Too Much Stuff = Too Much Stress. Duh.

by Katy on July 10, 2012 · 35 comments

Does having too much stuff stress you out? Well, Social psychologists and anthropologists from U.C.L.A. have conducted an in-depth study following 32 middle-class families analyzing the connection between material possessions and chemical stress levels. And that information has been pulled together into a book titled “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century.”

The book is described as:

“Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century cross-cuts the ranks of important books on social history, consumerism, contemporary culture, the meaning of material culture, domestic architecture, and household ethnoarchaeology.”

The NY Times recently ran a Q & A interview with one of the authors, Anthony P. Graesch titled The Way We Live: Drowning in Stuff. It included surprises such as:

“Women’s stress-hormone levels spiked when confronted with family clutter; the men’s, not so much.”

My favorite part of the study was the connection between the number of magnets on a person’s fridge, and their stress levels. You can guess that result.

All kidding aside, I am dying to read this book, and would put it on hold at the library if they had it yet. Because you know, I wouldn’t want to clutter my house up with another book. 😉 I know that there is a very direct connection between the amount of crap in my house and my own happiness. And as I’ve decluttered, I’ve felt massively less stressed.

Click HERE to read the NY Times article in its entirety.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Ready to Replace it? Maybe You Just Need to Clean it!

by Katy on July 10, 2012 · 24 comments

It’s very easy to replace your Stuff when it gets worn out, but I’m here to tell you that your first step should always be to rejuvenate that item before replacing it. (Of course, if it’s a safety issue, then please, replace away!)

My first example of cleaning instead of replacing is the rock wall in my backyard that my sister built four years ago. Yes, I realize that this example is a bit extreme, as very few people would replace a rock wall just because it was looking drab and uninspired, but bear with me. It’s a way to get a fresh new look without buying anything new.

Pardon the pun, but the before and afters is powerful. (Because, you know, I used a power washer. Oh . . . never mind.)

The inspiration was that my next-door-neighbors bought a power washer. I am a firm believer in mutual moochiness when it comes to neighborly relations, so I started salivating as I watched my neighbor spray down his this, his that and his everything. Luckily, they were happy to share the wealth, so we set up a time for a how-to lesson and then left me to my own devices.

Here’s a before shot of my rock wall. Do you see all the variation in stone? Nope, I didn’t think so.

And here’s the after shot. Bow down in all the texture in the stone, as well as the rich red iron content of some of the rocks. And if you look to the right side of the picture, you might spy a large chunk of amethyst. I bet it escaped your notice in the first photo. (Please, click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Here’s the before photo of the brick steps. Dirt, mildew, moss, we’ve got it all!

And the after shot. Clean, bright and with chock full of definition! I  highly doubt you noticed the detail of small stones set between the outer circle of bricks in the before photo.

My second example of cleaning instead of replacing is this filthy patio umbrella canopy. My mother, (bless her heart) is not so good about taking her outdoor furnishings out of the elements during the rainy season. (October through mid-July.) So she offered me her old patio umbrella, which was downright nasty looking. Agree?

I decided I would run the canopy through the washing machine, which I did adding laundry detergent, enzymatic cleaner and borax and for good measure. I even stopped the cycle for a few hours mid-way so it could enjoy a nice rejuvenating soak. I had thought I’d need to buy a packet of fabric dye to complete its My Fair Lady transformation. But it turned out to be completely unnecessary.

Because all the patio umbrella needed was a simple laundering. It’s now in perfect condition, (better than the one I garbage picked last year) and no one will care if the the inner and outer colors show differentiation.

Certainly not me.

And just for fun, here’s a photo of me getting’ busy with the power washer, which was super swell fun. (Seriously, it’s a blast to use!)

