Wrap Up of No Heat Challenge, Plus a New Article

by Katy on November 16, 2009 · 2 comments

icetoilet

The No Heat Challenge ended on November 1st, and we are now embracing the full use of our lovely, lovely furnace. Because Portland, Oregon has been wet, rainy and cold.

Did I mention the rain?

However, don’t start thinking that the end of the No Heat Challenge saw uscranking up the furnace to 70° all the while prancing around in shorts and halter tops. The end of the challenge ushered in the setting of our programmable thermostat to a tropical 64° during the day and 57° at night. This may still sound chilly, but the only time I’m cold is when I’m sitting completely still for an extended period. And frankly, that is the prefect time to grab a warn throw blanket anyway.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger ran a story today titled, NJ Households Compete in Challenges to Keep Thermostat Off in Winter. The author, Kelly Heyboer interviewed me for the article, and I kept having to correct her that The Non-Consumer Advocate was not conducting a contest, but a challenge. Big difference, as I would never want people keeping their home cold simply to win some random prize. My thinking was to get people out of their unconscious routine, and be deliberate in how they heat their homes.

Comfortable at 70°, then how about 67° or even 64°?

One point I made with Heyboer, (which didn’t make it into the article) was that we have to be careful not to pat ourselves on the back too enthusiastically for keeping our furnaces off. It is from a place of privilege that we can make these decisions. There are many people who do not enjoy the luxury of choice with how high to set the thermostat. Heating a house is expensive and many people simply cannot afford to both heat a house and also pay for life’s expenses.

I grew up in an enormous house that was impossible to keep warm without breaking the bank, and I hated it. My friends didn’t want to come over and I was able to see my breath inside, which angered my teenage self-righteous self. I don’t want to inflict that experience on my children. The key is to find the happy medium.

Here is an excerpt from the article that includes my interview:

“People are definitely examining their regular habits,” said Katy Wolk-Stanley, the Oregon-based blogger behind The Non-Consumer Advocate, a popular, frugal-living website.

Wolk-Stanley issued a “no heat challenge” to her readers in September, drawing dozens of comments from readers around the nation. The mother of two said she was inspired by her efforts to lower her thermostat last year, which resulted in a savings of several hundred dollars over the course of the winter.

This year, Wolk-Stanley joined her readers in the no heat challenge and kept the furnace off. Wolk-Stanley said her breaking point came one morning a few weeks ago when her husband woke up and checked the thermostat in their poorly insulated 1914 house.

“He yelled up, ‘It’s 50 degrees down here!’” Wolk-Stanley said. “When you’re sitting there thinking ‘my nose is cold,’ that’s too much.”

Are you keeping your house colder this year than in years past? 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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Winning Grocery Saving Tips

by Katy on November 15, 2009 · 2 comments

Safeway

Thank you to everyone who entered to win one of the two $50 Safeway gift cards.Congratulations to Karyn V and “M” whose tips were randomly chosen as winners.

Truly though, all the tips were incredible and very inspiring and I would highly recommend reading the 97 original entries.

Here are a few of my favorites:

My trick is to try to do as much shopping as possible at ethnic grocery stores. There are both Mexican and Asian stores in my area. When I shop there I usually get twice as much food for the money! It helps to be willing to try new things too.

My tip takes is a few steps that allow me to maintain my weekly shopping budget. I always check the pantry, check the store ad along with my coupon matchups and meal plan before heading out to the store. I find that a few extra minutes planning save me big $ at the store. I always walk in with my list and coupon matches in hand. I also keep a running total of the items I place in my cart so that I know if there is any room left in the bidget for stocking up on any unadvertised sales/ markdowns that we come across.

This may sound like alot of work, but it only takes about a half-hour per week:

1. When the Safeway/Vons sale ad shows up in my mailbox on Tuesday, I circle the items I need for the week in bold, sharpee pen.

2. Then I go to the website http://www.hotcouponworld.com and check the Coupon Database for the products that I’ve circled. I also check for any extra products I need that weren’t in the ad.

3. The website tells me which Sunday paper the coupon is found in. I go to my coupon files (right next to my computer) and cut out the coupons I need. (All coupons stay in the whole sheet and are filed according to Sunday date; when people give me coupons I just add them into the correct file.)

4. Make a specific list and paper clip the coupons to the list. My list is good for the whole week (I menu plan).

5. Go shopping and manage to save a ton: the store has discounted the items for the week, plus I use coupons on top of that! (Sometimes I even get free stuff!)

