The Non-Consumer Advocate - Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without

Frugality as a Tool For Happiness

by Katy on September 19, 2013 · 28 comments

Frugality weaves itself in and out of my days, imprinting its essence into everything I do. It sneaks its influential self into what I do and how I approach life’s challenges. Like Peter Pan’s shadow, I’d be lost without it.

From the time I emerge from my cocoon of thrifted bedding until I crash back into bed, frugality is both my friend and my trusty tool; giving me both the companionship and necessary equipment to live richly in the absence of a trust fund.

Some see frugality as synonymous with deprivation, and to those I say “try to reframe your mindset.” Of course, the difference between choosing frugality and having frugality thrust upon are worlds apart. But that doesn’t mean they can’t find a middle ground.

I started my obsession with extreme frugality when I was gifted with a copy of Amy Dacyczyn’s The Tightwad Gazette in 1998. I was on maternity leave with my son, and had just come off of a couple years of higher income that had loosened my wallet without anything to show for it. (Going from broke student to big-paycheck-RN should have come with a manual!) I needed this book. I needed frugality.

But just because I needed frugality didn’t mean it couldn’t also be fun.

My frugality has changed through the years, shifting away from snapping up great deals to simply just staying away from most purchases.

I choose to see my frugality as a tool for happiness. An enjoyable challenge to live well, be generous and fully participate in life while still holding tight to our hard earned dollars. I find joy in scoring a lovely $1 West Elm vase, which I can fill with home grown flowers for a friend, serving a 91¢ roasted chicken (yesterday’s Fred Meyer anniversary sale deal) and creating a lovely home based on freebies and rearranging what I already own.

The hours I’m able to work waxes and wanes, which means that I’ve recently gone months without a decent paycheck. And as easy as it would be to panic and hyperventilate, instead I simply hang my laundry, borrow from the library and cook my simple meals.

Frugality gives me freedom from most financial worries, and even though it would sure be fun to book a week in Hawaii for the family, I find my contentness right here. In the folds of my frugality.

**Have you found that frugality and happiness go hand in hand?** Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 28 comments }

Panera CEO Does Food Stamp Challenge — Why Do We Criticize?

by Katy on September 17, 2013 · 22 comments

Food Stamp challenges are nothing new. Newark, New Jersey mayor Corey Booker did one, former Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski did one, and I’ve done three. And now Panera CEO Ron Shaich is supporting Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month and doing one. With a daily budget of $4.50, and a week penciled out for the project, Shaich is already the recipient of more than 1100 vile and wrathful comments in this Huffington Post piece.

Why Americans choose to be so venomous towards someone who is trying to bring attention to the issues of hunger within our midst is beyond me.

Like the other male politicians who have undertaken previous food stamp challenges, Shaich is someone who normally doesn’t do his own food shopping, which makes it an extra challenge. My food stamp challenges have allotted $101 per person per month, (which is less than his $4.50 per day) however I have years and years of real life experience with meal planing and food shopping. I know how to shop the sales, use coupons to my advantage and create decent meals from the dribs and drabs of refrigerator contents. (Recent successes include a fried rice dish that included half a diced zucchini from a neighbor, leftover rice, two eggs and the contents of two soy sauce packets. Needless to say, It was delicious!) However, my food stamp challenge months are both difficult and seem to never end.

Of course, Shaich’s week-long experiment is nothing compared to a lifetime of food insecurity, but that doesn’t mean that his efforts are without merit. Like it or not, big business owners have a greater voice when it comes to American policy, and Panera is big business. Let him use his significant influence to focus attention on hunger. Good on him.

Congress is soon to vote in whether to cut SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, so directing extra attention towards how hard it already is to eat on $4.50 per day is both timely and important.

Eating cheaply and healthfully is easy for many of us. However, having the time, shopping choices, transportation, physical (and developmental) abilities and knowledge is not.

Click HERE to read Ron Shaich’s Linked In Food Stamp Challenge posts.

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.
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{ 22 comments }

Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will — Toilet Seat Handcuffs, Women’s Libber Table & a 1910 Cranky Baby

by Katy on September 16, 2013 · 24 comments

It’s time for another Goodwill, Badwill Questionable-will, and boy-oh-boy is it a doozy! It all started with the chore of needing to return a pair of Levi’s to The Mall.

