I've been hemming and hawing over how I will handle this year's No Heat Challenge. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a moment of regret from last year's challenge. (Or for that matter, the year before.) We waited until after November 1st to start firing up the furnace, and then we kept the house...
The No Heat Challenge officially ended on November 1st, although I continue to keep the thermostat set low. And I'm now starting to have a day here and there when I can turn the furnace completely off. (I even kept it off for a full 24-hours the other day!) Granted, I live in Portland, Oregon,...
Click here to read a Wisebread piece by ChildWild.com's Sierra Black about the No Heat Challenge. Katy Wolk-Stanley "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
Yesterday's USA Today interview has brought about a maelstrom of media attention, including two radio interviews and a TV news crew that came to the house, filming both me and my sons in the wee hours of the morning. (The story will run tomorrow and I will post a link when it comes available.) Click...
The No Heat Challenge ended on November 1st, and we are now embracing the full use of our lovely, lovely furnace. Because Portland, Oregon has been wet, rainy and cold. Did I mention the rain? However, don't start thinking that the end of the No Heat Challenge saw uscranking up the furnace to 70° all the while...
I am a foolish woman with a tendency to make sweeping proclamations such as, "I am going to wait until November 1st to turn on my furnace." It sounded doable at the time. After all, I live in Portland, Oregon, better known for it's baristas and library culture than any arctic weather conditions. But each...
My buddies over at the Compact Yahoo Group have put together a No Heat Challenge. This challenge is simple -- see how long you can go without firing up the ol' furnace. I like this challenge as it not only saves money, but is also about minimizing energy usage. A win-win situation in my book,...
It's time for another Non-Consumer Photo Essay, because who doesn't enjoy looking at pictures? First off, I'm featured over at The Frugal Girl, as part of her "Meet A Reader" series. Click HERE to read the full interview. How cute were we in 2014? I sold a pair of after-garage-sale-freebie sneakers...
The follow is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy! Treat every purchase like it's a major purchase. You have a few opportunities in life to save a lot of money, but it's the small daily ones that will make or break you. Vacation close to home so you can drive instead of fly. Delay big...
I've been having a very frugal month. From keeping a close eye on our food budget to simply not buying anything unnecessary, October has been very good to me. After investing in a hundred pounds of local apples, the clock started ticking for me to process them before the rot kicked in. I spent an...
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...
Although I love the idea of a growing my own food, my deeply shady backyard and lack of sun have kept my garden just that -- an idea. However, my front porch area get lots of afternoon sun, which means that I am able to grow a few pot of edibles to redeem my name...
I really enjoyed the Found Change Challenge for 2012, and have already started up a new jar for 2013. For those who are new to the blog, the Found Change Challenge was a year-long project to save up all my picked-it-up-off-the-ground money and then devote it to a single cause in the end. My goal...
Treat every purchase like it's a major purchase. You have a few opportunities in life to save a lot of money, but it's the small daily ones that will make or break you. Vacation close to home so you can drive instead of fly. Delay big purchases as long as possible. You may lose interest or find...
I am reprinting a previously published post, as a response to the recent news that the average wedding now stands at almost $27,000. A few of my readers have asked for me to write about weddings and specifically about my own wedding. Although my husband and I married almost 16 years ago, the choices...
I have run a No Heat Challenge over the past few years here at The Non-Consumer Advocate, but am going to amend it this year to a Less Heat Challenge. Because really, although I promoted the idea of waiting as long as possible before turning on the ol' furnace each fall, the main idea was always...
Sometimes even I get overwhelmed by the extra work involved with living the frugal life. A stressful day would get easier if I just drove my post-soccer practice sons through Burgerville, and a cleaning service would be a more than welcome addition to my life. But I don't practice any of that. I somehow whip...
It's time for Non-Consumer Mish-Mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little but about that. Where Children Sleep The NY Times blog recently ran an extremely moving photo essay and review of James Mollison's book Where Children Sleep, which chronicles the bedrooms of children throughout the world. From the opulence of a preschooler's beauty queen...
Today is day 26 of the July Food Stamp Challenge, and it's amazing how little I seem to be shopping for food. Part of this is due to having multiple $10-off-$50 Safeway coupons, which necessitate large shopping trips, (I've done two this month) and also due to everyone's garden bounty that comes my way. Just yesterday,...
Today is day nineteen of the July Food Stamp Challenge and I've finally gathered up all my (and my wicked husband's) food receipts to face the truth. The challenge is to spend less than the amount that the average Oregonian receives for food stamps, which is $101 per person per month. For my family of...
Today is day sixteen of the July Food Stamp Challenge and I'm going to take a day off from blogging about it. I am tired and not really in the mood to write, and kind of want to take advantage of the rainy weather to curl up on the couch with a good library book....
The following is a reprint of a post I wrote for last year's Food Stamp Challenge. The issue of food judgement is very interesting to me, and if you feel that you're immune to it, I dare you to watch even one short clip from Extreme Couponing. (But you're likely to watch more than one because...