So remember, next time you look at your outdated, filthy or simply uninspiring Stuff, give it a scrub before you give it the ol’ heave-ho.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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What’s Your Best Curbside Find?

by Katy on July 9, 2012 · 37 comments

This post came in this morning from Crystal over at the Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook Group:

Total score this morning! While walking our dog (and picking up trash to help clean up the neighborhood), we saw a perfectly good plastic toy wheelbarrow set out by the curb with someone’s garbage. My husband and I had just been talking about getting one for when our nieces and nephews come to visit and want to help us in the garden. I told my husband to grab the wheelbarrow and we carried it home. Savings of about $20 over buying new…which we would never do anyway!

Interestingly, I just finishing reading an article about “treasure hunting” (aka trash picking) in The Tightwad Gazette, where Amy listed some of her best finds. It got me to wondering about other peoples’ best treasure hunting finds?

Great question, Crystal! Here, I’ll start:

My best curbside find was a set of eleven solid antique oak chairs from an old Carnegie library. They were piled with other household goods on someone’s porch with a hand lettered sign that read “ARC.” (Associated for Retarded Citizens, which picks up donated goods and sells them to for-profit stores like Value Village.) I was on a walk at the time, and by the time I got home I decided I would ask the owners if they would sell the chairs to me. My husband was appalled, as he felt I would be stealing from a charitable organization, but I countered that the owners would be welcome to donate the money to their charity of choice.

I walked back to the house and nervously knocked on the door, where the owner consulted with her partner to come up with the number of $75 for all eleven chairs, which I happily paid. (That’s $6.82 apiece.) She told me that her old boss had worked for the library system, and had saved the chairs from being tossed and brought them home, as well as an old library table, which she was keeping. (Needless to say, she was really excited to be getting money for something she thought she was giving away!)

These old chairs look perfect in my 1914 Craftsman-style house, and are sturdy as can be. We ended up using a few of the chairs for parts, as a couple of them were falling apart.

Of course, the chairs aren’t exactly a “curbside find,” as I paid for them. So I’ll share a list of actual favorite curbside finds:

  • Antique console table.
  • Antique chest of drawers.
  • Bag of clothing & miscellaneous stuff which I sold to a resale store.
  • Wicker plant stand which I sold for $15.
  • Small metal table which matches my patio furniture.
  • Countless terra cotta pots.
  • Black metal arbor.
  • Rolling cart of drawers.
  • Antique glass knobs from a broken dresser.
  • A few nicely framed prints.
  • A tubular metal papasan chair for my son’s room.
  • Fluffy yellow butterfly chair for my other son’s room.
  • Patio umbrella.
  • A pair of new-with-tags Levi’s which I’ll sell to Buffalo Exchange.
  • A pair of paint splattered Keen Mary-Janes, which I cleaned up and sold for $10.
  • Bent-wood chair which I painted & reupholstered.
  • Some cute throw pillows for the settee on my front porch.
  • Books which sold to Powell’s for $18.75.
  • Recent Sunset Magazines, which included a still-good coupon for free Benjamin Moore paint.
  • A bedside table, which I painted up cute.
  • Probably countless other household items.

Whew . . . that’s kind of a lot of stuff when added up together! It makes it sound like I’m a big-time hoarder, but I assure you that all of these items are in current use.

Now you, what have been your proudest treasure curbside hunting finds? 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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The Good, The Bad and The Overpriced — A Trip to Goodwill

by Katy on July 6, 2012 · 69 comments

I’ve been pretty good about not going to Goodwill too often these days. Sure, I possess mad skillz in sorting through the used wobbly Ikea furniture and fake Hummel figurines to find the good stuff, but I also have the self-discipline to walk out empty handed. (An important skill for those of us who do not wish to be featured on Hoarders.) But yesterday’s Young House Love blog post about going to Goodwill lit a flame that could only be extinguished with my own thrift shop foray. Plus I recently broke my tea kettle and was needing a replacement, so this trip was a necessity. Right?

The first item that caught my eye was a wool rug with a pretty blue and white floral pattern. I’ve been keeping an eye out for a bedroom rug, and since this rug had a few superficial stains, I was crossing my fingers that I had found a bargain. (I own a Bissell rug shampooer, so stains are a non-issue.) I unrolled the rug to find that it was from Pier One, and had an original price of $300. The Goodwill price? $149.99.

