Five Frugal Things -- I'm Now Over $900 in Oregon Food Bank Donations!
1) I made $82.62 in August from my $100 Goodwill gift card in the month of August. That brings my total up to $908.25 and very close to my goal of $1000!
I still have around five bucks left on the gift card, but I'm saving it for something that's drastically underpriced.
I still have a couple dozen unsold item listed on eBay that'll sell in due time.
2) I sold two items from my standard eBay inventory. A book I got for free and a Star Trek movie publicity photo that was tucked in a photo album I thrifted back in April.
Neither sale will dominate the news cycle, but it's basically free income. I actually bought the photo album because it contained a handmade booklet from DeForest Kelley, famous for playing Dr McCoy on the original Star Trek series:
Currently listed on eBay for $75.
3) My husband and I finalized our estate planning and walked away with a fresh determination to not leave a burdensome amount of random stuff and tasks for our kids to inherit.
I've seen it referred to as the "Millenial inheritance," which seems to be cabinets crammed with collectibles, dishes too fancy to ever use and pretty much an emotionally devastating number of decisions to face. We're not at that level, but our seemingly uncluttered house holds a lot more than you'd think!
We now have our advanced directives and powers of attorney in place; as well as a will and trust. My husband's parents died without any of this and it was a nightmare for my husband to navigate. This is no legacy to leave for one's loved ones.
The next step is to complete the myriad of unfinished tasks in our fixer upper house, so the house can easily be made ready to sell should something catastrophic happen to us.
It's no fun to face one's mortality, but it's sadly inevitable.
4) My husband grabbed a can of clear sealant from our basement and sprayed a couple thin layers over my $3.50 garage sale bathroom light fixture. (Thank you to the reader who suggested this!) He'll install it after work tonight.
Hopefully this'll protect the metal from rust, which has been the journey of all our previous bathroom light fixtures.
I guess I can file this under "Not leaving a hundred household tasks for our kids to deal with." Maybe just 99.
5) I checked out Kathryn Stockett's The Calamity Club from the library, which is a whopping 638 pages long! The Powell's Summer Reading Challenge had me shying away from longer books, but I'm now free from reading as many books as possible and can enjoy longer books.
It's gonna take awhile!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
This blog post contains an eBay referral link.
I hope you LOVE Calamity Club!!!!
I also took out the Calamity Club from the library, was surprised at how thick it was but it is wonderful and it reads very very quickly!
My in-laws did all of their estate planning ahead of their passing including their cremation and we didn't have to do anything but sell their house. (They were true minimalists but we still had to take several loads of things to donate) And it was the best gift they could've given us! On the other hand, my mother apparently thought she would live forever, spent all her money willy nilly and has outlived her resources. That has become a nightmare for me and my siblings as she doesn't have money for care and it is left to us. I refuse to do that to my family members. So good on you for taking care of things now.
I don't think the Calamity Club will take you too long, it's a page turner!
1. I'm trudging through an 11-ish hour book on Libby and with 2.75 hours left k think I finally know who all the characters are but it's still very tangled and I don't think it's going to be a favorite or memorable book for me. Maybe the last few hours will change my mind.
2. My husband brought a box of Amazon returns to Whole Foods, apparently they take returns there! No shipping labels or boxes or packaging required. They fully refunded an item without needing a return so maybe it'll make a good gift for someone else!
3. My daughter's new clothes came in today and the two pairs of jeans we picked are too narrow in the waist and thighs and too long in the legs so we'll return those to Old Navy.
4. In the same vein of returns, we ordered a new bed from Ikea. The one we bought was pitifully thin and the next thickness up (and next in price) refused to be back in stock so we went with a $350 mattress. It's infinitely more comfortable than what we've been on for the last ten days. We'll be returning the thin mattress for a refund.
5. We bought a plug adapter for our hybrid car. We charged it down the road from our house from empty and it cost $5.75. The charger will pay for itself after 6.26 charges at my husband's job where he can charge the car for free! He did put gas in the car today and if he keeps charging at work the gas should last us at least one month in theory. We're excited to see how long we can stretch it in practice!
