You already know that I try to spend as little as possible whenever possible, but I thought it would be interesting to break it down a bit. Please let me know what I’m forgetting or how your household differs!
Entertainment
• My childhood best friend came over and we hung out for a couple of hours. She didn’t want anything to eat, but she did accept a cup of tea. We sat in the garden until it got too cold, then we moved our play date inside. My socializing is usually just visiting with friends in their houses or mine or going to walks. I even have a friend that can be counted on for grocery shopping buddy trips.
• I like to watch free YouTube videos related to nonconsumerism and recently caught up on all the Rich House, Poor House episodes that I could find. Almost endless inspiration and ideas on YouTube!
• I take advantage of free streaming services to watch TV. Whether it’s the free Peacock which comes with our internet service or the endless ad supported apps on our Roku box. We do pay for Netflix, but don’t get the highest cost plan.
• I pay attention to the free available activities in my city. There’s lots to do without an admission cost.
Food
• I have a tremendous number of clearance price carrots from the other day, so I’m on hyper alert to include them in just about everything. I’d planned on making a pot of carroty red lentil soup, but it turns out I overestimated my lentil stash. Instead I made a huge pot of yellow split pea soup which also paired well with my how-many-carrots-can-I-cram-into-this-recipe mindset. The split peas were purchased from the Winco bulk bins. Avoiding food waste is an active choice as it’s so easy to forget about food you’ve paid for!
• I’ve been enjoying yummy breakfast fajitas over the past couple days, which is just throwing a handful of sautéed sliced frozen peppers plus scrambled eggs into a warm tortilla. The peppers were on sale for 25¢ apiece, so I bought the limit and froze them for future use. (The tortillas were free with annoying Safeway points.) Stocking up when things are on sale is necessary, although I wish food prices could just be straightforward and consistent.
• I keep our groceries simple, which helps keep the food bill under control. So you won’t find me buying those $5 containers of adorable little tomatoes to make that viral tomato feta pasta recipe. Instead I keep cheap canned tomatoes on hand for when I need to make a classic marinara sauce. We buy no junk food and almost no snack food.
• We save eating out for special occasions which makes it more enjoyable. That it unless there’s some super cheap deal I’ve learned about, which I suppose is also a special occasion!
• I have almost no brand loyalty when it comes to groceries.
Self Care
• I get my hair cut every year or so and wait until the Supercuts training center is doing free services. Choosing a longer style means I don’t need frequent cuts.
• I buy our shampoo, conditioner and bar soap at Dollar Tree.
In The Home
• I spent maybe an hour and a half weeding the parking strip in front of the house. I really hate this chore, but I’m an adult and can do things I don’t enjoy without it being a big deal. Having a yard that I can maintain on my own is a huge money saver.
• My request for free wood chips fell off the Chip Drop website, so I renewed my request. I prefer to go the free route for almost everything and that often means practicing the art of patience.
• My husband and I repair our belongings whenever possible. YouTube is an amazing resource for tutorials and we both take great satisfaction from keeping items out of the landfill while saving money. My husband recently repaired his late father’s Kitchenaid mixer by watching videos.
• I replace the big scoop that comes with our powdered Costco laundry detergent with a tiny one. We’re not ditch diggers so our laundry is not all the dirty. I’d estimate that this trick easily quadruples how long it takes to use up the detergent. I choose powdered dishwasher detergent so I can choose how much to use, (1 Tablespoon per load) as those dishwasher tablets don’t give you an option of how much to use.
• I critically think about our monthly bills. I recently called our internet provider and was able to lower our cost by $31/month.
Free Stuff
• I have a Little Free Library in front of my house and I check it each morning to tidy and remove any non-book related items. It’s not uncommon for me to choose a book for myself.
• My husband and I like to walk around the neighborhood after dinner and I’ve start stuffing a tiny reusable grocery bag in my pocket in case I come across any enticing free boxes.
• We lend out and borrow with our neighbors on a regular basis. Whether it’s a muffin tin for the teenager next door to bake cupcakes, a couple cloves of garlic, a snow shovel or a wheelbarrow, we can all save money by sharing our resources.
Okay, what did I miss? I know there are infinite ways to live frugally, so please add your two cents!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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The credit union where we keep our high yield savings account is having a promotion where they award a $10 rebate if you use their debit card twelve times in the month of May. We don’t normally use that checking account, but I’m not one to turn down free money. I got over any perceived notions of appropriate shopping behavior and hit up the $1 produce section at Fred Meyer. Lastly I used the self checkout for twelve individual transactions and schlepped it all home.
