The Non-Consumer Advocate

I’ve scheduled a free haircut through the Supercuts training center for next week, which is good as my hair has reached the length where it snakes around my throat while I sleep. I love this frugal hack as I get to do something semi-indulgent for myself without the guilt of overspending. (The average price for a woman’s haircut is between $45- $75, if not more for hip urban salons!) The stylists aren’t students, but are instead fully licensed professionals, so there’s no worry about being on the receiving end of a wonky haircut. I’ve been enjoying their services for at least six years and have been 100% happy with each and every experience.

You can check if free Supercuts salon services are available in your area by just calling around, which is how I got on the Portland area’s email list.

I checked out a fresh stack of library books when I took my mother to sign up for a library card. My library is closed for construction, so I haven’t been able to browse the stacks for at least a month. I won’t necessarily read every book, but it’s nice to have choices to match whatever mood I happen to be in.

I accidentally checked out a “Lucky Day” book that I already had at home, which I guess shows that my taste in reading is consistent.

I perused the clearance rack on my recent trip to Winco Foods and scored a big $1.28 jar of Plochman’s Stone Ground Mustard, which was a great deal as it would’ve cost $8.39 had I ordered it from Amazon. I’m unlikely to score 10¢ bags of chocolate chips ever again, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be checking that shelf with each and every trip!

• I used up the last of a bag of mediocre store brand shredded cheese in some grits. It was about to go bad and I’ll make a mental note not to buy it in the future, even if it is on sale.
• I binge watched the TV show Somebody Somewhere through my parents’ HBO account. (So good!) It’s fun to have a new streaming service to flick through.

I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

My neighbor got her furnace replaced and returned the space heater that we’d lent to her. She also gave us two homemade “Crumbl” style cookies that were a meal in themselves. I rarely bake cookies, so this was a special treat. A smart blogger would’ve photographed the cookies. I did not.

I took my mother out to run errands yesterday and convinced her that she had time to pop into the library for a replacement library card. She recently purchased her first ever Kindle and is looking forward to getting back into the habit of reading. The librarian took the time to explain the many digital benefits of her card, such as using Libby.com and I anticipate many ebooks are in her future!

She also treated me to lunch. Thanks, mom!

I took my long detail shopping list to Winco Foods to make sure I’d hit the $125 barrier to qualify for a “free turkey” with purchase. It turn out that the promotion doesn’t actually begin until November 18th. Oops . . .

I still got six bags of groceries for $103, which included a case of canned cat food and multiple sale items.

She also treated me to lunch. Thanks, mom!

My husband and I stopped into the Franz Bakery outlet and picked up two sleeves of bagel, two loaves of marble rye and two enormous commercially packaged loaves of caraway rye bread for ten dollars.

I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

My daughter needed to get some paperwork notarized, so we went to our credit union and they did it for free, even though the form was unrelated to banking. They also made copies of everything for free.

I love credit unions, whose entire existence is for the benefit of their members. Why be a customer when you can be a member?

It’s the time of year for convoluted yard debris pickup, which is due to us sharing garbage pickup with our next door neighbors. (This currently saves each of us $234 per year!) It becomes an issue when my maple trees drop infinite number of leaves, as we take turns for which one of us gets to set out a yard debris wheelie bin. I get around this by the grace of other neighbors.

Before you assume that I’m a horrible mooch*, I make sure to return the favors in various ways. For example, today I texted the neighbors across the street asking if they’d be setting out a bin this week. Their answer was to go right ahead with my bin. I then spent maybe fifteen minutes raking their stairs and sidewalk, filling their empty bin as a thank you. I’ve done this in the past and know that they appreciate this act of service.

I did the math and we’ve been sharing garbage service with our neighbors for sixteen years. $234 X 16 = $3744 savings for each of our households. Worth the convolution.

By the way, this overwhelming amount of leaves are from my front sidewalk, plus my backyard brick patio and deck. Not areas where it would be safe to leave the leaves in place, as they get slimy and slippery.

I offered fresh rosemary to people in my Buy Nothing group, as my shrub is flourishing and it’s nice to share.

• I made a big pot of white bean rosemary soup, using this recipe as a template, but added lemon juice, red pepper flakes and soy sauce for extra flavor. Would be good with kale and maybe some sausage, but I used what I had on hand.
• My husband replaced our bathroom fan timer, as it was no longer turning itself off. Don’t want to burn down the house and I appreciate the money we save by doing these DIY projects on our own.
• My husband also replaced the bedroom light switch that controls the closet light. It was needing to be turned off and on a couple times before lighting up, so it was time for a replacement. Good to A) not hire out the job, and B) not burn down the house.

I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

I stopped into Trader Joe’s yesterday to pick up eggs, bananas and cabbage. I walked past the flowers, pastries, chips, desserts, candy cane Joe-Joes, cheeses, booze and by-the-register treats. (I stand by my belief that Trader Joe’s is 90% impulse items!) Here’s what I bought:

• A dozen eggs for $2.99.

• Six 23¢ bananas.

• A four-pound head of cabbage for $1.99.

Yes, I weighed the cabbage for this blog post, although I’d already estimated it to be four pounds. My skills as a labor and delivery nurse include precise weight estimation of an item up to eleven pounds. Seriously, I was usually able to hold a newborn and guess the weight down to the ounce. Who knew this party trick would translate outside the delivery room?

I visited with my mother and step father yesterday and was able to weasel their HBO login information out of them. (Worry not, I double checked the terms and conditions and we’re not violating anything with their schmancy ad-free plan!) My husband and I then added it to our Roku last night and watched The Martian.

I watched a couple of Ardent Michelle’s “How to live on $1 a day” YouTube videos and reinvigorated myself to cook inexpensive tasty meals. There’s not much frugality content out in the world that’s new to me, but Michelle sometimes breaks through that barrier. I think she’d be proud that I shuffled through all the cabbages to find the biggest one.

• Yesterday was a rare sunny day here in Portland, so I jumped at the invitation to go for a walk with my friend Lise.
• My husband has been sick and tested himself twice for Covid. Luckily it was negative and that we had a couple boxes of free tests from the government.
• Today is also a precious sunny November day, so I’m washing bedding and hanging it on the backyard laundry line. The next week is forecast for daily rain.
• I’m fully aware that Trader Joe’s corporate is guilty of union busting activity, so I try to limit the amount of money that I spend in their stores.

I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

I used the final frozen bag of last year’s homemade puree to bake up a pair of pumpkin bread loaves. I brought warm slices to my neighbors and they gave me their uncut Halloween pumpkin, which I’ll turn into enough puree to last until Halloween 2025.

I finished reading my library book and then drove over to the library to grab two new “Lucky Day” books, which are the only books available at the otherwise holds only pickup location. (They’re remodeling the neighborhood library.) I returned Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead without even cracking the spine, as I currently need my books to be undemanding of intellect.

My neighbor brought me the last of her chocolate Halloween candy bars and wrote “Election Therapy” on the bag. I’m lucky to live in a neighborhood where my friends and neighbors didn’t vote against this country’s human rights. In case you’re wondering what the bag contained, it held a dozen or so small Hershey bars plus Reese’s peanut butter cups.

I listened to the newest episode of the Office Ladies podcast while puttering around the kitchen this morning, as I wasn’t enjoying my own devastated thoughts. I’m thankful for this free podcast, which helped distract me through the pandemic and now through whatever the hell this is.

I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.