Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will — What Would Jonathan Adler Buy?

by Katy on January 27, 2013 · 32 comments

You know I like to economize by batching my errands, so it would have been downright irresponsible of me to not stop into the main Goodwill after my visit with John and Sherry from Young House Love.

Who me, rationalize? Never!

As always, the Goodwill was full of 99% trash and 1% treasure. Here, see for yourself:

And where, pray tell is this baby’s anus? This is what is called an “imperforate anus” in the medical field. I know this, because as a labor and delivery nurse, I have to assess the newborns from head to toe, making sure poop can occur.

Sids baby

Just because you know how to solder doesn’t mean you should. I cannot begin to imagine how anyone thought that attaching stained glass leaves(?) and a dragonfly would look good on a very formal antique pitcher.

WTF?

Remember Dutch Tulip Fever? Well, someone went to The Netherlands without first getting immunized against this virulent consumer disease.

Tulip fever

I was always in the “shiny brass is tacky” camp, but Emily Henderson has me rethinking this mindset. I can totally see how cute these ducks would be all shined up and holding back a row of books.

Brassy quackers:

Brassy

I fell a little bit in love with this wood handled vintage whisk. But I hardened my heart and moved on.

wisk

However, I have no self control when it comes to a well priced food storage jar. And at $1.99 apiece, they came home with this jarhead.

Fo sho.

jar head

And when I spied this pair of vintage lamps, my first thought was:

“What would Jonathan Adler buy?”

So I did. Buy them. (I am still rocking a Goodwill gift card from my birthday!)

lampy

But I did not buy this combination Rat-Cat , that I believe possessed actual rodent teeth.

Jonathan Adler would not have bought it.

So I did not. Buy it.

rat cat

Are your thrift shops better than mine, and would you have bought the lamps? How about the Rat-Cat?

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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When Young House Love and The Non-Consumer Advocate Collide

by Katy on January 26, 2013 · 4 comments

YHL & Me

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Interested in Advertising on The Non-Consumer Advocate?

by Katy on January 25, 2013 · 27 comments

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with my friend Damaris, who after a zillion years in New York has moved back to Portland. As is our custom, our conversation was both loud and practically without pause for breath. It’s always been this way, even when we haven’t seen each other for years.

I love it.

She was asking about the blog, and I had to laugh, sharing that I seem to write the only well respected and successful blog that makes next to no money. Yes, I have the Blogher ads, but those companies have not specifically chosen to ply their wares with me. I have a sponsorship page that explains my rates and acceptance policy, but like the awkward girl from your high school, no one asks her to dance.

Even though The Non-Consumer Advocate receives between 71,000 and 162,000 hits per month, and will likely top 100,000 for the month of January.

Sniffle.

Don’t get me wrong, I get tons of offers for guests posts; as well as companies and organizations that want me to plug their product or service. But no one ever wants to fork over any cash for the privilege.

I try not to care too much. My job as a labor and delivery nurse is both satisfying and well paying. But I admit to a hard knot of envy when I see the pretty and profitable ads on other people’s blogs. (Just take a quick look at all the ads on SouleMama!)

I enjoyed being able to give out free Etsy ads for the month of December, and I think 65 sellers took advantage of the offer. I asked for nothing in return, and although I meant to send out a follow-up e-mail with a special advertising rate, it somehow hasn’t happened yet.

So here I sit, the prettiest girl who never gets asked to dance.

Are you interested in advertising on The Non-Consumer Advocate? Do you have a product or service that would appeal to the conscious consumer crowd?

Click HERE to read about advertising on The Non-Consumer Advocate.

And make this wallflower a happy dancer.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Can You Buy The Single Plunger?

by Katy on January 24, 2013 · 41 comments

Do you find that your best intentions are left at home when it comes to a quick trip to Target, or say, Costco? You go in for toilet paper/laundry detergent/photo processing and home with T-shirts/chocolate covered raisins/books.

This is very much a Non-Consumer Advocate kind of topic, yet there’s a great Apartment Therapy article titled It’s The Little Things: 5 Ways to Spend Less and Reduce Clutter that addresses this very issue.

“I was at Target the other day, and standing in front of me in line was a gentleman buying a plunger. That’s it. A plunger. While I really should have been feeling bad for him, because after all, the poor guy was out on a plunger run, I found myself staring at him in wonder, dazzled by his ability to get out of Target with only one darn thing.”