At this point, you may be questioning my non-consumer cred, as I normally shout far and wide about only buying used. But I’ve been carting around a JCPenney gift card for a year and a half, and finally succumbed to my younger son’s valid whining about how he only owned a single pair of jeans. (Note: He used to own multiple pairs, but swore he hated skinny jeans, so I mailed them all to his cousin in NYC, but that’s a story for another day.) Unfortunately, I had trusted him to try them on without any parental input. Which of course meant they were waaaaay too small. (Poor kid doesn’t know about how new clothing shrinks with washing. And before you start a collection to buy the neglected kid some jeans, he actually found a great $14 pair of used Levi’s at Buffalo Exchange right after the mall jeans had been found to resemble sausage casing.)

So yes, I needed to go back to the mall to return the jeans. However, it’s a bit of a schlep, so I decided to incorporate some thrifting along the way.

First off was the Goodwill on S.E. Powell Boulevard.

My eye was immediately drawn to this vintage juice jar. Just the embodiment of perfection, with wavy green glass and embossed “Juice” and “Water” written down the sides. Priced at $2.99, it had no choice but to join my family of vintage jars.

I’m polyamorous that way.

I was tempted to bring home this colorful piece of vintage pottery as well. The drippy glazing was truly wonderful, but it had a teeny tiny hairline crack along the top, and when it comes to ceramics ya’ll know that crack is wack!

What I was not tempted to buy, but still had to photograph was this truly bizarre pair of enormous silver plush handcuffs. Not just because some savvy Goodwill employee styled them with striped pajamas for that ole-timey prisoner look, but because they oddly resembled toilet seats.

See it?

Handcuffs + toilet seats = made my day.

And of course, I came across an obligatory targeted savings bank. Will they ever end?!

My next stop was at the Salvation Army shop, where I found perhaps too much stuff.

If you are a female child of the 1970’s, you hold Ms. Holly Hobby in a special place in your heart. Clever marketers played on our love of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and gave us Holly Hobby lunch boxes, (had one) Holly Hobby dolls, (had two — a big one a small one) and an extended family which included a brother . . . Mr. Robby Hobby, (had him too!) So when I saw this $12.99 new old stock set of Holly Hobby glasses I actually gasped loudly and squealed in a way that is unusual for those over the age of nine.

Yes, I ostensibly bought the set for resale, but I have no problem keeping her around until a new home can be found.

My heart aches when I look at this set. That’s how much I love the girl.

I was tempted to snag this mid-century poodle-bookend-pen-holder. Priced at $1.99, it would have been pain free. But the profit potential on this guy was not impressive, (maybe sell for $10-$15?) so I left it there.

I’m glad I kept my hands free though, as there was no effing way I was not buying this antique Roseville Jardiniere! Priced at $8.99 it was a steal! These puppies sell for $150-$175 on eBay, so the profitability potential was right up my alley.

I already have it up on Craigslist for $100. No buyer yet, but it only takes a single person who wants your item to make the sale.

I also bought this console table for a cool 35 bucks! (Didn’t actually get a photo at the store.)

I’m calling it my “Women’s Libber Table.”

Why?

Because the male clerk was horrified that I had carried it to the cash register without any manly assistance. And when I declined help getting it to the car he asked:

“What are you, some kind of women’s libber?!”

To which I laughed and replied:

“What are you, a time traveler from 1975?”

This too is up on Craigslist, also for a hundred bucks.

My next stop was yet another Goodwill, (82nd Avenue is da bomb when it comes to thrifting!) where I was briefly enchanted by this inebriated gentleman. I think the whole genre of sweet drunken tchotchkes is hilarious. Who decorates with “drunk” as a theme?

The one thing I did buy was this vintage Oregon souvenir tray. I will be visiting my sister in New York City next month, and I’ll need to bring a hostess gift. And for the low, low cost of $1.99, this funky tray will fit the bill.

My last 82nd Avenue stop was to the Deseret Industries thrift shop, where I succumbed to this $1 West Elm vase. (How did I know it was West Elm? Because it had a sticker on the bottom!) My best friend Sasha just had surgery, and it would be a perfect way to bring her some flowers.

But my hands down favorite find of the day was this 50¢ framed set of photos of a father and his baby. The three connected oval frames are metal printed with a wood pattern, and absolutely melted my heart. I love how the photo on the left shows a cranky baby, most likely due to the sun in his eyes. There is a heart breaking timelessness to these photos that transcends outdated apparel and other such chronological identifiers.

I put this photo up on the Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook Group, and my mother shared it as well. The best consensus based on style of collar, tie and hat is that it’s from around 1910.

Gone but not forgotten.