I always shop from the bulk bins when they are available. You can get huge savings on pasta, beans and cereal and only buy as much as you need. Also, although it is a small savings, bring your own bags for 5 cents off apiece at many stores.

Try the generic. If you don’t like it, try the next cheapest brand up, until you find your ’sweet spot’. The cheapest isn’t always the best for you, but the name brand you’re used to isn’t always the best price for you.

Agree with many of the answers we use a combination of tricks:

buy our beef in large sizes and have the butcher cut them for us (not only does it take me back to growing up in rural Lancaster County PA but we have a better “feeling” for the beef) We also get the pasture / non-feedlot beef.

shop on a full stomach and shop only the aisles you need.

Don’t be afraid to stop and compare products — proud of my daughter who lines them up and compares on a shelf. She usually ends up lecturing some unwary customers. She started doing this in college and hasn’t stopped.

Make everything you can from scratch, not only do you control the ingredients but there are plenty of recipes and shortcuts to find to make your own “mixes” and they’ll taste so much better.

And really, if you don’t know how to cook, invest in a good cooking class or get a friend who does to give you some tips. It will save you so much over the long run plus make you healthier. And it can be a fun family project.

My favorite grocery money saving tip is to avoid grocery store shopping whenever possible. I buy the majority of my family’s food from a grocery co-op, farm-direct, dairy-direct, and from the farmer’s market. Staying out of the grocery store aisles with their multitude of temptations solely designed to make me slow down and spend more money saves me a lot!

When I’ve had to seriously economize, I would keep track of the prices (per ounce) of the items I regularly use in alphabetical order, peruse the advertising circulars very carefully to see which (if any) were on sale, stock up when they were, and basically feed my family on the bargains. Now with the internet it is easier to find recipes based upon ingredients you have on hand.

I always make sure I’m not the least bit hungry when I go to the grocery store. I also always have a list that I have made after I go through what I have at home. I also don’t shop the whole store, just the aisles where there are items that I need on my list.

I am a coupon lover. I really love the $10 off a $50 purchase coupon from Safeway, the coupons that you can load to your Safeway card online, and of course the double your manufacturer coupon that comes in the Safeway add each week. I also really like the rewards program at Fred Meyer. They send out great coupons to reward members. I have also found that making a shopping list before you go is key!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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The Non-Consumer Advocate Under Construction — Please be Patient

by Katy on November 13, 2009 · 4 comments

ConstructionI am in the midst of migrating The Non-Consumer Advocate over to a self hosted site, and had to undirect the domain names of The Non-Consumer Advocate and Non-Consumer Advocate in order to make this happen. This means that the only domain currently in operation is http://thenonconsumeradvocate.wordpress.com.

The new Non-Consumer Advocate is going to be very similar, but will include space for a few extra bells and whistles. And yes, it’s time for advertising, although I will do my best to only include ads that fit with my overall philosophy.

I’ll get more info out as I figure out what I’m doing.

Thank you very much to the angelically helpful Kristen over at The Frugal Girl for her help with this project.

Let’s send her lots of hits!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

 

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Did Someone Slip A Double Shot of Espresso into my Tea?

by Katy on November 13, 2009 · 14 comments

EspressoI know people who are whirlwinds of activity from sunup ’til sundown and frankly, spending time with them always makes me want to take a nap. I’m simply not that kind of person. I pretty much get everything accomplished that requires my attention, but I’ll never live in an immaculate house and have my holiday shopping completed before that first trick-or-treater knocks on the door.

But today was unusual. I woke early, despite reading in bed until late, and then somehow accomplished a bizarre amount of stuff today. If I had to take a stab at the source of this energy, I would guess it was the addition of a multivitamin with iron which I’ve been taking for the last week-and-a-half or so to treat my self-diagnosed anemia. It was surreal though, as if I were playing the part in a play about a very motivated woman.