Pass.

The second item that caught my eye was a large mirrored terra cotta flowerpot. It was pretty much the grooviest thing I’d seen all day. (You know, because my days are filled with nothing but groovy.) It was in excellent condition, but was marked at the non-bargain price of of $12.99. Not enough to force my family out of our house, but hardly a bargain. However, my backyard patio is shaded by the world’s largest maple tree and is dark, dark, darkety-dark. And I could totally envisage how this single flowerpot could bring some much needed light into our backyard.

Plus it looked like a disco ball, which was hard to resist. So into the cart it went.

Having fulfilled my quota of expensive heavy unnecessary purchases, I pointed my cart in the direction of the tea kettles, where I came across this sad selection:

One already broken tea kettle and a Classic Winnie The Pooh kettle. You know, for when you want to make boiling liquids super enticing to children. What’s next, Hello Kitty drain cleaner? Needless to say, I bought neither.

I’ve been keeping an eye out for new condition coasters for making into Mod-Podged gifts, so my eye was drawn to this set:

But $6.99 for seven used coasters? That’s cray-zay!

Luckily the tide of overconsumption flowed my way, in the form of these still packaged coasters:

You can’t tell from the photo, but that is two, count ’em two sets of six coasters for 99¢. So yes, I did buy these.

I didn’t buy anything else, but I did come across these treasures:

Based on the real fur cuffs and the mittens, I think this figure is a touristy item from Alaska. But was drew my eye was that the full length coat is made from an antique flour-sack quilt. It is so beautiful, yet I have zero use for it. The doll itself is grotesque, but everything else is rather wonderful.

I then spied this Russian nesting doll:

I was curious whether it included the inner dolls, so I opened it up only to find this:

Oh, gag. That is a small bundle of human hair.

At this point I decided that my afternoon at Goodwill was at a close, so I payed my $13.98 and schlepped my heavy purchases to the car. And lo and behold this beauty was parked right in front of me:

So perfectly kelly green, so perfectly restored, so perfectly bussy. I grew up with a VW bus as our family car. I sat in that thing from Oregon to New York, Oregon to Pittsburgh, Oregon to Nebraska and countless other trips. I even learned to drive on that thing, so VW busses hold a very special place in my heart.

VW busses + Katy = ♥

I am very excited to place my new mirrored flowerpot into my backyard, and will even be power washing the patio today, so the timing is perfect. And the perfect VW bus? It will have to stay living in my dreams.

Are you a lover of The Goodwill? 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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Lament of the Free Potting Bench

by Katy on July 5, 2012 · 19 comments

I don’t know how it is for the rest of the country, (or the world for that matter) but when Portlanders want to get rid of their unwanted household stuff, they put in front of their house with a free sign. Frequently it’s a saggy moist couch or an outdated (and also moist) TV set, but often enough it’s something wonderful. Not wonderful like piles of diamonds or Rolex watches, but wonderful like terra cotta flowerpots and still useful household goods and furniture.

However, you have to strike when the iron is hot because that great item will not be there two hours or even two minutes later.

Just last week I was over in the Sellwood neighborhood helping my mother clean out one of her rental cottages, when a somewhat weathered cedar potting bench caught my eye. I walked over and gave it a shake, and found it to be very sturdy and only in need of a light sanding to bring it back to its former glory. I immediately knew where I would put the bench and how I would use it, (in a corner of my backyard where I currently stack unrelated items) and decided I would load it into the back of my mini-van when I finished cleaning my mother’s house.

I think you know where this story is going, but bear with me.

The cleaning job was a bit rushed, as there was a four hour turnaround between tenants that day, but between the two of us, my mother and I are a well oiled cleaning machine.

With a sense of accomplishment, I stepped out of house house to find, well . . . nothing. No potting bench, no free sign, no nothing.

Dagnabbit!

I kicked myself, as I should have known better than to let that great free potting bench just sit there available to Portlanders who are not too proud to scoop up other people’s garbage.