Do you not agree that this was the best day of thrifting ever?! Hopefully, I’ll profit a couple hundred dollars to fluff up the better-late-than-never college fund, and I’ve brought a few wonderful new items into my home. And in case you were wondering, JCPenny gave me no flack about returning the jeans. So I can keep my non-consumer cred intact for one more day.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 24 comments }

All Days are Frugal, But Some Days are More Frugal Than Others

by Katy on September 13, 2013 · 26 comments

You may think that every day in the life of Katy Wolk-Stanley is a frugal day, and for the most part, you’d be correct. But in the words of George Orwell:

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

And yesterday was a perfect example of how some frugal days are more frugal than others.

1) I started my day by getting the kids up and off to school. I made their school lunches from scratch, using zero waste packaging. (A fabric sandwich wrap, a thick endlessly washable plastic bag for grapes, loose cookies and a bandana napkin. Their insulated lunch bags are ancient, one being from The Dollar Tree, the other pulled from a garage sale free box.

2) I hung two individual loads of laundry on the clothesline.

3) I received an e-mail informing me that I had earned a $7.53 eBate for using their site to book plane tickets through Priceline.com. (I’m going to New York next month for my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah.) I normally don’t buy anything online, and I’d kind of forgotten about eBates. Luckily, a blog reader mentioned them in a recent post when I had asked for tips on booking cheap flights. I also made sure to sign up for American Airlines’ frequent flier program before booking my tickets.*

4) I dropped off library books and picked up a DVD of Of Mice and Men for my younger son and two The Shins CD’s for my older son.

5) I cleaned one of my mother’s rental cottages.

6) I stopped by Safeway, after loading a ton of digital coupons through their Just For U program. This savings program e-mails personalized deals for frequently purchased items, which for me is usually real and healthy food. They also often have $5-off $20 ecoupons.

I bought:

• 3 Luna bars for my husband’s work lunches.
• A huge package of chicken drumsticks.
• 2.96 pounds of bananas.
• 5.82 pounds of oranges.
• 3 avocados.
• 1 head of green leaf lettuce.
• 1 block of cream cheese
• A half-gallon of whole milk.
• A gallon of skim milk.

Total cost: $20.93!

7) I stopped at the credit union to deposit Katy The Cleaning Lady checks and reimbursed cash from buying Costco dog food for my father’s dog. (He doesn’t have a Costco membership.) I also found two quarters under the coin counting machine.

8) I used Craigslist to sell a $5 Goodwill bar stool for $30.

9) Dinner was Chicken Adobo with rice, which is both cheap and a crowd pleaser.

10) I finally got bids on both of my eBay items. I’m selling a stack of Atomic Ranch magazines, which I picked up for 25¢ apiece at the used library store, (using a gift certificate that I won!) as well as an antique alabaster bust, which I bought at Goodwill for $8. Right now the magazines are selling for $39.99, and the bust has an opening bid of $75. The listings end Sunday evening, and I’m crossing my fingers they’ll sell for even more!

11) I received my review copy of Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road From Debt to Freedom in the mail.

I like how the day was a combination of both saving and earning money. And I was able to get the kids off to school, write my blog, earn money, run errands and still be back when the kids arrived home from school. Every now and then I get comments from readers asking why I go to the effort to earn small amounts of money when I could just work more, and my answer is this:

When I work, I am away from the house from 6:20 A.M. – 8:15 P.M. I’m unable to write, be there/hang out with my kids or deal with the tasks involved in running a household. By finding multiple small income streams and practicing frugality, I’m able to significantly bolster my family’s income and financial stability.

Which in the long run is a more stable practice. I even think George Orwell would approve, don’t you?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 26 comments }

My “Breaking Bad” Drug Fueled Design Inspiration

by Katy on September 12, 2013 · 12 comments

There are a number of design blogs that comprise my go-to morning reading. Young House Love, Manhattan Nest and more and more these days, Little Green Notebook. I love the authors’ make do creativity, and I salivate over incorporating and tweaking their ingenious design solutions for my own use.

Of course, design inspiration (or anything inspiration) is everywhere.

So when I spied these supposed-to-be-ugly barstools on Breaking Bad, my mind started to whirl.

“Wow, those barstools look a lot like that makeover chair from Little Green Notebook’s Jenny Komenda. They are so ripe for a makeover! Plus, I bet they’re crazy comfortable. I should start keeping an eye out for something similar while out on my thrifting adventures!”

Yes, this is how my brain works.

