The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. I had the kids over yesterday to work on their taxes, which was not a task to be procrastinated as they both had refunds coming their way. Especially their state taxes, as Oregon is handing out “kicker” refunds due to the state miscalculating their budget. They both used Turbotax, which is free at their income levels. I rewarded everyone with pizza afterwards.

   My husband and I will start our taxes today.

2. We ordered Domino’s Pizza, as their gluten-free pizzas are actually affordable and my daughter likes them. My initial plan was to get just the one for her, (my son wasn’t at the house at the time) but then I saw that they were running a deal for $6.99 two-topping large pizzas, so I ordered one for the rest of us. I then picked them up to get the deal and saved the cost of delivery.

3. My neighbor across the street dropped off some heavy duty plastic grocery bags that come standard with her grocery pickup service. This exact size works as kitchen bin liners as they’re both sturdy and perfect for our small trash can. I’m good about remembering my reusable bags when shopping, so sometimes I end up scrabbling for liners.

   She knows this about me as we’d chatted last year while she unloaded her grocery pickup bags. Tired mom that she is, she complained about how she needed to later return the bags for recycling. I told her I’d be more than happy to take them for reuse and she’s been bringing them to me ever since. Portland’s curbside recycling and compost, (which we share with our next door neighbors for extra savings) means that my family doesn’t need a standard American size kitchen bin, so grocery bags work perfectly for us.

   Am I going to get rich by forgoing the recurring expense of kitchen trash bags? Highly doubtful, but when you add up all the things I don’t spend money on, the answer gets a little blurry.

4. • I returned overdue books to the library and picked up my holds. In the past there would’ve been overdue fees, but the Multnomah County library system did away with late fees a few years ago.
   • I picked up cheap powdered dishwasher detergent at Fred Meyer (Kroger) as I refuse to transition to using pods or tablets, which I consider to be a profiteering scheme. How? They’re tremendously more expensive per use and you don’t get to choose the amount to use. (I use a tablespoon of powdered soap per load.) Plus, there’s the whole issue of microplastics, which makes it even more baffling that the American public switched over to buying them. As you can tell, I feel strongly on the issue.

5. I didn’t thrift any tiny Lear Jets.

I noticed that my husband’s wool cap had sprouted a small hole. This is the same hat he’s been wearing since high school and needs to be protected at all costs, so I pulled out my darning supplies and did my best.

There, that’s better. Not perfect, but better. Better is good.

My son and I drove across an almost not icy Portland to pick up the free IKEA Leksvik coffee table for his new apartment. Facebook Marketplace is my current best friend.

Tomorrow I drive to the suburbs to pick up the $50 desk I paid for last week. I’ll also hit a Goodwill or two while I’m out there.

 I held off on going to the grocery store on Sunday as I knew it would be mobbed and instead cobbled together a series of hodge-podge meals. Top Ramen with sesame oil, crunchy chili oil, frozen corn and soft boiled eggs and then sautéed carrots and cauliflower with a bit of leftover grilled chicken and oyster sauce on top.

I have three rolls of toilet paper until my plan to avoid the grocery store becomes a problem.

• I decided that the ratty Trader Joe’s foaming soap dispenser I’ve been reusing for years needed a more permanent solution, so I did some research and saw that the OXO one had good reviews. Not an easy item to buy used, but I was able to find one on Amazon. Not my favorite place to shop, but eBay was bizarrely more expensive, so I enriched Schmeff Schmezos a little bit.
• I watched the movie I Want You Back through my sister’s Prime Video account.
• Last week I shoveled one neighbor’s walk and today a different neighbor helped shovel mine.

I didn’t thrift any Lear Jets.

1. My son was able to find a free Ikea Leksvik coffee table through Facebook Marketplace, which is hilariously the same one that my father and step mother own. Plus it’s the same one that my sister regrets selling four or five moves ago.

   I asked for and am receiving a free tall cat tree for “Mama’s Little Meatball” through my Buy Nothing group.

2. I’m on day five of being mostly house bound due to snow and ice, but I keep reminding myself that could be worse as we’ve kept electricity. I’ve been cooking from our ample stores and watching a gluttonous amount of TV. Again . . . going nowhere and doing nothing is #cheapaf.

3. I baked a pair of pumpkin loaves yesterday, which used two cups of the pumpkin purée that I froze in November when friends and neighbors gave me their uncut Jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

   Most recipes I found called for butter, but I’m not a Rockefeller, so I continued my online search until I found one that used canola oil. I then plated up thick warm slices and delivered them to both a neighbor and my friend Lise who lives just a block away.

   I’m still working my way through the six 99¢ 5-pound bags of flour that I picked up in December, which helped keep this baking session on budget. I know that baking supplies always go on sale again before Easter, so I’ll stock up then.

4. • I made a big pot of red lentil soup to balance out multiple slices of pumpkin bread. Because let’s face it — it’s cake.
   • I was almost out of chicken Better Than Bullion, so I used the vegetarian version, leftover from when from my vegan niece last visited. It was still perfectly yummy.
   • Mama’s Little Meatball is perfectly happy to curl up on my lap and keep me nice and warm.

5. I didn’t thrift any tiny Lear Jets.

My son and I spent Friday traversing Portland in our attempt to source the furnishings he needs for his new apartment. This took us across the river to the William Temple House thrift shop, which dedicates a larger percentage of their store to furniture than a standard Goodwill. They had one couch with the midcentury aesthetic my son is seeking, but the quality was really low. (The couch cushions had icky cheap fabric on the underside, which meant you wouldn’t be able to flip them.) So that was a “nope.”