We had dinner out and I had a $5 reward available. That paid for dessert (caramel apple cupcake).
I got the car down to almost empty (9 miles) to use the full benefit of .45 off per gallon of gas at Kroger.
I stopped at Goodwill and found a couple things that have been on my list. I drink water out of a stainless steel travel mug all day long and mine had developed a leak on the top of the cup. I found one at GW that fit my lid for 1.99. I also found 2 square glass bowls in which to put my cats’ food for 1.99 and 2.99.
I used Ibotta to get $5 back on a combo covid/flu test. My husband works with patients at the hospital and my mom is a cancer patient so any thing that gives a whiff of being one of those two illnesses and we test to keep her safe. I also got $7.52 back for washing machine cleaner, which was already on my list. And then I had a surprise 3,000 points back from Fetch for that item as well.
I gave my husband a haircut today, which saved him at least $18. It's been a while since I checked the price of a man's haircut, but I'm pretty sure they aren't getting cheaper.
Used a length of cotton flannel that was $2 at the thrift shop for a sewing project. Turned a photo of my dogs into a fridge magnet yesterday using a recycled magnetic strip off a used-up shopping list pad.
Made a batch of cheeseburger mac with veggies that used up the last of the ground turkey, a can of tomatoes from the clearance store, the last of a stick of butter, and a baggie of last summer's diced sweet peppers. It turned out really yummy. Fed my son and me tonight with leftovers for several lunches.
I concur with you all on Calamity Club! Enjoy, Katy! Since we are having a cuddle up with a throw and read the rainy day away. I bought a bundle of 3 large totes full of a person's quilting stash. While cataloging all the goodies there were 4 quilts in fabrics from the 1940's. Just tops, so fun!
I have the first one soaking so I can get it in the quilting frame. My neighbor comes for tea and stitches in the fall and winter.
I made my mom a batch of apple cider cake donuts. I cut the sugar by half and used maple syrup in the glaze.
I almost beat the rain getting all of the tomatoes picked. I got quite soaked, but no split fruit for the win!
I made a double batch of smoky spicy plum bbq sauce. These will go in the holiday baskets.
Well, I was going to try to go without air conditioning in September, since I took the units down for window washing and didn't want my son to have to put them back up for such a short time. However, the last two days have been brutal. Real feel temps have been over 100. I have had a nonstop headache which I'm sure is heat-related. So my son came and put one of them back, the one in the living room. I will be hanging out there for the duration.
This morning I went to a cooling center. Along the way I went to LePeep for breakfast. A bit of a splurge, but I ordered crepes and water, so it wasn't too expensive. The cooling center was cold, and I was very tired and sleepy from the awful night I'd had, so I came home after a while. I used free public transportation.
I found two pennies.
My $25 Visa debit card arrived from Fetch, and I have added it to my virtual wallet.
Beth, I'm glad you have AC again in your condo! The heat and humidity are deadly.
It has *not* been pleasant here in N. IL - we're rural so the temps were in the 90s w/heat index of 105 yesterday. *Only* heat index of 99 today. Do stay cool. I don't know if you lived in Chicago area in 1995 when the nasty heat wave hit (July if memory serves NOT September - climate change stinks). The city had refrigerated semis for those who had succumbed to the heat. "Upside" is the city has a decent system for checking on the vulnerable during heat/cold. It was even warm in N. WI which was unusual in the 1990s.
No, I wasn't here in 1995! If memory serves, I was in north central Indiana, and I think I remember hearing about the awful conditions in Chicago. It must have been really hot in Indiana as well, but I don't remember that.
Our AC needed a good coil cleaning this Summer and suffered because of it. The temps in SWFL have been 90-100 for a few weeks without rain. I finally caved and spent about $300 on an in place coil cleaning. I got quotes from other AC companies for 800-900. And have had several places suggest replacing, which is out of my price range. I finally found someone to clean them in place for $300 and we're sleeping and not exhausted every morning with a dehydration headache.
