Fabulous Frugal Finds — Priceless Painting for $1

by Katy on August 20, 2011 · 5 comments

Although I am enamored of having a less-cluttered house, (note that I didn’t say uncluttered) I am not above stopping at garage and estate sales on my way home from running errands. After all, many practical items can be found for pennies on the dollar this way. For example, our propane barbecue has been dissolving into rust powder over the past few years to the point where it cooks very unevenly, plus there’s a huge whoosh of fire accompanied by a distinct smell of burnt hair whenever I start it up.

Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye out for a new used one.

So when I spied a bight yellow “Estate Sale” sign on my way home from dropping my son at work yesterday, it would have been irresponsible of me to pass it by. And guess what? They had a new looking gas barbecue gleaming on the front lawn. It was marked at $60, to which I offered $30. This offer was declined, and I drove home not giving it too much thought. However, my husband felt this was a deal too good to pass up, so I drove back, offered $5o, paid $55 and was standing around the living room when my eyes roved over to a seascape painting on the wall.

“I kind of like that painting.”

Said The Non-Consumer Advocate.

“Really? Because you can have it for a dollar.”

Yup, a single dollar. A hundred pennies for a lovely signed 1953 painting. So there’s no surprise that I brought that puppy home, and that the colors look perfect in my spare bedroom.

I may sell it at a later date, but I’m going to keep it for now. After all, $1 for a dreamy seascape painting is a pretty Fabulous Frugal Find!

Below are the rest of the somewhat sporadic Fabulous Frugal Find series. If you have a find to share, please e-mail a photo and your story to nonconsumer@comcast.net.

Glamour Edition

High End Designer Furniture

Hand Knotted Oriental Rug

Fancy Velvet Dresses

Pot Belly Stove

Free Girl’s Sleeping Bag

Patio Set

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Less Stuff, More Peace of Mind — It’s Not Just About The Stuff

by Katy on August 19, 2011 · 16 comments

I’ve noticed along my journey of owning less stuff that I am taking better care of the things that I choose to own. Not only does almost everything have a proper place to be stored when not in use, but most of the stuff that I was ambivalent about in the past has since been donated or sold. I’ve also noticed that the more I get rid of stuff, the happier I am in my home.

So what’s left? Mostly just the objects that I like and appreciate. (Note that I didn’t write that everything I own is functional, as I am still very sentimental and appreciative of cool old stuff.) I do still have a number of what-the-hell-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-this piles of paperwork. However, there’s finally some breathing room around the objects that I choose to call “mine.”

I have pretty much moved away from things getting broken, filthy or generally messed up because they’re not being stored properly. (If you’ve ever watched Hoarders, you’ve seen people unearthing their family heirlooms, only to find that they’ve been ruined from years of lying under a pile of crap.)

Another side effect of winnowing down my belongings, is that I can quickly and easily find my things. No longer do I waste time looking all over the place for that certain thingamabob, so there’s less frustration that enters my daily mentality.

I find that it’s so more restful to not be bombarded with immense amounts of visual stimuli in my home The inherent guilty stabs of “Oh crap, I’ve got to deal with that,” which then imprison me in a constant stress state.

I posted the question of “Do you treat your belongings better now that there’s less?” on my Twitter feed to Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens and Dave Bruno of The 100 Thing Challenge, to which I got this response:

Tammy:

“In short, yes. Part of that has to do with a change in my mindset. For me living simply has taught me to be grateful for what I have. It’s a whole lot easier to take care of what’s in your life instead of heading the mall and I think that can be applied to any living circumstance.”

Dave:

“Just a reminder, simplicity isn’t only about decluttering. It’s about freedom from consumerism. Freedom to be meaningful.”

So what is it, is decluttering about freedom from stuff  or is decluttering about your mindset?

Yes. No. Both.

Mindful owning of less stuff allows a person to pull their focus away from maintaining/paying for/cleaning/organizing their things and move towards, well . . . whatever that person’s passion may happen to be.

I am by no means a minimalist, but I am also not a hoarder. I am a person who has worked very hard (five days of garage sales plus countless Goodwill trips) to get the point where keeping my stuff maintained is no longer the main focus of my days. And if you ask me where my such-and-such is, I am likely to provide an immediate answer. I do still have a few problem zones in my enormous house, but those areas are happily now the exception.

Which is my happy state of mind.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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How to Budget, Old School Style — Old “Schoolhouse Rock” Style

by Katy on August 18, 2011 · 7 comments

In case you were looking for a lesson on how to budget . . .