I remember how Jenny’s before chair was so ugly I would have thrown it out of bed for eating crackers wouldn’t have given it a second glance:

And the after chair was stop-you-in-your-tracks, kick-you-in-the-groin amazing! So bold, so graphic, let’s face it . . . drool worthy. Like it deserved its own fan club, or at least a Facebook page so I could “like” it. Good idea, Katy. Make a Facebook page for The Chair this afternoon.

Again, this is how my brain works.

What was I saying? Oh yes, that you don’t have to actually partake of Breaking Bad’s illicit substances to have a mind altering experience. You just have to keep an eye out for design inspiration.

It will blow your mind!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 12 comments }

An Everlasting Meal — A Review & Guest Post

by Katy on September 9, 2013 · 11 comments

Today you get the treat of a guest post from Julia Park Tracey, blogger and author of Reaching for the Moon: More Diaries of a Roaring Twenties Teen (1927-1929), I’ve Got Some Lovin’ To Do: The Diaries of a Roaring Twenties Teen (1925-1926) and Tongues of Angels.

I actually checked out this book from the library, but wasn’t able to get it read before it was due. (Story of my life.) Now I’m thinking I should put it on hold again!

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.
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I stumbled across this book, I don’t know how, but it’s one that was absolutely written for the modern homesteader, urban or otherwise. Tamar Adler’s cookbook/essays on life and food is a delicious read, and inspiring―it makes me want to cook when I’m tired, and that’s saying a lot. The full title is An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace (Simon & Schuster, $15, 250 pages).

Written very much in the style of M.F.K. Fisher, who wrote elegantly of food and life, weaving story into the art and soulcraft of feeding her loved ones, An Everlasting Meal is at once a how-to, starting with even the most rudimentary of basics: “How to Boil Water,” chapter one. In fact, each of the chapters has a straightforward “how to―” label, such as “How to Season a Salad” or “How to Fry the Littlest Fish.” Better, most chapters are delightfully named with philosophically rich yet practically rendered titles like “How to Teach an Egg to Fly,” “How to Catch Your Tail” and “How to Build a Ship.”

These are not flights of fancy. These are kind, loving instructions for living. When Adler speaks of boiling water, she is dispensing hope for the weary―when you get home at the end of the day, exhausted by the toils of modern living, you must feed your family, but how? Start with a pot of water. Turn on the stovetop or light the fire. Salt the water. And then―

She moves into how to cook pasta, or create the base for a soup. What’s in the refrigerator, the pantry or the bottom of the barrel? How to create soup from scraps of this and that. How to start the meal when you don’t know where to start. By the end of the chapter, you not only have a nourishing and delicious meal, you know how to really boil water, taste it along the way, and you feel better. You are soul-cured, uplifted, literally restored by your cooking (the French word restaurateur comes from the Latin word restaurator, “restorer”).

Adler gives recipes, though not a vast number―just enough to start you toward your own cooking style, by teaching you how to roast a chicken, how to season vegetables, how to use up bread. Her manner of cooking centers the family or the household around the hearth in a way that works as well over a campfire in the woods, a woodstove in your off-the-grid straw-bale house, or a six-burner stovetop in your swanky stainless steel kitchen uptown.

She also talks about planning dinners, and gives instruction for prep-cooking and co-roasting meat and vegetables on the weekend, and then how to artfully reuse them throughout the week, with a carb base of rice, pasta, potatoes or bread. The freshness of her cooking and the embrace of seasonal produce keep the book as modern as it is timeless.

I especially loved her use of the “tail” of vegetables and meat: leftovers and scraps. She has a lovely recipe for pesto made with the stems and stalks of broccoli, for example, that uses a part of the vegetable that most people throw away. There’s a recipe for “End of the Week” curry that uses up the rest of your cooked vegetables with contemporary flavors. Style with economy? Yes, please.

Tamar Adler is a chef and former editor of Harper’s Magazine. The book has a foreword by Alice Waters, famed chef of Chez Panisse and leader of the slow food and locavore movements. But there’s nothing pretentious about Adler’s cooking style or her writing.

I highly recommend this to cooks of all levels, and dare you not to feel inspired by her kindness, her generosity and her abundant love of the kitchen.

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Interview With Walden on Wheels’ Ken Ilgunas, Plus a FIVE BOOK Giveaway!

by Katy on September 9, 2013 · 221 comments

Please note that this giveaway has ended.

Today is a very special blog post, as it features both an interview with Ken Ilgunas, inspirational author of Walden on Wheels: On The Road From Debt to Freedom (New Harvest Publishing ) and a five book giveaway!