Two dollars for ten peppers, one cauliflower, two double bags of multi-color carrots and 22 apples. My arms just about dropped off by the time I got home, especially since I’d also checked out an obscenely heavy library book!
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My neighbor brought by some dug up mint from her backyard, as well as a jumble of the thicker plastic bags that come with her delivered groceries. (She knows that I reuse these sturdy bags as kitchen bin liners.) I planted the mint in a curb picked flowerpot saved for this exact purpose and shuffled a few plants around in order to forage enough potting soil.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Always and forever.
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I washed our sheets and hung them on the laundry line. We’re only just now coming out of the rainy season and I look forward to being able to use our backyard solar system with more regularity. I do use an indoor rack, (especially for my husband’s synthetic baseball, hockey and soccer uniforms) but nothing compares to the freshness of sun dried laundry!
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• I sliced and froze all the peppers for later use.
• I went for a walk by myself after dinner, as none of my regular walking buddies were available.
• I checked out an obscenely heavy library book.
• I read a library “Lucky Day” book — I Must Be Dreaming, by Roz Chast. I will read anything from Roz Chast!
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Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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My husband was gifted a $100 gift card to Cabela’s, which was interesting as he isn’t a rugged outdoor sportsman-type dude. (No hunting or fishing.) However, he pored through their website and found a collapsible wagon cart for $99.99 that he’d been wanting for his baseball gear. Plus I got to go along in tourist mode to gape at all the elaborate taxidermy dioramas, which was not on my bingo card!
Very happy to spend the precise amount of the card, as 61% of people overspend beyond the value of the card and the average people spends an additional $31.75! Click HERE for the source of these statistics.
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My friend Lise invited me to join her on a trip to Trader Joe’s and I accepted even though A) I’m trying to avoid shopping there due their union busting; and B) I didn’t really need anything. I bought spinach, Mediterranean hummus and a single enormous 23¢ banana. Walking out of Trader Joe’s with such inexpensive and practical food items is a win. Also, we hadn’t seen each other in a week or so and needed to catch up!
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My husband and I split a big fancy coffee on our way home from Cabela’s, as my husband is always rich with Starbucks gift cards.
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I found a penny on the sidewalk near our house and dime on the floor at the DMV.
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Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I passed by the grocery store the other day and noticed this bright pink spoon on the sidewalk.
Then I noticed this display of $3.99 Go Bites spoons inside the store. So yes, I took the smeared spoon home and put it through the dishwasher. Might be handy for a picnic or a packed lunch. Either way, a four dollar spoon with a “lifetime warranty” deserved a second chance.
* Update! Someone in my Buy Nothing group asked for toddler silverware and is picking up the spoon this afternoon!
My husband and I took a stroll around the neighborhood after dinner last night and the free piles were out in full force. And not just regular piles . . . piles with clear and deliberate signage!
Free bricks, with clear messaging!
This attention grabbing pink sign asked a question, clarified what was available and then suggested an actionable task. So helpful!
Why yes, I do have a green thumb, I only use free “planting/potting items” and I consequently felt empowered to help myself! I brought home this embossed flowerpot as well as the flared terra cotta pot in the background.
Perfect for the plant starts I’m always propagating over the kitchen sink!
Do you help yourself to discarded free items? Please share your stories in the comments section below!
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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My next door neighbor texted that she had “some extra shade annual flowers.” Of course I said “yes,” (duh!) and assumed it was just a couple of random plants. Instead it was almost an entire flat of impatiens which are perfect for my deeply shady backyard! I’ll now figure out something nice to do for her, as my yard now looks so cheery for the low low cost of free-ninety nine!
This also prompted me to shuffle my outdoor furniture and potted plants around for a fresh look. Please note my new curb picked ceramic stool/table that’s enjoying life on the back deck.
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My daughter has been fighting a nasty cold, so I threw together a big pot of chicken soup and brought a couple quarts over to her apartment. I also diced up a cantaloupe for her. My poor baby.
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I’m about halfway through Jodi Picoult’s The Book of Two Ways through the library’s free Libby app. I haven’t been doing much driving or mindless tasks lately, which minimizes my audiobook listening. However, the book is at a very interesting point, which is prompting me to find just one more mindless task.
I recommend this Egyptology theme book for anyone who enjoyed Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Egypt Game as a kid.
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• My elderly cat Zelda has transformed into a picky eater and only wants to dine on paté-style canned cat food, which would be fine except that I previously paid good money for a full case of shreds-style cat food. However, I learned that she’ll eat the shreds if I mix them into the paté. How do you say “no food waste” in feline?
