What’s Your Style of Meal Planning?

by Katy on October 16, 2011 · 49 comments

El Pato

The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!

When I read about frugality, one tip that I see repeated over and over is weekly menu planning. And yes, I see the appeal of knowing that Sunday is pot roast, Monday is spaghetti, and Tuesday is pizza. But I don’t buy it. I consider myself to be the Queen Empress of frugal cooking, yet weekly menu planning ends up being more expensive for me because I find myself planning complicated meals instead of working with what I already have on hand. And incorporating leftovers that are needing to get used up becomes more difficult if the menu is unyielding.

What gives?

I rarely shop for individual meals, but to stock the pantry and refrigerator. By utilizing this method, I’m able to prepare almost endless varieties of meals based on how much time I have and what we’re in the mood for. (I don’t work full time, and I’m aware that this affords me the luxury to be a bit more casual about meal preparation.)

Foods that I try and always keep on hand:

  • Dried beans, such as pinto, black beans and lentils.
  • Onions, potatoes and garlic.
  • Eggs, milk, butter and sour cream.
  • Cereals such as raisin bran and Cheerios.
  • Shredded mozzarella, bleu cheese and blocks of nice local cheddar cheese.
  • Tortilla mix, bread, dried pastas.
  • Individually frozen chicken breasts, (even though I complain mightily about my husband buying them.)
  • Frozen corn and peas.
  • Canned tomatoes, peanut butter, pumpkin puree, condensed milk, and El Pato tomato sauce in the yellow can. (Which is the best hot sauce and comes in a lovely small tin, perfect for avoidance of food waste.)
  • Fours, sugar, cornmeal, baking soda and powder.
  • A single box of S&W brand Japanese curry.
  • Brown and white rice.
  • Romaine lettuce that I have washed and chopped, and is stored in the salad spinner.
  • Homemade salad dressing.
  • Chocolate chips. (This above all else is vitally important!)
  • I also buy fruits and vegetables based on what’s in season and on sale.

I really do feel that I save money employing this dinner prep flexibility, but I still hear from readers who say they save money and avoid food waste by planning out their meals.

Are you a meticulous planner or a what-do-I-have-the-ingredients-for style of chef? Maybe a little of both? Please share your meal planning ideas in thecomments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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What to Do With My Dulcy Mahar Tiles?

by Katy on October 15, 2011 · 19 comments

If you live in Portland, Oregon and you love gardening, then you know who Dulcy Mahar is. Dulcy wrote a fantastically popular weekly gardening column for years in The Oregonian, and recently passed away. She was famous for her self-depricating style of writing, as well as her love of pink flamingos and her adventures with gardening assistant, “Doug The Wonder Boy.”

My parents were good friends with Dulcy and her husband Ted in the 1970’s, and I have many fond memories of hanging out with them. So when The Oregonian asked readers to send in their remembrances of Dulcy, my mind immediately went to a set of three tiles she had painted for a backsplash in our 1977 kitchen remodel.  Of course, the 1977 kitchen remodel has since been updated, but I remembered that the tiles had been carefully removed and set aside. Luckily, my father was able to unearth the tiles, and I brought them home.

See the tiles? They're behind the stove. And yes, my father and I are super groovy. Thanks for noticing!

But what to do with the tiles? 

My first thought was to simply mount the three tiles on a board and display them in my garden, but I kind of thought that a more unique solution might be in order. So I sent my enviable dilemma to Peggy McMullen, the editor of the Homes and Gardens section of the The Oregonian, so that she could see if her readership might help me brainstorm some creative ideas.

The Oregonian ended up publishing a short piece in last week’s Home and Gardens section of the newspaper asking readers for ideas. Sadly, there is only one comment so far, however I know that Non-Consumer Advocate readers are highly superior when it comes to coming up with great ideas.

So . . . click HERE to read the short newspaper article, and help me figure out how best to display these wonderful handmade tiles. And then, please share your ideas in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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A Portrait of Free

by Katy on October 13, 2011 · 10 comments

Free garbage picked table, free vintage pottery and flowers from my backyard. Yeah, living frugally is a terrible sacrifice.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Do You Have a Favorite Scavenge-y, Sneaky, Clever Way to Make Extra Money?

by Katy on October 10, 2011 · 49 comments

Due to the nature of the comments on this particular blog post, I have closed the comments. It is important that Non-Consumer Advocate readers feel free to leave their stories without fear of personal attack. Please know that if you choose to leave nasty comments, I will delete them. -Katy

 

I am looking to come up with some super original money making ideas for a project I’m working on.

Some examples of things I’ve done in the past are:

  • Selling my volunteer plants in a mini-nursery on my front steps.
  • Bringing home curbside finds, cleaning them up and then selling them at my garage sales.
  • Replacing pricey items with low priced Goodwill finds, and then selling off the more valuable versions. (Porch light, coffee table, etc.)
  • Buying the cheapest Mets tickets available, and then spending a fortune on beer and ice cream served in tiny batting helmets. Oh wait . . . that’s entirely different.
  • Scouring my house for things I can sell on Craigslist. And then scouring it again. (Seriously, my house is a never ending cornucopia of Stuff!)
  • And of course, buy low, sell high from garage sales, thrift stores and curbsides.