I’d been hearing about this book from all over the blogosphere, so put it on hold at the library. Expecting yet another I-did-this-social-experiment-for-a-year style of publication, I was pleased to discover the book to be so much more than what I’d anticipated. Ilgunas was living and chronicling his unconventional life with the specific goal in mind of rapidly paying off his crushing $32,00o student loan debt. (A subject frighteningly near and dear to my heart as my older son starts college next year!) After meeting that goal, he then entered a Master’s Degree program. However, being too familiar with the perils of student debt, Ilgunas chose to secretly live in a van instead of traditional housing.

I don’t want to give too much away, as the book is a better read if you don’t know everything ahead of time. Suffice it to say, Ilgunas now holds a Master’s Degree and is gloriously debt free.

Ilgunas was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions right before heading off for a month-and-a-half long British adventure.

Unlike many stunt journalists, who take on an extreme lifestyle change for a specific one-year period, your project did not have a finite beginning and ending. Are you still “vandwelling,” and do you see yourself ever becoming a homeowner or living a more traditional life?

I still have the van, but I’m not vandwelling anymore. I’m living with a retired friend in North Carolina on a small farm, where I barter labor for room and board. Like living in a van, it’s an affordable lifestyle, but now I have my own bathroom and Wi-Fi. I’ll probably come to be an owner of a (small) home at some point, but I’m not so sure about ever having a traditional lifestyle. I like going on adventures and writing books, and I plan on doing that for the foreseeable future. But who knows? There are many stages to life, and I must acquiesce to my soul’s shifting priorities.

What advice would you give to people who are unable to afford college without taking out massive student loans?

Well, most everyone can afford college if we’re responsible consumers. The average public in-state tuition is $8,500 a year and the average scholarship and grant aid is $5,500. That means that tuition at a respectable school costs about $3,000 a year, which is very manageable, especially if we commute from our parent’s home. But debt, for many, is unavoidable. In that case, work part-time, live frugally, and don’t go any more than $25,000 in debt. Any more than that and it’s going to be a pain paying it off. (Source)

You wrote that the required secrecy of living in a van during grad school limited your ability to socialize and make friends. How would you do things differently if you could turn back the clock?

I’m four parts hermit and one part social person, so the aloneness was only tough during severe social droughts. For the most part, I enjoyed the solitude. And honestly, the loneliness had little to do with my secret and the van, and much to do with the fact that I was going to Duke, where the great majority of the student body is insanely career-driven and success-oriented. As a proud and self-avowed idler, I just found it difficult to make connections. I might have been better off at a smaller liberal arts school, where economics and business weren’t the most popular majors.

Have the responses to your book and various interviews/articles surprised you in any way? Any backlash or negative reaction?

I suppose I’m a little surprised with the continued interest in my story, especially considering it’s been over two years since I lived in the van. But I’m not complaining. I knew it was a good story, and that’s why I was eager to share it. Surprisingly, there hasn’t been much of a negative reaction, except for people complaining about the vulgarity in the book. It’s true—it’s plenty vulgar. But I wanted to write this book with a twenty-something’s voice who’d grown up in hockey rink locker rooms. It would have been dishonest to assume a voice different from my own. I think we all have sick, twisted, hormone-fueled thoughts, and, in as a first-time memoirist, I saw it as my duty to present to others a clean view into another person’s mind.

Have you heard from anyone else who is following your lead to find alternative housing while in college?

I’m not sure they’re following my lead, but once in a while I’ll get an email from someone saying they’re doing something similar. I think that’s great—it’s a great way to save money, and it’s a great learning experience in and of itself.

Is your mother more accepting of your life choices and hitchhiking now that your book has come out?

I think having a book deal and being on Jay Leno helps validate some of my more eccentric goals. And yes, I think it’s definitely easier to stomach when crazy goals and dreams become possible book deals, which I can use to continue a financially independent and responsible life.

I did a quick browse through your blog about walking the Keystone Pipeline. Do you have plans to turn that experience into a book?

I do! I’ve been working on it this summer. It’ll be called Trespassing across America, because, for the majority of the hike, I wasn’t walking roads or trails, but across prairie, hills, farmland—all of which was privately owned. I think it’ll be a good modern adventure story with a strong environmental heart.

Click HERE to look through Ilgunas’ online photo album.

To enter to win one of five copies of Walden on Wheels, write your name in the comments section along with the name of your favorite inspirational book. I will randomly choose five winners Sunday, September 15th at 7 P.M. P.S.T. Please enter one time only.