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Today I . . .

by Katy on August 16, 2011 · 27 comments

Today I . . .
  • Hung four loads of laundry.
  • Put away four loads of laundry.
  • Tidied up the dining room table.
  • Avoided tidying the dining room table by goofing around on Twitter and playing online Scrabble.
  • Drove kid to and from Japanese school.
  • Drove kid to and from soccer camp.
  • Drove kid to and from tennis with friends.
  • Drove kid to and from a birthday party.
  • Drove self to library, credit union & recycling center.
  • Baked a coffee cake at 10:00 P.M., after discovering that my son has a 7:00 A.M. potluck at work.
  • Cleaned and rearranged the guest bedroom to ready it for the Japanese exchange student who arrives for two weeks tomorrow.
  • Put away four loads of laundry.
  • Brushed my teeth, but didn’t shower.
  • Made lovely salads for dinner for me and my husband.
  • Bought pad thai for my son from a food  cart.
  • And tomorrow I work.

How about you?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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A Dose of Reality

by Katy on August 15, 2011 · 30 comments

I love the internet. I love the information, the distraction and the the inspiration. I drool over the aesthetics over at Modern Thrifter and Apartment Therapy, and I love trying to create a similar drool-worthy look in my own home.

However, reality is a hard hearted mistress.

My house rarely looks worthy of a photo shoot, and the current state of my dining room table is sending out a beacon to the staff of Hoarders to come and stage an intervention. Because instead of doing a post-vacation tidy-up yesterday, I spent the day pissing and moaning about how tired I was, which was followed by an evening watching Mad Men episodes on Netflix while cramming my face full of chocolate that the neighbor had brought by.

It was not pretty.

So today, I gift to you the above photo for comparison. Not a photo of my incredibly clean and sophisticated interiors, a photo designed to  make you feel like you’re more on top of your home than you ever dared to realize.

You’re welcome.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Non-Consumer Photo Essay — Vacation

by Katy on August 14, 2011 · 15 comments

We’re now back from our week-long vacation, and feeling both happy to be home and sad that our long awaited vacation is over. There’s laundry to contend with, despite having brought a collapsable clothes horse with us. But mainly, we’re all nice and relaxed and ready for whatever life throws at us this week.

We spent three nights/four days staying in an A-frame cabin on a lake in Central Oregon. Here, we boated, hiked, played cards and played with the golden mantled squirrels, which look almost exactly like chipmunks. We had a kitchenette, which meant that we prepared all our own meals. A huge savings. We chose to take the scenic route, which did not disappoint.

I didn’t actually take that many photos, as I’m apparently not the type to interrupt the activities of life for visual documentation.

Attractive boys at an attractive rest stop.

Hiking to go see waterfalls is easier when the trails are so well groomed.

Worth the hike.

Bringing a clothes rack meant we could bring less stuff. This is key when vacationing for longer than a couple of days.

Our Lincoln City condo, which was right on the beach. It also had a kitchenette and an indoor pool. (A necessity at the Oregon coast.) The pool meant we could have fun even when the beach was cold, windy and dark.

Our kitchenette at the beach condo. My sister Sara joined us for this leg of the journey, and was responsible for finding us a place to stay. She hit a home run, as the condo slept the five of us comfortably and was only $150, including the cleaning fee!

Yes, yes, I was also there. I just happen to be the one always taking pictures, despite my husband having a Bachelor in Fine Arts in photography.

 

We then dropped my sister Sara off at her school bus/farm/home and headed off for Great Wolf Lodge water park. It took us 6-1/2 hours to drive there, which was excruciating. I took no photos, as the hotel was not interesting, and I didn't want to bring the camera poolside, where it would get wet/stolen. This was the "splurge" portion of our vacation, although we prepared food in the room, brought our own garage sale Magiquest wand, ($14 to activate vs. $49 to buy + activate.) and bought not. One. Souvenir. We slept there one night and stayed the next day at the pool until the kids wearied of the fun/fun/fun.

I really liked this vacation. It was fun to break it up into different portions, and I enjoyed being able to treat my little sister to a short getaway. If I had to do it all over again, I might add an extra beach day into the trip, but otherwise there was nothing disastrous or regrettable. My goal, always.

I now need to whip the house into shape as we’re getting a Japanese exchange student on Tuesday for two weeks, which necessitates a different style of energy than I currently possess. Perhaps I’ll just pretend we’re renting this big ol’ Portland house, and the owners left it a big mess. A vacation mindset indeed.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Off Grid, On Fun

by Katy on August 8, 2011 · 7 comments

I will vacationing over the next week, and will mostly be without internet service. So you’ll have to survive without your daily dose of The Non-Consumer Advocate. Luckily, there are over a thousand blog posts in the archives, so please feel free to do some spelunking and general exploration.