Do you crawl hip-deep into dumpsters to glean the gooey-center of buried treasure? Or perhaps you’re more the babysitting, dog walking lawn mowing type.

Either way, I want, no I need your interesting, creative and downright wacky money making ideas. And I want them now. Now!

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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Giveaway — Suzie’s Sourdough Circus

by Katy on October 10, 2011 · 74 comments

I have a very exciting giveaway for you today, which is a copy of the children’s book, Suzie’s Sourdough Circus, written by my sister’s friend, Kathy Sager. The illustrations are by Eliska Liska, and are absolutely enchanting!

This book is seriously adorable, and is inspired by my sister Sara’s stories of baking sourdough bread with our father. (And I am loving how Suzie even has long dark braids like my little sister!)

Written in verse, it even includes recipes! Here’s a sample:

“We don’t do it alone, no not in the least.

We have sourdough starter, our own wild yeast.

They’re part of our family, alive like a pet.

Look into our crock if you haven’t seen yet.”

To enter to win this book, write your name in the comments section below. I will randomly choose a winner on Wednesday, October 12th at 9:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time. U.S. residents only, please enter one time only.

Good luck!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Sometimes, Buying Used is a Pain in the Ass

by Katy on October 9, 2011 · 35 comments

Today, I awoke to this statement from my younger son:

“Mom, I think a cat peed on that chair.”

Which of course, was an upholstered chair. Specifically, a wonderfully comfortable vintage chair that I picked up at Goodwill for $15. It made sense, as my son had fallen asleep in the spare bedroom last night, and one of our cats likes to snooze underneath the bed in that room. And of course, I shut the door to that room without making sure it was cat-free.

Luckily, I always keep a bottle of enzymatic cleaner on hand. But this incident is pushing me over the edge of feeling the need to use a rug shampooer. Unfortunately, I don’t actually own a rug shampooer, which puts me in a position either renting or buying one. (Although my first choice is borrow one, none of my friends seem to actually own said rug shampooer.)

So I researched my options:

  • Buying a new rug shampooer costs $199.
  • Renting a rug shampooer (with upholstery attachments) costs $28.
  • Buying a “used once” rug shampooer through Craigslist costs $75+.

Obviously, buying a new shampooer is out of the question. And although renting a shampooer would be my cheapest out-of-pocket option, it would only meet my needs for today. My number one choice is to buy a used shampooer, as I would only have to use it three times to make it pay for itself. Plus, my neighbors, friends and family would then be able to borrow it from me, so it would benefit more than one household.

However, I sent an e-mail to a seller and called her number, but it turns out she’s out of town right now and won’t be back until tomorrow. So I sent another e-mail to another seller, and am currently sitting here twiddling my thumbs and awaiting a reply.

It would be sooo easy to just drive the couple of blocks to the grocery store and be done with it. And it would certainly be easy to shell out the big bucks and just buy a brand new shampooer. But I am at a point where I would like to own a shampooer, and I certainly do not relish having to sell a kidney to make this happen.

Buying used can be a real pain in the ass. 

However, putting in the extra work of buying used will save me $125, plus it will directly result in one less shampooer being manufactured, shipped, and packaged. So yeah, it’s worth it.

Do you put in the extra work to find used products, are are you in the “this too much trouble” camp? 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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A Package Party!

by Katy on October 8, 2011 · 3 comments

I worked the last few days, and was pretty tired by the time I came home yesterday. However, I was immediately perked back up by the appearance of not one, not two but three packages sitting in my entryway! Now, to give you a little perspective, my entryway not usually the resting place of wonderful packages from far away lands, but rather is a dumping grounds for bursting back backs and shoes of all size and grade of muddiness.

What was the occasion? Well, besides it being my older son’s 16th birthday, (Happy birthday, Colin!) apparently it was International Send Stuff to Katy Day. My packages contained:

A tube filled with movie theater lobby posters from such classics as Real Steel and Avengers 4. This was a gift from Angela, my Compact buddy and creator of the blog My Year Without Spending. Angela works in film, and has sent lobby posters to my kids through the years, which are always very fun to receive.

Thank you Angela!

A copy of Suzie’s Sourdough Circus, which I will be using for a blog giveaway. This adorable and beautifully written children’s book is the creation of Kathy Sager, who was inspired by my own sister’s sourdough starter and accompanied stories of baking bread with our father. Come back on Monday, when I’ll be starting the giveaway!

A huge box containing the book, Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy by Martin Lindstrom. Again, another book to use as a giveaway. However, instead of coming in the usual padded envelope, this book was nestled in three individual boxes, which included a wealth of puffy packaging, as if the contents were made from the thinnest of porcelain instead of paper.

What the what?

It turned out the the actual book was slotted into a fancy schmancy inner box that included a small video screen which plays publicity videos about the book. And I’m not sure how I will be using this particular feature, but the box also has a computer port. (Seriously, with the exception of a certain lack of flying cars, this is what I thought the future would look like when I was growing up.)