• I stopped by Safeway this afternoon and grabbed eight red and orange peppers for 25¢ apiece, which was the limit. I’ll slice and freeze them for later use.
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I didn’t pay any hush money.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Our monthly internet bill jumped from $68 to $86 per month, so I called customer service and was able to get our bill down to $45. It helps that we’re no longer four people at the house, which makes our internet usage is waaay less than it used to be.
Make the call, get the discount. It can’t hurt to ask.
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Our neighborhood cleanup day was yesterday, so I dropped off styrofoam chunks for recycling and shelving component pieces for the landfill. These came with a curb picked shelving unit. I tried to find them a home through my Buy Nothing group, but sometimes you have to admit that something is straight up trash. It doesn’t help to keep crap in the basement, my house is not a garbage dump.
I brought home nine perfect napkins and two tomato starts. For a dollar!
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I curb picked a glazed ceramic patio stool/table on the way home from the neighborhood cleanup. I’d wanted one for ages, but was always too cheap to buy one. (Plus the whole “buy nothing new” thing!) I’m still figuring out where to put it, but I’m very happy with this find!
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We celebrated our son’s 26th birthday with our traditional Birthday Day of Adventures. Here’s what we did:
• I made homemade waffles and tarted them up with a mixed berry sauce as we always have frozen berries on hand.
• We walked over to Powell’s Bookstore, where my son picked out three books. I paid for them with random gift cards, plus $16 out of pocket.
• We then drove across town to watch a 40th anniversary rerelease of of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.” A bit pricey at $42 for the three of us, but it was a special occasion.
• Of course we stopped at Starbucks for my son to get a free birthday drink.
• I’d planned on picking up tacos at a neighborhood cart, but they were closed so we scavenged at home for a light meal, as my son and husband had an evening soccer game and didn’t want to be weighed down with a heavy meal.
• We lastly drove through Popeye’s for fried chicken, which is my son’s favorite. Their soccer game didn’t start until 7:30 P.M., so there were limited choices of where to eat after 9 P.M. on a Sunday. $25.99 through the app for a family meal. The leftovers went home with our son.
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I didn’t pay any hush money.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Please enjoy today’s Non-Consumer Mish-mash blog post, where I write about a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Missing Money
I’m so happy that I blogged about the MissingMoney.com website, as multiple readers responded with how they found money for themselves and family members. Here’s a sample:
“Thank you for this, Katy! I found two family members on there. I cross-referenced the info on missingmoney.com with our state’s Commerce Department database (a more official looking site) and they each have between $100-$250 coming to them!”
“Thanks so much we found over $9K. Turned in the paperwork today.”
And my favorite:
“This site helped convince me that I am a good person–one of our step-mothers, a wretched, wreck of a woman, was on there for quite a bit of money from an old pension account, and I contacted her to let her know. I have to admit my first instinct was to keep my mouth shut, but I thought I might as well put a deposit into my karma account.”
To clarify — this is not a referral link. I get zilch from this website. MissingMoney.com consolidates the states’ departments of revenue. If you haven’t already checked, I highly encourage you to do so!
I sold some tables
Remember that tray table set that I curb picked a couple days ago? I just now sold it to a woman for $20, which was a bargain for her and free money for me! She’s a quilter and apparently these tables are useful as mini ironing boards to use while quilting. She keeping two for herself and giving two to a friend, which I love!
I’ll put the money in our high yield savings account, which earns 5.25% interest.
Happy Birthday
My husband’s birthday was yesterday and we celebrated all day long. Our first stop was Excellent Cuisine for dim sum and it was, well . . . excellent! Seriously, their dim sum is so tasty, generous and fresh. If you’re from Portland, this restaurant is a must!
We then placed a order for an enormous and complicated Starbucks coffee to share, as we’re never going to forget to use that free birthday reward!
Last stop was Costco for dinner supplies. My husband had requested steak, so he picked out a five pack of enormous steaks, as well as mushrooms and brussel sprouts. Hardly a bargain at $60 for the beef, but exponentially cheaper than going to a steakhouse! The biggest bargain with this meal is that I still had a 99¢ bag of Winco potatoes and a freezer full of sale priced butter. I baked the birthday cake using a gluten-free mix I pulled from Winco’s clearance shelf.
The kids (plus one) joined us for dinner and it was a lovely relaxed evening. My son’s birthday is in a couple of days and we’ll do a bigger celebration for him. My husband and I don’t exchange gifts, as we want for nothing.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Portland weather is finally at the stage where sunny days are the norm rather than a rarity, which prompts many people to set out their unwanted belongings for the taking. Whether it’s a “free pile” or a “free box,” it’s a great opportunity to save things from the landfill while nabbing a bargain.