We also hit up the N.E. Broadway Goodwill, the main Goodwill, a very cool vintage furniture store on Hawthorne Boulevard and a consignment shop.

We didn’t end up buying anything, (other than a Barcelona soccer scarf for him and a pair of socks for me.) but it was still really good to see what’s out there and have conversations about what my son actually wants in his home. I’ve since sent out a couple inquiries on Facebook Marketplace, which haven’t materialized into anything. Luckily he doesn’t move in until February 1st. Deep breath Katy, patience is key.

Portland just faced a dramatic winter storm, complete with 50 mile-per-hour wind gusts! Unlike thousands of others, we were lucky enough to not lose electricity, plus no trees fell on our house. We spent over a thousand dollars having our enormous maple tree pruned in 2022 and it was the best investment, as it was less likely to blow over and damage our neighbors’ homes. It’s right on the property line!

I did run out of milk for tea, which constitutes a crisis in my home. However, my lovely neighbors poured a couple glugs of milk into a jar for me, for which they received a jar of my homemade blackberry jam. I told them it was the “Jam For Milk Program.”

My nephew didn’t end up flying in from New York as he was sick and told not to travel, which is a bummer, but understandable. We’d made reservations for rooms at a hotel in Seattle for a couple of nights, which we were able to cancel without any monetary consequences. Unfortunately, the cancelled plane ticket only refunded as credit, but we’ll use it at a later date.

It’s a good thing that we’re no longer living paycheck to paycheck, then again we wouldn’t have bought him a ticket if we had been.

• I found a penny and a nickel at one of the Goodwills.
• We loaned our snow shovel to our other next door neighbors.
• I’ve been fighting a cold over the past week, which has kept me at home more than normal. Nothing cheaper than going nowhere and doing nothing!

I didn’t thrift any Lear Jets.

1. My step mother and I went to a empty damp food cart pod to celebrate my belated birthday. I spied a soggy dollar bill off to the side and got on my literal hands and knees to grab it.

   A free falafel wrap and a one dollar bill? Happy birthday, Katy! Especially since we brought the food home to my warm, dry house.

2. I asked for and received a poster size canvas through my Buy Nothing group. My son has a hankering for a Wassily chair, but we forgot to set aside $2906.40 for a single chair. Instead I’m planning on painting some wall art based on one of these posters. Mass produced art has no soul and I live a deluded life where I believe myself to have artistic abilities. We already own multiple tubes of acrylic paint, so there’s no harm in trying.

3. My husband and I drove to pick up the $30 Ikea dining table from yesterday’s thrifting adventure. I explained to the Goodwill employee which table I was there to load up, and her response was “Oh, I know which table you’re talking about.” She then proceeded to share that I’d gotten a very good deal on the table as their new manager was pricing things lower. “The last manager would have charged at least $75 for that table.”

   “Thanks,” I thought to myself. “Now I have content for the blog.”

4. • My friend brought me a jar of homemade biscotti and a cute pair of socks as a birthday gift.
   • Portland is scheduled for a snow storm starting on Friday, which always throws the city into chaos. This due to both our hills and the government lacking the sufficient number of snow plows. Even though Portland’s goofy citizens would have a heyday if ever given the chance to name a snowplow. Maybe we could all chip in a couple bucks for the opportunity?

   – Snow Business Like Show Business?
   – How Now Brown Plow?
   – Snow Plower to the People?
   – Plow Jones Industrial Average?

   The list is endless.

5. I didn’t thrift any tiny Lear Jets.

I curb picked a terra cotta planter that matches three I already have on my deck. (Two of which I sourced from different after garage sale free piles last summer!) This one was pretty dirty and had pieces of English Ivy stuck to it. However, it was a just a matter of scrubbing it down with some soapy water to bring it back to back to snuff.

I won’t plant anything in it for now, (January and all . . . ) so I have time to figure out potting soil and what I’ll plant in it.

My husband and I celebrated my birthday this week by doing some thrifting out of town and then sharing cake back at home with the kids. I’m enjoying things a bit simpler lately, so our dinner was homemade turkey soup with no knead artisan bread that I’d left to rise at the house.

I didn’t come across anything to dominate the news cycle like this $100,00 Murano glass vase, but hope springs eternal.

My son’s comforter is apparently starting to pill, which is how I ended up shopping for a duvet cover at an unpleasantly crowded Ikea on a Saturday afternoon. (His idea, not mine.) The one he liked was out of stock, but then someone in my Buy Nothing group offered up a similar one this afternoon. I love it when this happens.

There is simply too much manufactured stuff floating around this world. Buy Nothing groups help put the glut of excess belongings into the hands of people who can put it back in use.

• I finished reading my library copy of The Saints of Swallow Hill.
• I organized a drawer and came across a bag of mirror holder clips, which prompted me to install a full length mirror in my daughter’s old bedroom. Unsurprisingly, I curb picked it last summer.
• I took my husband out to lunch and we shared an entree, which was enough food for the two of us.
• My neighbor put another Bonne Maman jam jar in her recycling bin, which I brought home to wash and add to the cupboard for food storage.

I didn’t thrift any Lear Jets.