My column on Sustainable Holidays is being featured today over at Ashley English’s wonderful blog, Small Measures.
Click here to read Ashley’s Sustainable Holidays column.
Thank you very much to Ashley for her kind words and letting me borrow her husband for excessive Scrabble-age. I thank you seven letters at a time.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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The standard advice from financial columnists is to pay for stuff on a cash basis. Credit cards, even debit cards supposedly separate a person from the reality of how much money is being spent. Cash, on the other hand forces a person to be hyper aware of expenditures.
I am the complete opposite.
I actually spend much, much more freely with cash in hand than if I’m swiping a debit card.
I somehow adopt an attitude of “sure, why not” when making purchasing decisions if my wallet bulges with actual money.
The reasoning for this may be because I rarely carry cash, so it’s an exciting treat when I actually have some.
“Oooh a ten dollar bill. I think I’ll grab lunch from the work cafeteria as a treat.”
Now, I want to hear from you. (I’ve been wanting to publish a poll for awhile, and this is the perfect opportunity.)
Please also share your thoughts on cash vs. debit in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I have started my holiday shopping in earnest. This does not mean that I braved the 4:00 A.M. crowds for Black Friday, nor does it mean that I clicked my way through the internet for Cyber Monday. Shopping for me means hitting the thrift shops with an eye for gift giving.
I drove my younger son and myself up to Seattle on Friday morning to hang out with my sister and her family for the weekend. This is not only frugal, (scamming her Thanksgiving leftovers, which we ate delicious three nights in a row!) but is also shoptastic, because:
Sisters Wolk-Stanley + holiday season = Goodwill!
And my dear sister taught me an awesome lesson, which is that Oregon residents don’t have to pay Washington sales tax when shopping in their fair state. It did require a few minutes to fill out paperwork, but it saved me a couple of bucks!
Katy Wolk-Stanley + Goodwill discount = happy Non-Consumer Advocate!
We hit up both the main Goodwill and the Ballard store. (We pretended we were in the area to take the kids to the zoo, but who were we kidding?)
I bought:
I normally buy gifts all year long and then fill in the gaps come December, but I have been very disciplined this year and mostly kept out of the thrift stores. But last year’s snow storm taught me a lesson to not put the shopping off until the last minute, and I’m really quite enjoying the whole digging through the crap to find the treasure experience.
What can I say? I’m a cheap date!
Are you in full swing for your holiday shopping? Please share your finds and 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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The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!
I am a big fan of the regift.
We all receive gifts that are not our taste, not our style, not our cup of tea.
And just because someone gave me a gift, doesn’t mean I have to keep it forever. Or frankly, even use it ever.
My favorite regift story is from a few years past.
My father and step-mother were getting married after 17 years of living together, which included a beloved 15-year-old daughter. Their wedding was the apex of casual — just a gathering of three friends plus family members in their living room. A minister officiated.
It was so casual that my little sister had to be called to come down from her room, because, “your parents are getting married!”
She wore jeans.
My father and step-mother were insistent that they didn’t want any presents. I tried to tell them that I would like to buy them something special, but they were quite firm on the matter.
So I snuck into their house and stole their Cuisinart food processor.
My step-mother is an incredible cook, and she uses her food processor on an almost daily basis. It is her beloved baby, and I shudder to think what would happen if she were asked to choose between the Cuisinart and a loved one. (I think we’d be out on the street faster than you could say, “pureed soup.”)
She called me up a few days later, asking me if I remembered seeing the Cuisinart when I was at the house last.
“Hmm. . . I don’t really remember. Why do you ask?”
“I think someone broke into the house and stole the Cuisinart!”
“No? Really? That’s insane! Walked past the stereo and computer and stole the Cuisinart? There must be a rational answer.”
The evening of the wedding rolls around, and I show up with a big heavy present, wrapped in traditional shiny silver wedding paper.
My step-mom was dismayed that her wishes were not being honored.
“Oh no Katy, I told you we didn’t want any presents!”
“But I really wanted to get you something special. Something I knew you would use and appreciate.”
(I’m playing it for all it’s worth at this point, and having a lot of fun.)
We sit down and my step-mother opens her wedding present to find . . . her own Cuisinart! Complete with splatters of food and dustings of flour!
It was a hit.
And my step-mother still can’t tell the story of her wedding present without peals of hysterical laughter.
Like regifting stories? The website regiftable.com has a great archive of people’s most mortifying regifting stories. They’re wonderful, and it’s certainly the season for it.
Do you have any good regifting stories? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I am spending the weekend visiting my sister up in Seattle.