Good luck! And a huge thank you to the fine folks at New Harvest Publishing for providing the giveaway books!

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.
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{ 221 comments }

Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will — Plastic Surgery Savings, Jesus’ Toilet & a Stressless-Style Chair

by Katy on September 8, 2013 · 26 comments

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will post, but worry not as there will always be fresh inspiration for these popular posts.

First off is a targeted savings bank, (apparently an extremely unwanted gift, if the donation rate is any indication) this time for the hitherto unseen Plastic Surgery Fund. Because:

“When you fail to plan, you plan to fail for breast implants.”

Truer (and jigglier) words were never spoken.

Another Goodwill item that caught my eye was this miniature golden toilet. Not just because it’s a tiny golden toilet, (which is in and of itself kind of special) but because it was lovingly placed next to Jesus, Mary, Joseph and a camel.

“Sorry about there being no room at the inn, but here’s a golden toilet to make up for it.”

My recent reading of Atomic Ranch magazine increased my awareness of how nuts some people are for decorating their midcentury ranch houses. So when I saw this pair of groovy vintage sconces priced at $3.99 apiece, I knew I had to buy them. They are missing their backplates, but that’s an easy fix. I know I can reunited them with their perfect owner.

It’s like I’m a matchmaker, people!

I try to guide my purchasing decisions by William Morris’ famous “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” advice. Which is why I had a hard time leaving behind this vintage piggy planter. He’s just so freaking cute! The jaunty cap, the smiley expression, the adorable pony-like tail, I love it all! However, the practical side of me took over and overruled the purchase.

Practical Katy is kind of a kill joy.

Readers often complain that my thrift shops must be better than their thrift shops, as there’s nothing but junk whenever they try to go thrifting. To which I present to you the follow photo. See anything interesting, or do you just see florist-grade and outdated vases? Not worth bringing home. Dull, unattractive and priced too high.

Pass.

But wait, look on the bottom shelf to find the small handmade vase. Priced at 99¢, this vase had no choice but to come home with me. It weighed almost nothing, and reminded me of the pottery I saw while in Japan last year, which was certainly not priced under a dollar.

Doesn’t it look so perfect nestled in with its long-lost Goodwill cousins?

Welcome home, little friend. Welcome home.

But my big purchase of the week was this chair and ottoman set. Priced at $25 together, I had to give it a second look. At first I thought it was a Stressless recliner chair, which normally start out at $1500, but a quick Google search on my iPhone killed that dream. See how filthy it is? Pretty gross. However, it had no cigarette smell, (a deal killer) so I took a gamble and brought it home.

This is what the actual Stressless Chair looks like. You can see how the Goodwill version is a knock off.

But an hour or so of cleaning, (plus a quick trip to the hardware store to replace a bolt) brought it back to un-grossitude. Clean, comfortable and ready for a new Craigslist owner.

Gotta plump up those college funds!

Update: I sold the chair & ottoman for $100. Woo-hoo!

Still think my thrift shops are better than your thrift shops? And would you have given the piggy a home? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 26 comments }

Five Frugal Things

by Katy on September 6, 2013 · 27 comments

I spent $57 at Safeway yesterday, which qualified me to use one of their $10-off-$50 coupons. However, I couldn’t find it in any of my Oregonians. I knew I’d seen it somewhere, yet it eluded my most focused spelunking. It finally turned up on the back page of a freebie newspaper that occasionally gets thrown on my porch. I’ll stop by Safeway customer service this afternoon with coupon and receipt in hand, and in return they’ll hand me a ten dollar bill. Free money, people. Free money.
It took a few refreshings of my Craigslist listings, but I finally sold both the Goodwill rugs that I’d picked up a few weeks ago in Lincoln City. I paid a little more than $45 for the pair, and was able to sell them for $160. I did spend a few hours cleaning them up in with my Craigslist Bissell rug shampooer in anticipation of their rehoming, but the task is actually kind of fun. (The shampooer has more than paid for itself, as I’ve cleaned up at least four rugs for resale this way!) I’m happy to have the rugs off my porch, and I’m even happier to add another $115 to my son’s college account.
I ended up combining errands with two Goodwill trips yesterday, and I was horrified to find that someone keyed my driver side door while I was at the Lloyd Center Goodwill! (What?! Why?! Argh!!!) I immediately pictured the $250 I would have to pay towards my deductible to get it fixed. I called my husband in despair, and he ended up buying a $13.99 packet of Dupont Pro-Fusion Color scratch repair sticks from Costco. (He was there anyway.) And in under a minute, my husband made the scratch pretty much disappear. It’s not a forever solution, but it saved us $236.01 in the here and now. So yeah . . . color me happy.
I have to buy plane tickets to travel to my nephew’s October 12th Bar Mitzvah in New York City. I am using Priceline’s Name Your Own Price feature, starting very low and gradually increasing the price I’ll pay. Not sure if this method will pan out in the end, but you know I’ll do my best to find the cheapest deal. (Luckily, it will just be me and my 15-year-old son.) If you have any tips for cheap plane tickets please, please, please share them in the comments section below. I’m mostly a homebody, so finding cheap travel is outside my area of expertise. Thanks!
My 10th and 12th grade sons are back in school now, and neither of them was taken school clothes shopping, school supply shopping or backpack shopping. Everything from last year was still good, (and it wasn’t exactly new last year anyway.) My older son did need a new pair of sneakers, which he was able to find at Buffalo Exchange for $29.50. They were used, but looked new, and he was super stoked to look online and see that they normally retail for $100 or so. People think that raising kids to accept used clothing is a challenge, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Kids are smart, and they know that $29.50 trumps $100 any day of the week.