Again, dagnabbit.

And don’t you know that I’ve been thinking about that potting bench ever since. It hadn’t occurred to me that I could use a potting bench before, and now it’s all I can think about. (Slight exaggeration, as I actually also think about HGTV: Design Star and how many fresh local cherries I can eat before becoming overwhelmingly gassy.)

Luckily, there are lots of great free piles this time of year. Leftovers from garage sales and relocating hipsters provide more than a gal can use.

Just no potting bench.

Dagnabbit.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Thrift Store Clothing in Japan

by Katy on July 4, 2012 · 18 comments

Here’s my argument for mindful spending. We eat lentil soup, go without new clothing and veer away from pricey daily expenditures. My son is wearing thrift store clothing, but he’s wearing them in Japan. And go ahead, guess which kid is mine.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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How Attached Are You to Being Busy?

by Katy on July 1, 2012 · 42 comments

Do you ever feel like your worth is tied to how busy your life is? Well then, I highly recommend the NY Times blog piece, “The Busy Trap” by Tim Kreider.

I’m a lot less busy than most anyone else that I know. I choose to work 16 hours per week, and at 14 and 16, my kids are pretty independent. However, I closely guard my free time, and am not looking to fill my days with obligations and tasks.

I like not being busy, and hardly ever feel that I should justify my days.

Here’s the opening paragraph from the article:

“If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” ‘So busy.’ ‘Crazy busy.’ It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: ‘That’s a good problem to have,’ or ‘Better than the opposite.’ “

Click HERE to read the entire article.

Do you feel that you need to stay busy at all times? 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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Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em, Coupons Can Save You a Buttload of Money

by Katy on June 30, 2012 · 19 comments

The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!  And for those of you who still believe coupons are only for junk, I used coupons yesterday for Tillamook pepper jack cheese, pistachios and Tillamook ice cream. And yes, I doubled them  🙂

What do restaurant meals, bowling and, ahem, personal waxing all have in common? Easy. They’re all items/services you’d be foolhardy to approach without a coupon in hand. No longer are coupons relegated to the grocery and drug store aisles. Coupons today are for anything and everything. And yes, I use them.

I do not consider myself to be a big couponer. More than most people I suppose, but certainly nothing when compared to the likes of those profiled on TLC’s Extreme Couponing. Unlike those shoppers, I do not buy coupons on eBay, nor do I look beyond my Sunday paper, grocery circulars and occasional Facebook coupons. (“Like” Tillamook cheese for $1 off coupon type of deal.) I’m not sure how much I save with coupons, but I try not to buy anything I would not otherwise have wanted. I also buy a $20 Chinook Book every year, which are sold as school fundraisers and are filled with eco-friendly coupons for local businesses. I spend maybe ten minutes every other week clipping and organizing.

I carry a small coupon organizer in my purse, which pretty much screams sexless middle-aged mom to anyone who might be on the prowl. But that’s okay.

But just because there are horrifyingly extreme couponers being profiled on TV, doesn’t mean you have to mirror their methods to benefit from couponing. You can benefit from coupons without being an insane stockpiler of paper towels, over the counter medicine and frozen pot pies.

At this point, you may be saying to yourself, “I would never be caught dead couponing. I only buy organic quinoa in 50 pound hemp sacks, which I then upcycle into scratchy baby blankets.”

So yeah, maybe food couponing will never be your cup of tea, (although The Chinook Book has Bob’s Red Mill coupons) but if you leave the house and pay for services, there’s still money to be saved. Here’s how:

Groupon: (Or, Living Social and Mobba, etc.) These group buying sites offer at least 50% discounts on at least one thing per day for your specific area. (I have bought coupons for local coffee shops, Blazers tickets, bowling, baked goods, movie tickets, Redbox rentals and even a Shutterfly photo book.) The hitch is that the deal is not official until a certain number of people buy in, but it’s so popular that this rarely, (if ever) happens. Most of the coupons are for weird things like waxing, tooth whitening, and the like. But if you get on their e-mail list, you’re almost certain to find something you want.