Hoping you get through the last month or two before temperatures dip.
I read that book on my Libby app, so it didn’t seem long.
I spent part of the day at a marketing event for farmers. There was free lunch. I looked around to discern how I might fit in with the crowd and concluded that I need a pair of Red Wing Chelsea boots. (Then I checked out prices! $$$$) I came home with a hat, and it isn’t too bad, so I won’t go after it with a seam ripper.
On the way home, I bought a Costco chicken and got a free sample of laundry detergent.
Imo, Duluth trading Co is not a good source of women's work clothes. The firehose coat did not stand up to my abuse. But it was cute!
Carhartt makes better coats and bibs. My summer work.shirts are long sleeved, cotton Carhartts. They are expensive. I layer up tshirts and thrifted shirts in the winter. Men's is a good option at the thrift.
Tingley boots are cheaper than mucks and last just as well. When it's dry I wear composite toe tennis shoes from ebay and decommissioned skinny jeans. No shorts, ever and my hair is always up under a do-Rag. It's practical, but also a safety measure. When the skinny jeans give out, I'll return to boot cut jeans.
Just my .02 🙂
Thanks!
I’ve learned my lesson on shorts and have a poison oak rash on my leg!
Columbia sportswear is near here, and their sun protective shirts show up at thrifts fairly often. Also, I always wear a hat!
Li,
Lol, I read The Calamity Club on Libby, too, and had the opposite reaction. I felt like i was reading, and reading, and reading, and....what?!? I've only read 15% of the book? 🙂 I had no idea it was such a big book, but I loved it!
I've apparently been decluttering so much that it freaked DS20 out a bit and he was asking me if everything was okay. 😉 I told him I've been on a roll since DS19 moved back to college & once I get started with decluttering, I love it so much that I just keep going. He & DH kind of just ignore me. Neither of them are clutter bugs, so it's fine. DS19, however, was a massive clutter bug & when he gave me the greenlight to clean his room, it was insane how much came from there.
1) Went through my CVS app & inputted all of those out of pocket prescription costs into my HSA, for which I will get reimbursed. I'm working towards a goal of building my cash stash for 2027, to hopefully avoid pulling from my CDs & other investments for as much of the year as possible, keeping that money making money. (DH also has a well funded HSA.)
2) Had DH charge our electric car at work today. He pays a nominal amount, but DS20 has been driving it to pick up his GF from work a few days a week. She's doing an internship that's quite a drive, so we've needed a lot more charging than usual.
3) Tomorrow I'll get 3 free hours of charging at work, free breakfast & free lunch at a work event. Still not a great use of my time, as I don't have any in person meetings, but I'm expected to go, so I'll check that box & enjoy my freebies.
4) Planned a reasonably inexpensive long weekend date with DH. We're going to Point Reyes to hike, and then will have a lunch/linner situation on our way home. Neither of us have ever been, and we're looking forward to it.
5) DS19's apartment complex "lost" my September rent payment, despite noting that it was paid as part of his move in costs. Sorted that out & all is well. I hope this isn't a sign of what will happen each month, because that will be a PITA.
We've done our wills, advanced directives, POAs and trust. Absolutely the best gift for our children.
Thank you for feeding the hungry!
The Calamity Club is a lot of pages but really a fast read. Enjoy.
Your changing $100 into $1000 really is wonderful and eye opening. Congratulations!!!!
(Hope your children have done their legal homework too!!! Especially the advance directives. And then hopefully the documents will not be needed.) ANY PERSON AGE 18 OR MORE NEEDS TO KEEP THESE DOCUMENT LEGAL AND UP TO DATE!1!!!
Calamity Club was fabulous! Well worth the time reading it. A friend listened to the audiobook version & loved it in that format, too. (From the public library & Hoopla, of course.)
Don't forget to do a family health history for your children. That is also a gift to them.
Just finished Calamity Club. Moves at a pretty good pace. You will enjoy it. Makes you think about how far women’s rights have come but we still have a long way to go.