What frugal activities have you been up to? Please share your stories in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Back to School & A Fresh Start for Mama

by Katy on September 5, 2013 · 26 comments

One thing that I like about life is that every day is a fresh start. This is true whether it’s the first day of school or simply a plain Jane Wednesday.

Today was my older son’s last first day of school. (He’ll go to college, but I’m referring to kindergarten through 12th grade here.) It was bittersweet. And I’m not sure if it got through to him, but I reminded him that:

“Every day is s fresh start.”

We just completed a thoroughly enjoyable summer break, but at the same time I let a number of things slide. My blogging became more and more infrequent, (sorry) my house slid into grubbiness and any planned projects took a back seat to day-to-day life.

I feel like I need my own fresh start.

No kids at home, nothing on my to-do list that can’t wait a day and I even have the day off from school.

I’m torn between a ~~balls to the wall~~ full on day of efficiency, (scrubbing the house from top to bottom, recycling and Goodwill runs, huge Winco grocery shopping trip) or a complete and utter day on indulgence.

Recharge my emotional batteries or reset my grubby disorganized life? Either way, it’s a necessity.

Luckily, I also have tomorrow off from work, (love working part time!) and think I may combine both the gotta do it with the wanna do it over a two day period.

It’s a fresh start, because practical or otherwise it’s important to give attention to all my needs.

What are you doing with your kids back in school? Indulgence or efficiency? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Frugality weaves itself in and out of my days, imprinting its essence into everything I do. It sneaks its influential self into what I do and how I approach life’s challenges. Like Peter Pan’s shadow, I’d be lost without it.

From the time I emerge from my cocoon of thrifted bedding until I crash back into bed, frugality is both my friend and my trusty tool; giving me both the companionship and necessary equipment to live richly in the absence of a trust fund.

Some see frugality as synonymous with deprivation, and to those I say “try to reframe your mindset.” Of course, the difference between choosing frugality and having frugality thrust upon are worlds apart. But that doesn’t mean they can’t find a middle ground.

But just because I needed frugality didn’t mean it couldn’t also be fun.

My frugality has changed through the years, shifting away from snapping up great deals to simply just staying away from most purchases.

The hours I’m able to work waxes and wanes, which means that I’ve recently gone months without a decent paycheck. And as easy as it would be to panic and hyperventilate, instead I simply hang my laundry, borrow from the library and cook my simple meals.

Frugality gives me freedom from most financial worries, and even though it would sure be fun to book a week in Hawaii for the family, I find my contentness right here. In the folds of my frugality.

Have you found that frugality and happiness go hand in hand? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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It’s time for another Goodwill, Badwill Questionable-will, and boy-oh-boy is it a doozy! It all started with the chore of needing to return a pair of Levi’s to The Mall.

So yes, I needed to go back to the mall to return the jeans. However, it’s a bit of a schlep, so I decided to incorporate some thrifting along the way.

First off was the Goodwill on S.E. Powell Boulevard.

My eye was immediately drawn to this vintage juice jar. Just the embodiment of perfection, with wavy green glass and embossed “Juice” and “Water” written down the sides. Priced at $2.99, it had no choice but to join my family of vintage jars.

I’m polyamorous that way.

I was tempted to bring home this colorful piece of vintage pottery as well. The drippy glazing was truly wonderful, but it had a teeny tiny hairline crack along the top, and when it comes to ceramics ya’ll know that crack is wack!