Here’s what I did today:

  • Colored my own hair, which turned out perfectly.
  • Called the newspaper to clarify a billing issue.
  • Drove to middle school to bring my 14-year-old his science homework and to drop off the 1000’s of heavy hardback library books that are threatening to damage the delicate foundation of our house.
  • Made copies of financial paperwork.
  • Drove to area hospital to print out recent pay-stubs as we’re refinancing our mortgage.
  • Went to credit union.
  • Went to grocery store.
  • Went to Mailboxes etc. to have them weigh envelope and tell me how much it would cost to mail to mortgage broker.
  • Used own stamps from hodge-podge from drawer at home, including lots of 2 cent stamps.
  • Started to arrange moving the blog to self-hosted status. I’m “hiring” a friend who is much more computer savvy than I.
  • Scooped the litter boxes. (I hate doing this, so I give myself full credit.)
  • Hung laundry to dry in our unfinished attic-y room.
  • Made a delicious, filling yet frugal dinner.
  • Started making ginger snaps.
  • Drove to grocery store to buy sugar.
  • Mixed up ginger snap dough.
  • Made homemade laundry soap.
  • Cleaned up from dinner.
  • Watched two re-runs of “The Office,” (which is a show I had never watched until lately.)
  • Hid the kid’s iPods.
  • Supervised homework.
  • Wrote blog.

I have another day off from work tomorrow, and I’m hoping to continue with this git ‘er done momentum. Because the sad thing is that even though I was so accomplished today, my house is still pretty messy and there are an infinite number of tasks I could tackle before running out of stuff to do.

Gee, it’s almost as if I run a household, hold a part-time job, write and moderate a daily blog, parent two boys and try to cook almost entirely from scratch. No wonder the coffee table is all cluttered with art, homework, office supplies and books.

Do you feel like you’re on top of the tasks of life, or are you often a step behind? 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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Keep The Change

by Katy on November 12, 2009 · 29 comments

Coins

While watching TV this evening, (I am a complete and unapologetic So You Think You Can Dance addict) an interesting commercial came on that showed a man swiping his debit card as a way of adding money to his savings account.

Huh — Buying stuff adds to your savings?

It turns out that the ad was for a program through Bank of America called, Keep The Change. Participants in this program have all debit card purchases rounded up to the nearest dollar amount and that bit of change is then automatically transferred into their savings account.

Interesting.

Normally, I am a proponent of a conscious and deliberate life, but the unconscious manner of this program actually appeals to me. 37¢ here and 52¢ there can add up faster than you can say:

“Gee Willikers Coin-Girl, where did I all this money come from?”

But the best part of the program is that Bank of America will:

Match your Keep the Change savings for the first 3 months, to the penny. After that, we’ll continue matching 5% a year. The maximum total match is $250 per year.

Sadly, I bank at a credit union that doesn’t put together fancy programs or even have commercials for that matter.  (Although I am otherwise very happy with them.)

I started a personal savings program this last June where I put any extra money into specific ING Direct savings accounts. I didn’t work any overtime, and no money from my paychecks was to be diverted to savings. (So as not  to derail any progress on debt reduction.) The money has come from a garage sale, unexpected windfalls, odd jobs and even found change. I have over $1800 so far, which is split into three different saving accounts.

This has really shown me the power of 37¢ here and 52¢ there.

I won’t be able to participate in Keep the Change, but kind of wish that I could. Are any of you Bank of America customers, and if so are you participating in this program? For those of us who bank elsewhere, what do you think of this program? Would you want your bank to siphon money into a savings account, or would you rather be in full control of your finances? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

P.S. It goes without saying that I am in no way affiliated with Bank of America and have received no compensation for this column.

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Share Your Favorite Grocery Saving Tips for a Chance to Win a $50 Safeway Gift Card

by Katy on November 11, 2009 · 95 comments

fifty dollar bill

I am a big fan of saving money pretty much whenever possible. At the movie theater, (second run only) for my family’s wardrobe, (Goodwill) and especially at the grocery store. I shop primarily at Safeway, as I can almost always stock up on staples when they’re on sale, and my Safeway has easy parking and bizarrely friendly staff.

Which is why, when contacted by the P.R. for corporate Safeway about whether I’d be interested in receiving two $50 gift cards to send out to readers in conjunction with their Everyday Low Prices program I was happy to agree. They also sent a gift card for me “to shop at your local Safeway to experience the thousands of new everyday low prices for yourself.”

Here’s their description of the Everyday Low Prices program:

Safeway is proud to announce that they are expanding their long-term commitment to great quality and value by offering customers thousands of new everyday low prices on items across the stores to help customers save money and time every day. The new pricing program just launched throughout all 117 Safeway stores in Oregon and Southwest Washington, giving your readers a new more affordable shopping experience where they can find everything they need at the right prices to fit their budgets.

Want to win a $5o Safeway gift card for yourself? Just write your favorite grocery money saver tip in the comments section below to enter to win one of two $50 gift cards. Don’t forget, Safeway has a huge assortment of gift cards available for purchase, so your prize could be used for holiday gift shopping like Barnes and Noble or iTunes! (I looked, and sadly — they didn’t have Goodwill.)