That reminds me - RIP Gloria Steinem.
Him Katy.
I'm local and wondering if you can share who you used for your estate planning. We don't have children but we do have assets and I don't want to leave a mess for our family to deal with. It's been on my list for a few years but feels a bit overwhelming.
Many thanks!
Even though we had the trust, will, and advance directives in place, after my husband died ( and this is true for any surviving spouse), there is still a ton to do. The trust needs to be refiled, along with other things. And that's even with all we had in place. So, yes, it's important to be prepared, but just know there will be other things to deal with as the surviving spouse. We both were minimalists, so that part of decluttering was very easy. When I'm gone, my kids will still need to deal with the house stuff, but most of that will be easy as I've continued to declutter.
As an avid reader, I was a bit intimidated by the size of Calamity Club, but read it in four days -- its THAT good!
Unfortunately I learned from my mother passing that making sure you give your power of attorney and executor your paper work, depending on state laws, if the papers are lost, destroyed, or hidden by others it can completely invalidate your paper work. Two of my siblings moved in with my mother as she began having dementia and all of a sudden her paper work is missing. It was a nightmare while my mother was alive, and is still a nightmare now. Over three years in court and I'm still in court with them. They wont move out or let me in the house. It's been a bankrupting nightmare.
Yes, please get your affairs in order and make sure the kids know what you want and have it in writing in advance of any health pitfalls.
Thank you for the book recommendation! I have gotten a few good ones from your blog over the years! <3
1. My Facebook page was monetized and started making money in March of this year. I've recently realized that restaurant reviews, event recaps, and gardening how to videos are extremely popular. As well as weird news stories from the neighborhood. I've been focusing on restaurants and events more and made about $130 dollars on my Facebook page. I know it wont take care of all my bills, but I'm thankful for one more income stream and am getting better at videos. Little known fact, I enjoy making and doing voice overs for the videos, and am getting pretty good at them. Finally!
2. I worked doing Instacart this weekend and it saved me from my financial downfall as I would have been in the negative without the money. I had an unplanned $300 AC cleaning which I could no longer avoid that shifted my finances. For Labor day weekend I also plan to go out a bit and do more shopping to increase my income.
3. My son got his driver's license and I only had to pay $6.50. They used fees from his permit to cover the cost of the license. I didn't know how the math would get calculated previously. This was a nice surprise.
4. My son completed 100 volunteer hours this Summer for a scholarship. I'm very excited this was wrapped up before his senior year started. Now he can focus on other things including getting a job!!!
5. A friend is giving me several bags of clothes. I really hope they fit. I have dropped another 25 lbs!!
Thank you for the book recommendation! I have gotten a few good ones from your blog over the years! <3
1. My Facebook page was monetized and started making money in March of this year. I've recently realized that restaurant reviews, event recaps, and gardening how to videos are extremely popular. As well as weird news stories from the neighborhood. I've been focusing on restaurants and events more and made about $130 dollars on my Facebook page. I know it wont take care of all my bills, but I'm thankful for one more income stream and am getting better at videos. Little known fact, I enjoy making and doing voice overs for the videos, and am getting pretty good at them. Finally!
2. I worked doing Instacart this weekend and it saved me from my financial downfall as I would have been in the negative without the money. I had an unplanned $300 AC cleaning which I could no longer avoid that shifted my finances. For Labor day weekend I also plan to go out a bit and do more shopping to increase my income.
3. My son got his driver's license and I only had to pay $6.50. They used fees from his permit to cover the cost of the license. I didn't know how the math would get calculated previously. This was a nice surprise.
4. My son completed 100 volunteer hours this Summer for a scholarship. I'm very excited this was wrapped up before his senior year started. Now he can focus on other things including getting a job!!!
5. A friend is giving me several bags of clothes. I really hope they fit. I have dropped another 25 lbs!!
Over $900 in donations to the food bank is wonderful!