I have been that guy. Maybe not the plunger guy at Target, but definitely the olive oil lady at Costco. Because I have walked into Costco and walked out with nothing more than a two-pack of olive oil. It feels weird to not have a cart, when everyone else is pushing a mountain of stuff through the aisles.

Whether it’s Target, Costco or heck, even my beloved Goodwill, it can be near to impossible to steel yourself against all the great deals to be had. However, $10 spent is $10 spent, whether it’s a 75%-off pair of shoes or an insanely priced candy bar.

Your bank account knows no difference.

Do you struggle to temper your impulse purchases or have you moved past that? Please share your thoughts and your weaknesses in the comments section below.

And CLICK HERE to read the Apartment Therapy article, and make sure to read through the comments, which are surprisingly  thought provoking.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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A Built-In Buffet — Before, No After

by Katy on January 22, 2013 · 23 comments

I am putting a full-time effort into finishing up some household projects that have been plaguing me for the past 16 years. (We bought our fixer-upper Craftsman house in 1996, although it was so nasty, we couldn’t move into it for a full year!)

The first year’s work was to just make the house habitable, and we have been working on the details ever since. As you can imagine, our motivation waxes and wanes, as does our budget. It would be fantastic to hire a contractor to take the reins, but my husband hates to pay people for stuff he can do himself. Plus, of course . . . the budget.

A lot of the work is stuff I have the skill and motivation for, such as decorating, organizational projects, painting walls and cabinets. But the carpentry, plumbing, electrical, concreting and such are not within my skill set. However, just because my husband has the higher end skills doesn’t mean he has the time. (He works 44 hours per week, plus volunteers between 10 -30 hours per week for community soccer.)

I am very excited that my brother-in-law Jason, a finish carpenter will be building the trim for our 99-year-old built-in buffet starting today. (The previous owners removed all trim throughout the first floor in order to get a streamlined look for the fake wood paneling.)

Here, take a look:

Built-in

Yeah, I’ve been looking at that for sixteen years.

For comparison, our house has a twin a few blocks away which never fell into disrepair. (The houses are like twins separated at birth, but their house was adopted by Daddy Warbucks whereas ours house was adopted by Tolkien’s Gollum.)

See?

dish cabinet suround

Yes, their built-in is differently configured and slightly fancier, but I think you can see what a difference the trim makes.

Hopefully, I’ll have satisfying after pictures within a couple of weeks, but until then you’ll just have to make do with before.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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A Chicken Soup Kind of Day

by Katy on January 21, 2013 · 6 comments

My fourteen-year-old son is home sick today. Granted, there’s no actual school in session due to Martin Luther King Day, but nevertheless we’re stuck at home. (Fun fact — I attended tiny Antioch college, which boasted Coretta Scott King as one of their esteemed alumni.)

So instead of heading out in search of adventure, we’re watching movies, staying in pajamas and enjoying the scent of homemade chicken noodle soup on the stove.

I do have a lot of household projects that I’d hoped to take care of this week, but instead I think I’ll snuggle in bed with my son and watch Finding Nemo for the umpteenth time.

And I’ll cross my fingers that I don’t catch the virus that’s burning up inside of him.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Five Frugal Things and One Splurge

by Katy on January 20, 2013 · 45 comments

Five Frugal Things

  1. Today’s breakfast was anchored by fried eggs, thanks to the woman visiting from China who stayed in one of my mother’s guest cottages. Why? Because she left her food in the refrigerator!
  2. I recently cancelled our newspaper subscription as the price had gone up to almost a dollar a day. There were just too many days when the paper was getting recycled without being read. This will save us $28 per month.
  3. We are still using the free shampoo that our neighbor didn’t like and gave to us. I don’t love it either, but it’s shampoo, not auto brakes! (One needs to function perfectly, the other doesn’t really matter.)
  4. The Chinese woman from my mother’s guest cottage left a really sturdy and attractive box from Coach Leatherware in the recycling, so I brought it home to store stuff in. (Because every non-consumer needs an illusion of excessive spending. 😉 )
  5. My husband’s high school friend is a shoe engineer for Nike. He’s been giving free soccer cleats to my ecstatic son who currently wears the sample size. Retail price? $200+ per pair!