And for those who don’t have a Safeway in their area, the gifts cards also good for Vons, Carrs, Genuardi’s, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Pak n’ Save.

The winner will be chosen by a random number generator at midnight, November 14th Pacific time zone. Only one entry per person please, all are allowed to enter.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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Christmas Lights — Get The LED Out

by Katy on November 10, 2009 · 8 comments

 

ugly-christmas-lights

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

As the Non-Consumer Advocate, I usually recommend for people to buy used or not buy at all. (I follow The Compact, a buy nothing new movement.) But I am going to break from my normal stance and suggest a new purchase:

LED Christmas lights.

LED lights use a fraction of the electricity of the old style larger bulbs. Enough, so that it is actually worth investing in these energy saving lights. (I consider this to be in the same can’t-buy-it-used category as CFL lightbulbs.)

Also, I want everyone to consider whether it’s worth the extra energy to electrically decorate the outside of your house to the point that gamblers show up in search of slot machines.

I’m not saying to you shouldn’t put up Christmas lights, but perhaps it’s just as pretty to have just a few. Usually, less is more.

For my house, I hung some Goodwill purchased, (99 cents for a whole box!) blue and silver glass ornament balls from a window box on the front of the house. It’s very pretty and uses no electricity.

Go ahead and switch to LED bulbs. You won’t see a spike in this year’s December electric bill, and you won’t have to deal with hoards of drunken gamblers.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

 

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Buy Nothing Day

by Katy on November 8, 2009 · 26 comments

buy nothing dayIt may seem a little early to start talking about Buy Nothing Day, but the heft of today’s ad-laden Sunday newspaper says otherwise.

For those not in the know, Buy Nothing Day is a 20-year-old program put on by AdBusters, asking that participants buy nothing the day after Thanksgiving, (the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season.)

The AdBusters website describes this year’s shopping protest as such:

This year we’re calling for a wildcat general strike. On November 27/28 we’re asking tens of millions of people around the world to bring the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding – if only momentary – halt. We want you to shut off your lights, your televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off your computer for the day. We’re calling for a Ramadan-like fast. From sunrise to sunset, we abstain en masse. Not only from shopping but from all the temptations of our five-planet lifestyles.

Instead we’ll feed our spirits and minds with a feast of subversive activities: pranks, shenanigans, credit card cut-ups, bicycle swarms, mall invasions and all manner of culture jams and creative détournements … and some of us will take things even further with sit-ins, demonstrations, passive resistance and acts of nonviolent defiance, anarchy and civil disobedience. If we can create a big enough ruckus on November 27/28, then we may be able to catalyze what the Situationists tried to set in motion half a century ago: a chain reaction of refusal against consumer capitalism … a sudden, unexpected moment of truth … the first ever global revolution.

Okay . . . that seems to be taking things beyond the extreme. I’m a strong believer in catching more flies with honey than vinegar — and that sure sounds like a big ol’ vinegar smoothie.

The people who work in retail are not our mortal enemy. These are people lucky to have a job in an economy that is seeing a national 10.2% unemployment rate. (Much higher in some areas.)

I cannot support acts of “anarchy and civil disobedience” in the name of non-consumerism. As I explain to my children, if you act in a totally inappropriate manner, no one will listen to your side of things. Even if you’re in the right.

Instead, I suggest a less extreme route and:

Simply choose to not shop.

Or, choose to shop in a manner that’s consistent with your values. Support your locally owned businesses, buy from a craftsperson, find that perfect gift in a non-profit thrift store.

I will not be participating in any AdBuster activities, and I can most likely be found the day after Thanksgiving up on Mount Hood with my kids. Enjoying home cooked meals with my family and going on some snowy hikes.

Will you be participating in Buy Nothing Day? 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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Goodbye Summer

by Katy on November 8, 2009 · 23 comments

Heart oregon

I am a native Oregonian, which means that I’m not supposed to be bothered by torrents of rain that run rivers down our city streets from October through June.

I guess I’m a disgrace to my home state.

Today saw rain, rain and more rain that stranded me in my house. Both my sons had soccer games, and mother-of-the-year that I am, I chose to stay home, since my husband is already the coach and I really hate standing in the rain watching kids be miserable.

It was too rainy to comfortably walk anywhere, and I had nowhere to go. So instead I went a little stir crazy. I did some baking, some cleaning and a lot of looking out the windows. Even though the furnace was chugging along, the only time I felt warm enough was while doing dishes.