1. DH and I worked at the primary election on Tuesday. 2. The town provides a breakfast of coffee, donuts and muffins for the election workers.
3. There were leftovers at the end of the day so I was able to take two muffins home with us for breakfast on Wednesday.
4. I'm reading a library book The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe and Buy. When I finish, I will also get another sticker for my Summer Reading Bingo card and a raffle ticket. The library extended the adult reading program until September 22nd.
5. I bought a like new flannel shirt for $1.99 and a planter for another $1.99 at the Salvation Army Store today. I also stopped by CVS and using a 30% off coupon and a $2 rewards coupon, I bought a large bottle of Suave shampoo for 51 cents.
Bravo to you Katy for making all that money for the food bank! Your Star Trek signed card is pretty cool. One time years ago I was sitting in my doctor’s waiting room and Scotty from Star Trek was sitting there, too!
I was too shy, at the time, to say anything but when I was called by the nurse she was all a twitter about Scotty being there. Nobody beamed me up!
I read “The Frozen River” and it was, stay up all night, riveting. Right now I’m reading “Shy Creatures” which is pretty good.
It is good to get all that important estate planning done. My husband’s mom was so good - organized, decluttered, fair in the amounts she left everyone… My dad, however, did have a will so that was good. His house was fully paid for but, omg, the clutter! He was becoming senile without us realizing it immediately. He generously gave money he didn’t have to charities (with his credit card). When I took over his finances I was horrified - no money and in debt.
It all did work out in the end - saved by the fact that he was a veteran and a veteran’s lawyer donated time to help me.
We are going through escrow now with the townhouse we have been trying to sell for a year. Our realtor assures us that all is well. I will feel okay when the final papers are signed.
I found a half price chicken today on the sale shelf - still 3 days until the pull date. I will spend the afternoon cutting it up and packaging the pieces.
I think I got my computer issues solved. It was acting crazy the last 24 hours. Just in case, I will have IT at my job look at it. One of the benefits of my employment. If the device is kaput, they will issue me another one.
1. I redeemed a GC I earned for an hour-long interview as a health care educator.
2. I completed another on-line interview & evaluation of an on-line learning resource. I earned another $75 dollar GC.
3. I made a meatloaf using ground beef I got on sale for $3.50/lb. The sale meat was not a lean variety of ground beef. I subbed 1 lb of ground fresh carrots for 1/2 of the meat. Cheaper & it reduced the fat content. I also used a cup of leftover dry stuffing mix for the binder. The meatloaf turned out moist & flavorful.
4. Hubby repaired a cut in the garden hose w/ some sort of a plastic connecter.
5. I sewed up a tear in my rolling backpack w/ a needle & dental floss. I could not get the torn part under the needle in my sewing machine so had to hand sew it. Then I touched up the white dental floss repair w/ a sharpie pen.
Clever way to hide the dental floss! Even though you couldn't use the sewing machine, isn't it wonderful that you have the know-how to hand sew a repair like that?colour me impressed!
I LOVED that book. Hopefully you will as well.
Fantastic on the donations!!
1. I work the election on Tuesday. (And worked 5 hours during the early voting period). So I have earned a little bit of pocket money.
2. I was at an estate sale last weekend, and found a Sony 5 CD component for $10. It works amazing! But that meant I couldn’t use the current cabinet I was using for my component system, so I ordered a new one. This cabinet will not only hold my stereo system on top, but I have space for 350 albums and two doors to store additional items. I had already been trying to find something to put my stereo in, but couldn’t find anything I really liked that I could easily get home. So ordering a stereo cabinet made the most sense.
3. I am now doing the Nautilus weights at the Y, and one of the weight room instructors told me about a weightlifting competition that they do every year and she felt I have the perfect form and should enter the competition. I thought she was joking with me. Then another person walked by pointed at me and said “you have amazing form“. So she again mentioned the weightlifting competition, and the second person said “yes! You should actually do it!“. Sooooo, I’m in training.
4. I have delivered all of the photos and family memorabilia to my siblings and to my cousin. And I’m so glad to get my dining room back.
