We celebrated our daughter's 23rd birthday with yet another Birthday Day of Adventures which included: A trip to Kyra's Bake Shop for a gluten-free cupcake. However, we splurged on just one for the birthday girl, as they're $4.75 apiece (plus tip) and I'm too damned cheap for that kind of nonsense indulgence. A foray into the...
Yesterday was my fiftieth birthday, so my family dedicated the day to yet another Birthday Day of Adventures. We started this tradition a few years ago, as it replaces the giving of gifts with the sharing of experiences. Neither my husband nor I want for anything in particular, and when our younger adult sons need...
I started a new tradition in my family a few years ago where I give experiential gifts to most family members who actually live in town. We all have enough stuff, and there's not one among us who doesn't struggle with keeping clutter at bay. I started doing this a few years ago with my now...
Although my 48th birthday isn't until tomorrow, we celebrated yesterday as my older son is headed back to college this afternoon. And is our custom, we marked the occasion with a Birthday Day of Adventures. Normally, the birthday person receives a day of surprises, but I learned a few years ago that's it better if I'm the...
Yesterday was my 47th birthday and I worked to figure a number of great frugal activities and treats to share with my family for my Birthday Day of Adventures. We were all very excited. Sadly, every single one of my plans went bust. The frugal wow-factor restaurant I had my heart set on turned out to...
My younger son turned sixteen today, but since his birthday fell on a Monday, we celebrated yesterday. A few years ago, I started a new family tradition where the four of us spend the day together going from one activity to another. I call it a "Birthday Day of Adventures," and it involves planning out a...
We have two birthdays just a few days apart in our family of four, which is always fun! Our traditional method is to celebrate with a Day of Adventures instead of loads of physical gifts and this year is no different. My husband wanted to go to a Yankees vs. Mariner's baseball game, which prompted...
I celebrated my birthday and as is my family's custom, we marked the occasion with experiences instead of things. I've coined these our "Birthday Days of Adventures," and they're greatly anticipated by my husband and kids. (At least I think so, if you know otherwise please don't burst my bubble.) I kid, I kid --...
Yesterday was my 49th birthday, which prompted my family of four to brave the cold and wind for my Birthday Day of Adventures. We're laughably broke since we just paid $15,500 for our sons' winter college tuition/room/board, so our day had a very specific theme of: Fun, but cheap. Really cheap. No seriously, this needs...
Yesterday was my younger son's 17th birthday, and as always we made a rather enormous to-do about it. Which for us means a Birthday Day of Adventures over the weekend, plus a celebration on the actual birthday. I know it seems like I write about nothing besides birthdays lately, but that's only because my focus has been...
Although my family's birthdays are generally spread out throughout the year, we do have a few that clump up in the middle of May. First around the bend is my husband's on May 16th and then my younger son's on the 19th. But that doesn't mean they don't each get their own celebration. And in my...
It's again for Non-Consumer Mish-Mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little bit about that. A New Non-Consumer Advocate Book Club Selection A fresh book club discussion has started over at The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group, and is already on fire. (Good fire, not snipey/snarky/snippy fire.) Why is the book igniting...
My older son turns 18 tomorrow, which is completely and utterly unfathomable to me. (See above photo for reference.) However, I consider myself lucky, as his fall birthday allows me to hold onto him for an extra year. (If he'd been born at 36 weeks instead of 42 weeks, he'd be in college instead of...
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." Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter. Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer...
One of the great things about The Non-Consumer Advocate is how readers are able to find answers to life's problems both great and small. This is especially true over at The Facebook Group. Just this morning, Renee posed this question: Looking for frugal ideas for my son's 4th Birthday party: He has decided he wants a...
Today is my mother's, Susan Stanley's 70th birthday. Let's all wish her a happy birthday in the comments section! And that tiara? It's a loaner from a neighbor. Because I'm frugal like that. 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...
First of all, thank you to everyone who chimed in with frugal ideas to help celebrate my husband's birthday. In years past what we've done is either put together a fancy dinner at the house, or taken everyone out to dinner. However, we are in throw-all-extra-money-at-older-son's-summer-trip-to-Japan mode, so keeping the expenditures under control is high...
I don't how it happens, but family birthdays always seem to clump up together. (Okay, as a labor and delivery nurse I actually do know what, ahem . . . leads to birthdays. But that's neither here nor there.) And my family is no exception. Our birthday-clumpage occurs in October, December, January and May. This week...
My birthday falls at a super crappy time of year. Let's just say that nobody is excited to have one more thing to celebrate and pay for on January 4th. As a kid, this did not occur to me, but my adult self views my birthday on par with that last college midterm. Unpleasant, a necessity...
The birthdays in my family have a tendency to clump up all together. Logically, there would be an evenly spaced pattern of birthdays throughout the year, but that would defy the random specificity of life. The next month brings the birthdays of my husband, (May 16th) my son, (May 19th) my step-mother and brother-in-law; (June...
I launched The Non-Consumer Advocate on May 2, 2008 as a way of sharing what I thought was a unique take on frugality and simple living. I had been contacted by a producer from The Oprah Winfrey show to come on and talk about The Compact. (Buy nothing new.) They had recently aired an episode about...