Today we:
What I didn’t do:
Have a great day, see you tomorrow.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Hello there, you silver tongued devil. Your sensual whisperings compel me to fold that extra load of laundry, walk that extra mile, rake both back and front yards. Without you, the silence of taskery folds me into its dull realm, smothering me second by never ending second. Your stories flow through me, transporting me to worlds more interesting than that which float in dishwater.
Others may download you directly onto their iPods, but my outdated CD Walkman works perfectly well to bring you into my heart.
Some use you for motivational and self-help pursuits, but my needs are less serious and more joyful. British chick-lit, historical fiction and anything with the words Jane or Austen fill my innermost realms.
Some may say I’m not actually reading when you and I meet up for our literary trysts, but I beg to differ. We have nothing to hide. Our connection is deep and auditory, soaking deeply into my brain despite having never passed through my vision.
Your stories never seem to dry up. Randomly pulled from the library shelf or long awaited bestsellers, either way you always deliver the goods.
Soothing yet energizing all at once.
So thank you sweet, sweet audio books. Your words lift me beyond the sameness of household drudgery and into the lives of characters that enrich and entrance.
You had me at disc one.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click here to read my other love letters.
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Today is the day after Thanksgiving, which means it’s black Friday, The Story of Stuff day!
Never heard of this holiday? Well . . . that’s because I just made it up. The Story of Stuff is a wonderful and engaging 20 minute video produced by Annie Leonard that succinctly explains the flow of stuff through manufacturing to landfill. This video has been viewed over seven million times and is a great substitution for rising at 3:00 A.M. for doorbuster deals.
Enjoy it and pass it along!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I was driving to work the other morning when a story came on National Public Radio about carpooling and incentive programs.
This story was very interesting to me because the person being interviewed, (Cliff Winston of the Brookings Institution) said that a monetary incentive programs work well because:
“People are, in fact, more motivated to save a dollar than gain a dollar.”
Really?
I have found the opposite to be true.
People, (okay, my children) make fun of me for all the measures I go to in order to save money, but no one has ever mocked me for the money I have earned.
Whenever I have to point out to the clerk that I am bringing my own grocery bags and should get the nickel rebate, I try to think of it as five cents on the ground that I would bother to bend over for. Yes, it’s a little embarrassing, but ultimately worth it.
A bit of a mind trick, because even for me, earning a nickel may be more of an incentive than saving one. But on the other hand, I get such a thrill out of buying items for pennies on the dollar.
I know many people who are always picking up overtime shifts because their regular wages are not enough to cover their bills. If these people were to take that time to lower their expenditures, it would be a much better long term solution to their financial woes. But these people would rather earn a dollar than save one.
The words from the radio resonated with me as I found my mind exploring whether I prefer saving money or making money. As the Non-Consumer Advocate, I should prefer to save money, but I’m really not sure. I love coming across financial windfalls, but I also love it when I’m able to save a significant amount of money.
I think I’m just going to have to come to the conclusion that I love both saving money and earning money. (It’s like my children — how can I prefer one over the other?!)
How about you? Are you motivated more by savings or earnings? 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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The following is a reprint of a previously published column. Enjoy!
My ten-year-old son is very focused. But not necessarily on what you want him to be focusing on.
Iron Giant?
Focused.
Art?
Focused.
Drawing pictures of The Iron Giant?
Super focused.
Remembering to bring his lunch box home from school?
Not so focused.
Luckily, we have a few extra lunch boxes and water bottles. We can go three days before starting to send him to school with his lunch in a burlap sack.
So he was bringing home an armload of lunch boxes the other day, but had a super worried look on his face.
One of the lunch boxes had a broken handle, and horror of all horrors, it was his brother’s one.
He quickly blurted out the source of his worry.
“I broke Colin’s lunchbox, and he’s gonna go all Chuck Norris on me!”
A quick once-over told me the lunch box could be fixed with a needle and thread.
And sure enough, a few minutes with the sewing kit saw the lunch box as good as new.
Whew . . . .
No need for Chuck Norris.
Yet.
We’ve become a society where it’s often cheaper to replace an item than it is to have it repaired. Even so, the true price of a throw away culture is beyond the wallet. Our landfills are full of items that could have been fixed with a bit of ingenuity and elbow grease.
We should be proud of our old patched up belongings. Instead, we seem to only take pride in owning the newest and shiniest.
So next time a household item gets busted, think past that quick and easy replacement.
Or . . . The Non-Consumer Advocate is gonna get all Chuck Norris on ya’.
Do you repair or replace? What’s your proudest repair? Tell us all about it in thecomments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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