Have a great week, see ya’ later!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

 

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Me Cheap? Sure, Why not!

by Katy on August 7, 2011 · 104 comments

I get Google alerts whenever someone out there in cyberland writes about The Non-Consumer Advocate, and this morning I received a message that:

“I have a love/hate relationship with The Non–Consumer Advocate. Sometimes she crosses that fine line between frugal and cheap, and I really dislike that.”

Hmm . . . do I cross the line between frugal and cheap?

Do I sneak my own candy in movie theaters? Yes. Do I get an inordinate amount of pleasure in discovering new Finicky Frugal maneuverings? Definitely. How about always bringing my own lunch to work? You betcha!

On the other hand:

Am I a big tipper? Uh huh. Does my family donate to charity? Every month. Do we take in foreign exchange teachers, students and athletes? Yup. Fourteen times so far.

So, what is it? Am I frugal or cheap?

I guess what it boils down to is whether my cheapness is seen as a path to living the frugal, yet generous life that I want; or is my cheapness a self-centered habit, benefitting myself at the expense of others?

My conclusion?

Call it what you will, but we all pinch pennies so that they’re available for the luxuries we value the most. This may be the ability to stay home with one’s children while they’re small, or to enjoy a camping-free vacation like I’m about to embark on. Cheapness in one area allows for wonderful splurges in another. (And hopefully one’s own cheapness does not leave others to pick up the slack, nothing admirable in that kind of life.)

So go ahead, call me cheap. I’ll wear it with pride.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

 

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The Non-Consumer Advocate Gets Intimate at Target

by Katy on August 6, 2011 · 26 comments

The following is a reprint of a previously published post. I actually did go buy a new set of underwear yesterday, so I figured it was time dust off this old gem.

I’ve been a member of  The Compact, (buy-nothing-new) over the past two years. This has meant that I really don’t buy anything new. No new clothing, no new gifts, no new toys.

Yup. Nothing.

But there’s one item I most definitely will not be buying used:

Underwear.

Yup. Even I am not that extreme.

I’d been chugging contentedly along with my used purchases, perfectly happy, not a care in the world. And then it happened, somehow I had not a single pair of panties I could wear without fear of accusations of taking things a bit too far. Because yes, I strip down to my skivvies at work. (Before your imagination starts to take over, I’m an RN and change into scrubs in a communal locker room.)

And it’s not like I started out on my Compact journey with new underwear anyway. They were already, um . . . let’s just say they were already starting up their AARP membership.

I like to procrastinate errands until I can batch them, and I finally had enough to justify powering up the ol’ mini-van and hitting the road. One errand I’d been particularly dreading was a Home Depot run to return a box of too-big dimmable compact fluorescent light bulbs. I completed this dull errand, and I’m walking back to the car when I notice that there’s a Target store in the same complex.

Hmm . . . I’m already here, I might as well just get it over with and buy some new underwear.

So I took a deep breath and aimed myself across the lot, and entered the holy grail of consumerism.

I walked right past the carts and the baskets and found the intimates department. And what-do you-know? They were even on sale! I quickly found an acceptable panty packet, (buy 6, get 1 free!) and carried my singular purchase to the check-out line.

I paid my $6, declined a plastic bag and walked back to the car.

Whew!

And you know what? I had thought I would have to work to consciously ignore all the tempting shiny objects, but there was absolutely nothing that caught my eye. Nothing.

So now I have a brand new pair of underwear for each and every day of the week.

Yup. I’m set for the next two years.

Do you have things you would never buy used? Tell us what your Compact exceptions would be 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 Photo Essay — Beauty in an Everyday Environment

by Katy on August 5, 2011 · 13 comments

I was readying to unload the dishwasher this morning, when I was overcome with how beautiful my dishes looked. The bright shiny colors, the cohesiveness of shape and design and the inherent order of the dishwasher system. It was almost a shame to put the dishes away.

This area of the foundation was crumbling, so my husband spent months spreading layer after thin layer of cement back on. Needless to say, all the soil had to be removed for this to happen. The soil is finally back in place, and I mixed huge amount of compost back in last night, which looks so rich and tempting. I can't wait to come back from vacation and plant something here.

A close-up of the homemade compost. A tiny and startled mouse popped out from the compost when I was digging it out. I hate to say it, but it was awfully cute.

I've been meaning to replace these mis-matched cushions for awhile.

There -- Doesn't that look better?

I realized that the bulk size pectins were cheaper per ounce, so these small boxes are ready to be returned. Every penny counts!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

 

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