You guys did so great answering Jeanine's question the other day that I thought I would put you to work again. I received this question from my college friend Georgina who lives in Southern California: Here is a question for your website, or maybe it has been addressed. I have some friends that love to...
February 12, 2009 had the very special distinction of being Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. Of course he didn't get to stick around to enjoy the festivities, but it's still a momentous day nonetheless. Abraham Lincoln is famous for so many things -- rising to the presidency from his humble Kentucky log cabin beginnings,...
Today is my 41st birthday, but more exciting and importantly -- tomorrow is our monthly garbage pickup. I had written here about how we went from the weekly garbage pickup to a monthly 20 gallon service. This change not only saves us $5 per month, but it also makes the annoying task of garbage day a...
Today is a Tuesday and I'm off from work. It's not a special day, it's just an ordinary day. But it is a non-consumer day. Which for me happen 365.25 days per year. Here's what my day looks like. I wake up and put the kettle on to boil so my son and I can start...
Today I am . . . Home from work. Driving my son back and forth to his job across town. Proud of last night's chicken noodle soup which truly combined random ingredients to create a completely satisfying and 100% frugal meal. Draining bacon on a cooling rack over a plate. I don't buy paper towels,...
Today I am . . . Going to a friend's staged reading, and bringing two canned goods, which is the price of admission. Happy that the birthday party that my son went to was a "no gifts" event. My son will have a sleepover with friends next weekend, and he spontaneously told me that that...
Today I am . . . Drinking a cup of Red Rose tea, and happy that my father let me scavenge a handful of teabags yesterday since I ran out on a day when the stores were closed! Very pleased with the one gift I received yesterday, which is a pair of Ugg boots. They're...
Like many others, I internalize the pressures of holiday gift giving. Sure, I like the creative challenge, but however much I try to keep the expenses under budget they always seems to spiral out of control. I try not to get too anxious about the holidays until after Halloween, but the subject keeps coming up over...
It's easy to be careful when it comes to spending on ourselves, but that austerity can be difficult to maintain when the month of December rolls around. I've certainly been guilty of keeping my gift spending under control until December 23rd, when I suddenly panic and plug in the gift holes without a single thought...
Today I am . . . Waiting for freshly shampooed rugs to dry. My son and I had stopped into the Lincoln City Goodwill, where I picked up two gorgeous tufted wool rugs for $30 and $18. I'll resell them on Craigslist and add the money to my son's college account. (I included The Tightwad...
Everywhere you look right now, it's Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Spend your money here, save your money there. Bake these cookies here, count those calories there. Buy the perfect gifts . . . no, make the perfect gifts! And don't forget to be happy all the while. This year, I've been super casual about putting together...
Today I . . . Hung four loads of laundry. Put away four loads of laundry. Tidied up the dining room table. Avoided tidying the dining room table by goofing around on Twitter and playing online Scrabble. Drove kid to and from Japanese school. Drove kid to and from soccer camp. Drove kid to and...
Today is day nine of the July Food Stamp Challenge and today I want to shine a light on how great it is to be the person that people feel comfortable leaving food with. I tend to find myself on the receiving end of leftover foodstuff from friends, family and neighbors. And it's not because they...
I'm not sure when it happened, but somehow the day after Thanksgiving became known as "Black Friday." My guess is that this term had been used by the business community for decades, and only recently entered the vocabulary of American consumers at large. I'm not going to mock those who choose to pick up these...
Today was day 25 of the June Food Stamp Challenge and I'm I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm excited. Not just for the challenge to end, but to finally get to write about, (and think about) something different. I had wanted to write a piece about the difficulties of...
Yesterday was day 23 of the June Food Stamp Challenge, and was a hard day for me. Not only was I still very sick with my seasonably inappropriate crud, but it was my father's 75th birthday. I wanted very much to not miss the festivities, so I hoarded my energy and lay around all day....
Today is day twenty of the June Food Stamp Challenge, and I am still up in Seattle visiting with my sister's family. We threw a huge 40th birthday party for my brother-in-law yesterday and the amount of food put out, and then put away afterwards was insane! I don't think that they'll have to food...
Today is day seventeen of the June Food Stamp Challenge. It's been pretty busy here over the past couple days, and I'm happy to say that today should prove itself to be a bit simpler. Tuesday was the last day of school for my now seventh and ninth grade sons, as well as an eighth...
Today is day eleven of the June Food Stamp Challenge, and it's starting to become routine. Like yesterday, I drove to my mother's neighborhood in order to help clean one of her rental cottages. This commute takes me by a Trader Joe's store, and I usually pop in as I consider myself to be the...
The following is a guest post from Alison Wiley over at Diamond Cut Life. Alison is a fellow Portlander and writes about: "Chiseling our consumption down to the core of happiness. I try to tread with a carbon footprint low enough to be truly sustainable in the face of global warming - and doing it...
Last year I posted a $100 Holiday Gift Challenge which was easier than it sounds, because we had already discussed with some family the year before to not exchange gifts. I say some because some family members thought this was a great idea, while others responded as if I'd suggested throwing the kids into the...