Internet Coupons: Whenever I’m going to buy something from a national company, (think rental cars or hotels!) I run a quick internet search to see if there’s a coupon or coupon code available. It only takes a few minutes and is almost always worth the effort. Just do a search for “coupon code” plus wherever you’re shopping. Also, sites like Coupons.com and Restaurants.com can be a surprisingly good sources for printable coupons.

Recently, I was researching a medication that one of my family members take, and I came across a 50% off your co-pay for a year coupon. This will save us hundreds of dollars, and I would never would have thought to look for a prescription medication coupon. But there it was, and the fine folks over at Walgreen’s didn’t even bat an eye!

This got me wondering about other bizarre coupons, so I asked the Facebook readers over at Frugal Living NW “What are some of the oddest things you’ve been able to use coupons for?”

Here are a few of the responses:

  • Erika: Condoms
  • Tomina: A Christmas tree (not artificial)
  • Stephanie: I couponed my wedding dress!!
  • Emilie: Our friends found a coupon towards their new home purchase…that is the craziest one I’ve heard of!
  • Brandi: KY Intense lubricant and I’m glad I tried it. So is hubby.
  • Kathi: Wine and vodka.

Are you seeing a pattern here? No? Good, because there is none. Because coupons today are for everything!

I am dying to watch an episode or two of Extreme Couponing, as I feel that amidst the insanity there is something to be learned. But barring that, (I am cable TV free) I will just watch the online snippets and enjoy my middle-aged life. Coupon organizer and all.

Are you a coupon-phile or coupon-o-phobe? 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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Non-Consumer Mish-Mash — Onions, Hydrangeas and Library Love

by Katy on June 29, 2012 · 11 comments

It’s time again for Non-Consumer Mish-Mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little bit about that.

Celebrate The Onion

My 16-year-old son finally left for his month in Sapporo yesterday, and although I’ll miss him dreadfully, I’m also kind of excited to be parenting a single child. A month off from the two hours a day I spend trying to get my son to go to bed and subsequent hour that it takes to wake him up. I get a break from dealing with sibling rivalry. But most importantly, I get to cook with onions again for one. Entire. Month!

Walla Walla onions, purple onions, scallions, leeks, yellow onions!

My plan is also to clean, organize, rearrange and update his bedroom. (Either that or take a match to the disaster zone.) Either way, I’ll be sure to share some before and after photos.

I miss that sleep deprived, onion phobic, messy boy already.

Hydrangea Summer

Summer comes late to Portland, Oregon. But I can tell from my hydrangeas that it’s right around the corner.

Want proof of our late summer? Those are flannel sheets on the clothesline.

Library Love

Categorize this photo under “Things that I love.” This is the base of a lamppost outside the library’s Title Wave Bookstore, which sells used library books. Doesn’t it look like it should be in Narnia? Perfection.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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What is Money Well Spent For You?

by Katy on June 28, 2012 · 59 comments

After yesterday’s blog post asking if You Are Spending Money Where You Don’t Want To? got so much heated response, today I want to flip the same question and ask:

What is money well spent for you?

Is it travel, savings or musical instruments? Is it crafting, charity or kid activities?

Here, I’ll start:

For me money well spent is towards my kid’s education and promotion of well being. Although my kids both attend public school, we splash out on soccer fees, tutoring, martial arts and school related exchanges to Japan.

When I do spend money, I prefer to buy high quality items at thrift store prices. That way I can always resell at a profit. For example, I just bought my older son a Victorinox Swiss Army stainless steel watch from Goodwill for $15. It was new in the box and only needed a fresh battery to work. I could have bought a cheap watch for less than the $27 I paid for the watch, battery & link adjustment, but my son could conceivably own this high quality watch for decades. And if he later tires of the watch I will sell that sucker faster than you can say “Crazy Goodwill Lady.” Because this watch retails for $500!

So how about you? What do you consider to be money well spent? 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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