The rainy season is really truly here now, and I suppose I need to buck up and continue to live a productive life, even if the sky is falling. I do see people biking and walking in the pouring rain, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re not native Oregonians and are trying to prove their macho imperviousness.

It’s just that I really miss summer. I miss dining al fresco, I miss my outdoors clothesline, I miss being able to walk my errands without having to don a rubberized jumpsuit and I miss sunlight that actually penetrates through my windows. (Because yes, at noon today we had all the overhead lights turned on in order to not trip over one another.)

I do see that the seven day forecast shows just one possible day without rain, which I consider to be terrible, horrible, no good, very bad.

I think I might move to Australia.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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My Non-Consumer Mini-Day

by Katy on November 7, 2009 · 15 comments

goldmedalflour

Despite having worked today, I feel like I put in a full day of Non-Consumer activity. This is because soon after getting home, I commandeered one of my kids and went out to run a couple of errands.

First on the agenda was a quick stop into the Belmont branch library, where I picked up a number of books and a DVD of Rachel Getting Married. Coin-Girl gleaned a bright shiny nickel in the parking lot, which when added to the dime I found on Thursday and the stray pennies from the bottom of my purse paid off my 25¢ library fine.

Sweeeet!

We then motored over to our nearby Safeway store to take advantage of the conglomeration of store coupons, sale items, manufacturer’s coupons and the $10 off $50 coupon. There was also a $10 Kohl’s gift certificate if you spent $50. (My friend’s daughter works there, so I planned to give it to her.)

My son and I filled the cart and made our way over to the check out. When everything had been a rung up, I asked the clerk about the Kohl’s gift certificates. He told me that he would have to re-ring everything to get my total over $50. I told him to not bother, (I would hate to be the person behind me in line) to which he asked me if I would simply like an extra $10 back.

“Uh. . .  sure!”

I did have to buy one extra $1.50 five pound bag of flour to bring my total up, for which I was rewarded with $8.50 in cash.

Double sweeeet!

It may sound like I am becoming one of those crazy coupon ladies, but my coupons were for butter, Raisin Bran, toothpaste, dental floss and chocolate chips. Stuff I would be buying anyway.

Altogether I paid $35.80. Here’s what I bought:

  • 5 five pound bags of flour
  • 1 bag of pretzels
  • 1 16 ounce bag of black beans
  • 1 bag of Nestle chocolate chips
  • 4 boxes of Kellog’s Raisin Bran
  • 1 box of Mini Wheats
  • 4 cans of tuna
  • 2 candy canes, (remember, I had a kid with me, and that I am putty in his filthy little hands.)
  • 1 package of tortillas
  • 2 cans of orange juice concentrate
  • 1 package of ready-to-bake Halloween theme chocolate chip cookies, (don’t judge me — they were 30¢.)
  • 3 pounds of butter
  • 1 tube of toothpaste
  • 1 large container of dental tape
  • 1 package of English muffins
  • 2 loaves of bread
  • 1 bag of whole wheat hamburger buns, (for black bean burgers)
  • 1-1/2 pounds of green beans
  • 2 onions
  • 3-1/2 pounds of apples
  • 1 rotisserie cooked chicken
  • 1/4 pound of jo-jo’s. (Remember? I am putty in my son’s skilled hands.)

Unlike others, I don’t usually buy food for specific meals. Instead, I keep a full pantry from which I can create a multitude of different meals. I did buy one of those $6 precooked chickens tonight though, as it was already 6:30 P.M. by the time we got home.

We also rented a family movie for $1 and my son found 11¢ in and around the Coinstar machine.

I may not have spent an entire day on Non-Consumer activities, but I think I did pretty damned well. I think I may actually have turned into one of the crazy coupon ladies.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

P.S. Safeway has a new “Everyday Low Prices” promotion where a very large number of items have been lowered in price. This is not a sale, but a long term price decrease and the store is rife with bright yellow signage to prove it.

Corporate Safeway is sending me a couple of $50 gift cards which I will be giving away on the blog in the near future. I do almost all my grocery shopping at Safeway, and have very happy with their quality and customer service. They always take back disappointing fruit and offer to help me load the groceries into the car. This was hugely helpful when my kids were little and I truly did need an extra set (or two) of hands.

The only downside to the Everyday Low Prices program is that the employees have to wear extremely bright yellow T-shirts as additional signage. My favorite Safeway clerk is an extremely fashionable woman and seeing her in this shirt was sadly jarring.

I guess I can live with that.

 

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