Yesterday I took my clutch of coupons over to Safeway and did a big ol' grocery shopping trip for the July Food Stamp Challenge. The Safeway near my house has been smashed to smithereens, and I've been shopping Fred Meyer and New Seasons as a result. However, I had a $10-off-$50 coupon, so to a...
I have recently learned a lesson on how to stay on top of eating my leftovers, which is to make sure that the microwave does not spark and billow smoke. Because I am fully on board with microwaving leftover spaghetti, but to spend time (and effort) heating it in a pan is apparently beyond me....
I'm not sure what I did to the moths, but they sure have it on for me. First, last week I noticed that my clear glass container of sesame seeds had actual flying moths inside, then the unopened 5-lb bag of flour tortilla mix was webby, with little wiggling larvae at the edges. Gag, gag...
The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Get Rich Slowly has a reader guest column today about how a woman raised with extreme frugal learned to spend. It also details her wedding, which reminded me of mine. Enjoy! A few of my readers have asked for me to write about weddings and...
Today is day nine of the June Food Stamp Challenge, and I want to address issues of food judgment. You may say, "Oh no, I would never judge other people's food choices!" but I beg to differ. We all do it. I certainly do it. I notice when people who seem to be struggling financially are...
When I started The Non-Consumer Advocate in 2008, I only had a fuzzy view of what my goals would be. Sure, I wanted to write about frugality and The Compact, but the long term vision was murky at best. But all of of that has changed, because I have now met the goal of my...
Today is day two of the Dine-In Week Challenge, and already it's affecting me. Yesterday I worked, which made things pretty easy. I get a half-hour lunch break, and although other nurses do it, I don't like to use up a huge chunk of my too short break grabbing food from the cafeteria. I bring...
It's time again for Non-Consumer Mish-Mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little bit about that. I picked up pizza toppings at my local Papa Murphy's this afternoon, (which is my trick for inexpensive pepperoni.) Not only is it lots cheaper than the grocery store, but I can bring my own...
Click here to watch the "Portland Family Takes Part in Chilly Challenge" interview I gave to Northwest News Channel 8 the other day. Thank you very much to Teresa Yuan, who was a pleasure to work with and a neighbor to boot. Katy Wolk-Stanley "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do...
Click here to read an article from today's USA Today titled, "Households Take up Challenge to be Chilly." Although my interview was pretty short, it's still an interesting article and definitely worth a read. The No Heat Challenge was officially over on November 1st, but we're still keeping the thermostat set at at 64 during...
It's time again for Non-Consumer Mish-Mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little bit about that. I discovered a new magazine while scrounging for reading material at work the other day. (I hate having the TV on during my lunch break, while I am supposedly decompressing.) This new (to me) magazine...
A few of my readers have asked for me to write about weddings and specifically about my own wedding. Although my husband and I married almost 16 years ago, the choices we made created a meaningful and inexpensive wedding would work well to this day. Let me take you back to the year 1993....
Today ended The Frugalista's No-Buy-Month, and with it ended my 28 days of no eating out, no shopping and no movies. Supposedly. Because even though I had signed up for the no-buy challenge, I did slip up a tiny bit. I took my sons to see a second-run showing of The Tale of Despereaux...
The Compact (buy nothing new) group that I'm part of, started a challenge last week that I thought I would share with the Non-Consumer community. The challenge is to try and whittle down one's set monthly expenses. To bring down how much you life is costing you, without bringing down your quality of life....
As you may recall, I issued a Spend No Money Challenge for the week of September 22 - September 28. In stepping back from all purchases, this latest challenge would hopefully result in much more deliberation in how we spend our money.A little savings wouldn't hurt either. As The Non-Consumer Advocate, my goal is to be a completely...
I have a confession to make. Instead of starting my Spend No Money Challenge this past Monday, I started prematurely on Saturday. I didn't plan it that way. I simply didn't make it to any stores over the weekend. I meant to stock up on groceries on Sunday, but it turns out that I actually...
Disgusted by the sheer volume of food in my refrigerator, I declaired a Buy No Food Challenge for my family on August 17th. I climbed up on my Non-Consumer soapbox (bought used, of course) and proclaimed: "I will buy no food until we eat up the bizarrely massive amounts that already grace my refrigerator!"...
I went yesterday evening to the Portland, Oregon Sustainability Film -Fest at a local, (even walkable) movie theater. The film showing was Kilowatt Ours. I had vaguely heard of the film, but was mainly going because it was free, super close to the house and sounded right up my alley. Did I mention free? The lobby of...
Day three of Dine-In Week went well and was especially easy, as back spasms kept me from wanting to venture out into the big wide world. (Really wish I hadn't fallen down my porch steps two years ago!) I did make a quick run to the grocery store, as I have an interview running in...
I have spent the last two days giving interviews about the No Heat Challenge, and pretty much feel like an authority on staying warm in a drafty old house at this point. Yes, I'd like to experience what it is to stay warm in a non-drafty house, but we simply don't have the money to...