One Splurge

  1. We are hiring my brother-in-law to built the missing trim surround for our 99-year-old built-in buffet. This is not going to be cheap, yet it needs to happen and we’ll be supporting a family member.

Now you. What frugal things have you been doing, and conversely have you been splurging?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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My Paper To-Do Lists

by Katy on January 17, 2013 · 67 comments

I consider myself to be a fairly productive person. I work part time as a labor and delivery nurse, write a daily blog and I manage a household while making sure to allow enough time for DIY projects, socializing and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

I have friends who take full advantage of their electronic devices for their uber-organized to-do lists, calendars and probably some kind of ap thingies that I’m too much of a caveman to even comprehend. (Yes, caveMAN, as I am too backwards to evolve into a caveWOMAN.)

I’m a pen to paper woman. Yes, I know this is hypocritical from someone who writes an online blog, but there it is. I keep a physical engagement calendar and I write my to-do lists on scraps of paper and old envelopes; with tiny square boxes that I check off as I complete each tasks. I had assumed I was the only person under the age of fifty who operated this way, but breakfast out with tech-savvy J.D. Roth taught me otherwise.

Despite having his smart phone sitting right there on the restaurant table, we bonded over our paper calendars, agreeing that being able to open a page and see a whole week at a time was vastly superior.

And then, when we had finished our breakfasts, he pulled out a paper index card, which was filled top to bottom with a tidy list of all of his day’s tasks. That’s right people, a to-do list on a piece of paper.

I knew there was a reason we were friends.

Do you write your to-do lists on paper or have you made the leap out of the cave and into the electronic age? 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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Last 10% Challenge Update

by Katy on January 16, 2013 · 15 comments

10 Challenge

Have you been working on the last 10% of your projects? I have, and just to share that not everything needs to be a big deal, so I present to you the electrical outlets from my dining room.

plug - before

plug - after

All it took was turning off the electricity for the dining room, rubbing alcohol and elbow grease.

This has been bugging me for for the past 15 years, so yeah, I’m happy.

100% happy.

Have you been jumping on The Non-Consumer Advocate’s Last 10% Challenge bandwagon? Please share your projects in the comments section below.

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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Coffee Table Porn

by Katy on January 15, 2013 · 46 comments

You may feel that Pinterest is yet another time wasting social media outlet. And really, I won’t give you too much argument on the subject. However, Pinterest is also an amazing source of ideas and inspiration.

AH-MAY-ZING!

Case in point? This mirror topped antique card catalog pinned by HGTV’s Emily Henderson. This single image, which was from her blog, reminded me that I too owned an antique card catalog, although it had been relegated to the basement as it was A) Too damned heavy and B) Without a top. (Card catalogs were designed to be stacked, so only the top one would have a solid surface.)

 

Inspiration

I also owned an extremely thick full length mirror, which I’d picked up at an estate sale, oh . . . a million years ago. A quick measure of the mirror and the card catalog confirmed that I had enough mirror to make my own table topper.

A local mirror and glass company was able to do the cuts, while keeping the edges less than razor sharp for twenty smackeroos. Another local company sold me a set of four non-marring swivel casters for $18. (This would solve the too heavy problem, plus give it an industrial cool vibe.)

Looky:

coffee table

The wood is looking kind of rough, but I’ll clean and nourish it for a fresh new look in the next week or so.

Here’s the money shot another gratuitous shot, just for fun:

Drawer detail

Not only will the wood be lookin’ fine very soon, but I plan on slipping some paper detail into the the label pulls. Maybe words from an antique book. Lots of options to play with.

I’m 100% pleased with my new coffee table. I have a lot of upholstered furniture in my living room, so the hard surfaces of this table balance it out well. Not sure what I’ll put in the drawers, if anything. We did use this as a coffee table when my older son was a toddler, and he enjoyed putting his little toys into the drawers. I remember that one drawer was even labeled “alligators.” (Pause a moment for my heart to melt.)

The best part is that I was able to assemble this piece of furniture without buying anything more than the casters. I did ask the clerk, (the great-grandson of the original owner) if they sold used casters, but such was not the case.

Thank you Pinterest and Emily Henderson, your online presence brings both mindless distraction and inspiration.

A lethal combination.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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