but it is attainable.
This is the kind of book that I love, that swirls around in my head after I read the very last word, challenging my assumptions.
I am curious to hear from others who have read this book, (it was published in 2008) or from those who also read Nickel and Dimed and felt that Ehrenreich went in with a defeatist mindset.
Do you think that hard work and sacrifice can still lead to success in life or do you feel that the decks are irreversibly stacked against America’s working poor? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!
My name is Katy and I am a recovering packrat. It’s been two weeks since my last thrift store excursion.
I have spent the majority of my adult life stalking garage sales and thrift stores for diamonds in the rough. That perfect Fiestaware platter, that perfect vintage tablecloth. The thrill of the hunt, and the subsequent display of my fresh kill.
Rawwr!
Fast forward 20 years and that perfect Fiestaware platter is now in the way, and that perfect vintage tablecloth? Lost among a sea of other perfect tablecloths.
Whimper.
How much kitchenware does a girl need?!
I’ve slowly been winnowing down my collections, but I can still host a party for 30 without even entertaining the thought of a paper plate.
Letting go of belongings is not easy for me. I remember where the object came from and often how much I paid. But I have to remind myself that the important word here is “object.” It’s a thing, and it has no feelings.
The garage sale that I held a few weeks ago was extremely cathartic. To witness the clutter of my life leaving my house, with the added bonus of money in my pocket was an intoxicating blend. I am now viewing my belongings as potential moneymakers, (after years of Goodwill donations) and I plan on having another sale before too long. Because yes, I unfortunately have enough stuff to stage another big sale.
As my house has slowly decluttered, my life and frankly my time have become much more free. I’m spending less and less time cleaning and organizing, and more time doing, well . . . whatever I want.
Which brings me to the question:
What do you have too much of, and how does that affect you?
Is it books, thimbles or painted Mrs. Butterworth bottles? Is it ceramic owls, picture frames or comic books?
Please share how you’re dealing with your stuff in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
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Now you. How do you know you’re a Non-Consumer? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Pinterest.
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