Just yesterday I drove past this tray table set, which I promptly brought home. Sure it needed a thorough wipe down, but such is the price of curbside shopping. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep or sell it, but I know that free is better than the $68 you’d spend to buy it on Amazon.
Later in the day I passed by this box of psychology books while on my way to the library, which I photographed but didn’t touch. (Boy oh boy, do these books look outdated!) However . . . I know that people do well selling vintage books as decor and a couple of these would fall under that category. Especially the blue one.
This free pile caught my eye on my way home from the library, although I didn’t bring any of it home. I might have grabbed the chair if I hadn’t been on foot. 1970s decor it very fashionable right now and this chair would’ve been easy to bring back to life. All it would have taken would be a rug shampooer and a swipe of some Restor-A-Finish. Groovy.
My husband and I later took an after dinner stroll and passed by this initially unpromising free pile. It may look terrible, but it actually had a bag of Specialized brand bike pedals, which if you needed them would be a great find. (They start at $56 on their website.) Also, that rug pad would be useful if that’s something you needed.
We also walked past this jumble of gardening pots. I briefly considered the galvanized tub, but I couldn’t think of how I’d use it which is my sign to not bring something home.
The last free box on our walk was this books-and-boots combination. I kind of liked the wooden box, but I wasn’t sure that it was actually up for offer.
Does your town have a “free pile” culture? I’ve been both the giver and receiver countless times and I love that it’s a practice in my city.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I had a nice low key Mother’s Day with the kids here at the house and a simple brunch. No pressure and the kids staggered their visits, which expanded it into a nice long afternoon.
I then took my mother out the next day for belated fun, just the two of us. I picked up a Starbucks mocha along the way, (her favorite treat, plus I had credit on my Starbucks account) and we browsed an antique mall in the neighborhood. I also took her to Montelupo for their mushroom focaccia with fresh ricotta and arugula. She also received the rooster planter that I curb picked a few weeks ago, now freshly planted with hens and chicks from my backyard.
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We were almost out of Palmolive bar soap, so I stopped into Dollar Tree. I heard a rumor that their prices are going up again, so I also grabbed extra toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner. I miss the era when their soap was 3/$1 especially since it’s now 2/$1.25.
Those were the good old days . . . .
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My father-in-law passed away last month, so my husband’s been busy going through their house and scrambling to find places to donate their belongings. There’ve been multiple loads of their stuff to Goodwill, (clothing, books and kitchen items) plus a number of dump runs as many items were no longer in any condition for usefulness. My late mother-in-law was an art teacher and had an overwhelming amount of unused art supplies. We donated those to the kids’ high school art department, which was a perfect solution. She also sold semi-precious stone beads, which we took to a bead shop in the neighborhood. The money will help a bit with all the sudden expenses. (Cremation, probate lawyer, bond and associated costs.) Everything is complicated by there being no will. There’s also a storage unit that we’ll have access to after my husband is named the official executor. Luckily the storage unit is in Portland.
This project is nowhere near completion and is complicated by them living two and a half hours away on the Oregon coast. This means that we spend a couple hundred bucks on a motel room every day my husband works on their house.
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• Our daughter needed a bicycle and my husband was able to put one together for her out of two bikes that were collecting dust in our garage.
• Our neighborhood is having their annual “neighborhood cleanup day,” and although I can’t think of anything we need to take over, I’ll still do a sweep through the house and see if there’s anything we can get rid of. I’m extra inspired at the moment to not burden my kids with a house filled with excess Stuff!
• My friend’s daughter is training as a volunteer docent at a local museum, so we’re going over there today to be her guinea pigs. Free museum entry!
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I knew about the MissingMoney.com website, (which coordinates the state departments of revenue for “unclaimed property,” aka “money”) but had forgotten about it until I saw it mentioned in a recent Instagram reel. It sounds so scammy, but it isn’t.
Hmm, I should look myself up . . . .
I didn’t strike gold for myself, but I learned that my sister (who has the same last name) had multiple matches for money back owed to her! She clicked “file claim,” uploaded her identification and is now getting more than $500 back! I was on a roll and started looking up all my family members and almost every name I entered had some unclaimed money floating out there just waiting to be “claimed.”
I found money for a college friend, (who’d used the website in the past, but had forgotten to also try under her nickname) my middle school best friend, my other sister, my niece and even my husband!
You don’t need to enter any personal information to learn if there’s missing money for you, although you do when you claim it. They then send a confirmation email, which understandably requires proof of identification.
Please, please, please try this for yourself! Get that money!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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