I actually prefer to receive two copies of books for giveaways, so I can read and mark up one copy one, and then send out a pristine version. But since this particular book came with so. Much. Stuff, I think I’ll make do with the single copy.

I do have to say that I’m certainly  intrigued to delve into this book.

And I also have to say that I wish every day was International Send Stuff to Katy Day.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Fabulous Frugal Find — Darling Girl/Darling Bed

by Katy on October 6, 2011 · 7 comments

It’s time again for another Fabulous Frugal Find, this time from Cate Linden, who blogs over at Liberal Simplicity.

My husband and I are expecting our second child sometime in February or March, so we wanted to get our 2-year-old transitioned to a bigger bed. We thought about buying a twin, but ultimately decided on a toddler bed for space reasons. Oddly, it didn’t occur to us initially that might find anything good used, so we were planning to spend $150-180 on a brand new toddler bed and mattress. But my mother-in-law suggested that we check Craigslist, and we were pleasantly surprised.

After scrolling through a few listings I found a solid wood Sleigh-style toddler bed, PLUS a mattress (from a nonsmoking home) for $50 total. We had cash on hand and picked them up the very next night. I am so impressed with how sturdy and pretty the bed is. My husband and I both lay in it (not at the same time!) when reading to our daughter, and it’s more than capable of holding our weight. We’re very happy to have it in our home, and best of all? I’m sure we can recoup our initial investment when the time comes to pass it on.

You can see more photos and read more about our daughter’s room here.

Thank you very much to Cate for sharing her F.F.F! If you want to submit your stuff, please e-mail the story including a good quality photo of yourself posing with your find to nonconsumer@comcast.net.

And please enjoy these previous Fabulous Frugal Find posts:

Frugal Garden Bench

Vintage Hostess Cart

High End Designer Furniture

Hand Knotted Oriental Rug

Fancy Velvet Dresses

Pot Belly Stove

Free Girl’s Sleeping Bag

Patio Set

Priceless $1 Painting

Rejuvenation Light Shade

Glamour Edition

Roseville Vase

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Laser Sharp Decluttering — Directed Donation

by Katy on October 5, 2011 · 53 comments

If a person were to get all their decluttering information from A&E’s Hoarders, the only way to get rid of the excessive Stuff in your home is to cram everything into garbage bags and throw it into the back of a 1-800-Got-Junk truck. Even still usable Stuff.

Luckily, this method really only applies to those of us whose belongings are soaked with animal urine or infested with insects. *Gag*

And as satisfying as it is to donate everything lock, stock and barrel to a single site, it decreases the chances that your unwanted goods will end up in the hands of people who will actually get some use from your old Stuff. Most of the time it’s better to split up your donations.

I am calling this decluttering method, Directed Donation. Sure, it takes a bit of extra work, but in the end it’s much more satisfying and frankly, less wasteful.

Just yesterday, I:

  • Mailed hand-me-down skinny jeans to my nephew in NYC.
  • Gave two blank T-shirts to a friend who teaches kids’ silkscreening classes.
  • Took a school specific T-shirt to said school, as they can use it for when kids get wet/muddy. (A frequent occurrence in Oregon.) At Goodwill, it is unlikely that anyone would want a T-shirt from my son’s old school.
  • Returned a casserole dish to a soccer parent. Got her to take a soccer sweatshirt that my son grew out of. (Again, at Goodwill, this like-new sweatshirt would have to be found by someone whose kids play in this specific league.)
  • Donated a laundry basket full of miscellaneous Stuff to Goodwill.

Directed donation can be a barrier to people going through piles upon piles of Stuff, but for most of us, this is not the case.

Today I’m going to take nice old clothes to the hipster consignment shop in my neighborhood, with an eye for getting some store credit towards a $50 gift card for my son’s upcoming 16th birthday. I will then cart the Stuff they don’t buy immediately to Goodwill. As I do not want decluttered items coming back into my house.

Because the goal is to not have my big ol’ house filled with so. Much. Crap.

Do you practice Direct Donation, or are you more of an Everything goes to Goodwill kind of person? 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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How Have You Cut Your Expenses?

by Katy on October 4, 2011 · 47 comments

Finding little Finicky Frugal Maneuverings is all fine, dandy and super satisfying, but add a dollop of focused expense cutting? (And of course, figuring out ways to bring in more income, but that’s a post for another day.)

Pure heaven.

I ♥ figuring out ways to bring my monthly expenses down. I recently started sharing garbage service with the neighbors, have cancelled my home phone line and finally finished paying off my ridiculously expensive Honda mini-van, (which alone frees up an extra $450 per month!) We were able to get my older son out of a martial arts center contract, and Netflix? Buh-bye!

Next on my list is to go through our insurance plans, and see if the deal offered through our credit union would be a smart move. (I know from working in a personal injury law office that cheap insurance can bite you in the the ass, so I will not make this movie lightly.) I did call our agent a few years ago, and she was able to give us discounts for having bachelor’s degrees, for not driving too much, and we upped the deductible on our home owner’s insurance, which garnered significant savings.

I am always trying to figure out ways to bring in extra income, (without of course working any extra. 😉 )and I know there are more little hacks that we can all learn from one another.

So . . . How have you cut your expenses? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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