5. Trying to eat from my freezer (I have a small chest freezer and my kitchen freezer and they are both full). So I’ve been throwing together very different meals. But I find I am once again having a difficult time cooking for one. I need to get better at that.
I'm so bad at cooking for one! My #2 son is currently in Europe on a holiday so his usual almost weekly visits (with the opportunity for me to provide him with half of some of the meals I make) are on hold. My refrigerator shows this. The chickens will be happy, again, tomorrow. Sigh.
I am a fan of leftovers, for sure, but after 3 days that enthusiasm is long gone..
Celebrating Stingy September
1. Redeemed free exterior car wash. Cleaned the inside myself
2. Got free hallmark card
3. Mailed a sale
4. Discovered I don’t need new containers when I cleaned out refrigerator
5 Used $35 Trashie rewards at Walmart plus Humana rewards. Out of pocket $10.45
I shopped at Costco plus despite being exhausted after work bc I was in the small town.
1. I bought hot dog package for 75 cents, Honey Ham package sandwich meat for $2.58, extra sharp cheddar for $2.29, 5 lb bag of potatoes for $2.73, chicken thighs at &1.00 a lb, and a jar of dill pickles for $1.43.
2. Somehow I managed to also walk 50 minutes after work.
3. I took my breakfast and lunch to work like always.
That is all I have.
Those are crazy good deals, well done!!
Wow those are great prices you got at Costco!
I have NO IDEA why my comment posted four times….
I’m listening to that right now! I’m liking it. The author also wrote The Help, so I have high hopes! I hope you like it.
Hi Katy, do you mind sharing how you did your estate planning, the services/ websites you used, and any advice you may have for others? Thank you.
We worked with an elder law attorney and while it was costly, it'll save money in the long run.
Congratulations on reaching this milestone on the way to the larger goal! I won't be the least bit surprised if you sail right past it. Go, Katy!
I believe we are in for some extra-belt tightening times with grocery and gas prices through the roof..so,I am frugally restocking my pantries for the future.Pasta,canned beans,can. tomato products,extra condiments, jelly, peanut butter, brown rice,etc.etc… I watch the sales, and I have about a 6-12 month supply, of many staples.That is frugal, as in one year from now when pasta is $2 a box,I will be eating my $1 a box pasta!!!!
Resisting urge to buy new “thrifted” clothes for autumn.Shopping in MY OWN CLOSET is quite a fun experience,actually. I like clothes,I get dressed every day and wear a little makeup, even though I am retired..I have the kind of husband who compliments me and appreciates it,too!! Soo.. I do NOT need anything “new.” Even thrift store shopping is not frugal if you buy unnecessary items!!! It’s fun to put together new outfits from what i ALREADY OWN!
Having very frugal girls’ days out lately: a recent women’s social group I joined gets free community room use at a large new library and also a large new fire station ( watching firemen included..) for our biweekly GAME DAYS and card playing days. Someone always brings goodies to munch on too.
The art studio where I used to pay a small fee to haul my stuff and play with others making crafts, is too far to drive now (gas).. so I started up my own group in my house! Once a month I have 6 other ladies come over and we make a fine mess with our scrapbooks,greeting ard makings, junk journals. I get to share a lot of my craft materials and we have a grand old few hours crafting and chatting and laughing! I make iced tea,someone brings snacks..
Frugal entertainment with spouse: We love having a “TED TALK” night every other week or so… We each have to browse either youtube or Ted Talks and some up with 2 short items to share.. any topic is ok!!! I recently shared a youtube on intersex people and how life is for them.. and also a YouTube on how to use morning light to reset your mood and your sleep/circadian rhythms. It’s a really fun way to spend an evening,sharing with one another.
FAVORITE FRUGAL OF ALL TIME, continues to be :THE-LIBRARY!! Free culture passes,free books, free rooms on the lake to sit and write or read or gaze. LOVE MY LIBRARY!!
SOOO many ways to enjoy life without spending!!!!