What I was not tempted to buy, but still had to photograph was this truly bizarre pair of enormous silver plush handcuffs. Not just because some savvy Goodwill employee styled them with striped pajamas for that ole-timey prisoner look, but because they oddly resembled toilet seats.

See it?

Handcuffs + toilet seats = made my day.

And of course, I came across an obligatory targeted savings bank. Will they ever end?!

My next stop was at the Salvation Army shop, where I found perhaps too much stuff.

Yes, I ostensibly bought the set for resale, but I have no problem keeping her around until a new home can be found.

My heart aches when I look at this set. That’s how much I love the girl.

I was tempted to snag this mid-century poodle-bookend-pen-holder. Priced at $1.99, it would have been pain free. But the profit potential on this guy was not impressive, (maybe sell for $10-$15?) so I left it there.

I’m glad I kept my hands free though, as there was no effing way I was not buying this antique Roseville Jardiniere! Priced at $8.99 it was a steal! These puppies sell for $150-$175 on eBay, so the profitability potential was right up my alley.

I already have it up on Craigslist for $100. No buyer yet, but it only takes a single person who wants your item to make the sale.

I also bought this console table for a cool 35 bucks! (Didn’t actually get a photo at the store.)

I’m calling it my “Women’s Libber Table.”

Why?

Because the male clerk was horrified that I had carried it to the cash register without any manly assistance. And when I declined help getting it to the car he asked:

“What are you, some kind of women’s libber?!”

To which I laughed and replied:

“What are you, a time traveler from 1975?”

This too is up on Craigslist, also for a hundred bucks.

My next stop was yet another Goodwill, (82nd Avenue is da bomb when it comes to thrifting!) where I was briefly enchanted by this inebriated gentleman. I think the whole genre of sweet drunken tchotchkes is hilarious. Who decorates with “drunk” as a theme?

The one thing I did buy was this vintage Oregon souvenir tray. I will be visiting my sister in New York City next month, and I’ll need to bring a hostess gift. And for the low, low cost of $1.99, this funky tray will fit the bill.

My last 82nd Avenue stop was to the Deseret Industries thrift shop, where I succumbed to this $1 West Elm vase. (How did I know it was West Elm? Because it had a sticker on the bottom!) My best friend Sasha just had surgery, and it would be a perfect way to bring her some flowers.

I put this photo up on the Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook Group, and my mother shared it as well. The best consensus based on style of collar, tie and hat is that it’s from around 1910.

Gone but not forgotten.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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You may think that every day in the life of Katy Wolk-Stanley is a frugal day, and for the most part, you’d be correct. But in the words of George Orwell:

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

And yesterday was a perfect example of how some frugal days are more frugal than others.

2) I hung two individual loads of laundry on the clothesline.

4) I dropped off library books and picked up a DVD of Of Mice and Men for my younger son and two The Shins CD’s for my older son.

5) I cleaned one of my mother’s rental cottages.

6) I stopped by Safeway, after loading a ton of digital coupons through their Just For U program. This savings program e-mails personalized deals for frequently purchased items, which for me is usually real and healthy food. They also often have $5-off $20 ecoupons.

I bought:

• 3 Luna bars for my husband’s work lunches. • A huge package of chicken drumsticks. • 2.96 pounds of bananas. • 5.82 pounds of oranges. • 3 avocados. • 1 head of green leaf lettuce. • 1 block of cream cheese • A half-gallon of whole milk. • A gallon of skim milk.

Total cost: $20.93!

7) I stopped at the credit union to deposit Katy The Cleaning Lady checks and reimbursed cash from buying Costco dog food for my father’s dog. (He doesn’t have a Costco membership.) I also found two quarters under the coin counting machine.

8) I used Craigslist to sell a $5 Goodwill bar stool for $30.

9) Dinner was Chicken Adobo with rice, which is both cheap and a crowd pleaser.

11) I received my review copy of Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road From Debt to Freedom in the mail.

Which in the long run is a more stable practice. I even think George Orwell would approve, don’t you?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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**Have you found that frugality and happiness go hand in hand?** Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
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Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Pinterest.

• 3 Luna bars for my husband’s work lunches.
• A huge package of chicken drumsticks.
• 2.96 pounds of bananas.
• 5.82 pounds of oranges.
• 3 avocados.
• 1 head of green leaf lettuce.
• 1 block of cream cheese
• A half-gallon of whole milk.
• A gallon of skim milk.

Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Pinterest.