The Non-Consumer Advocate

This week was very much dominated by Thanksgiving, which we always host. Even though the meal is elaborate, it’s actually an inexpensive way to feed a crowd, especially when you account for the wealth of leftovers. I think we spent around $35 total.

• I got the turkey for free last year, as part of a “spend X dollars, get a free turkey” deal at Winco. It’s been sitting in my deep freeze ever since.
• I made multiple pans of mashed potatoes from a 10-pound bag, which was just a couple of bucks at Winco.
• I baked two apple and two pumpkin pies, plus a gluten-free apple crisp. The apples were 79¢/pound at the dented vegetable store and the the puree was baked down from a neighbor’s leftover Halloween pumpkin. I made the crust with sale priced butter.
• I made the stuffing from a loaf of fancy artisan bread, which I did actually buy at full price.
• I made the cranberry sauce last week as I’d nabbed two bags of sale cranberries from Winco.
• My mother brought bakery rolls and my brother in law brought a vegetable side dish.

Leftovers. Endless amazing Thanksgiving leftovers. It’s why I made five pies, ten pounds of potatoes, two quarts of cranberry sauce, etc, etc. I actually hate hosting Thanksgiving, but I love that all the leftovers belong to me.

I did my own version of Black Friday shopping over the weekend, which is to say that I scored two items from two soggy free piles. Here’s what came home with me:

•An Ikea shelving board, which I’ve set aside until I can figure out how to make best use of it.
•An antique style end table, which I’m now using as a plant stand as it already had some light water damage to the top surface.

I stopped by the dented vegetable store for the big $2 container of organic mixed greens that’s always in stock, I returned a Goodwill shirt that fit weird, but then thrifted a couple items to sell, (a “Rogue Ales Brewery” Christmas sweater and a pair of Victorian style boots) my mother noted that our cloth napkins were ratty, so she sewed up a new set from thrifted flannel shirts, my printer ran out of the yellow ink and is being a little bitch stopped printing, but my neighbor let me print an eBay label at her house, I gifted slabs of warm pumpkin coffee cake to a couple different neighbors, my friend Lise texted the day before Thanksgiving asking if I needed anything from the grocery store and she picked up a loaf of artisan bread and a gallon of milk for me, (thus saving me from an deeply unpleasant errand) and I stopped by the library and ended up checking out nine random books. 

I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or fly to Qatar to watch controversial sport ball.

I pulled out my tote bag of holey socks and darned four pairs back into rotation. Sock darning is a unique activity as it can’t be rushed and requires an consistent level of concentration, which can be quite meditative. Plus it’s frugal and sustainable.

This project prompted me to dump out my sock and underwear drawer and make some difficult decisions, as it was crammed full despite me wearing the same four pairs on repeat. Out went the knee-highs, (I only ever wore them as makeshift compression stockings when I worked as a labor and delivery nurse) as well as the Smart Wool socks with their agonizing garrotte-style ankle cuffs and buy-bye to the Japanese socks designed to be worn with wooden “geta” wooden flip flop slippers, which I don’t actually own.

These socks were quickly snapped up through my Buy Nothing Group.

The rest of the random socks weren’t decent (or even matched) enough to warrant darning or gifting, so they hit the garbage can. (Seriously, how is it that I owned so many socks where just one of them had distended elastic?!) My sock drawer now slides open with ease and only stores socks that I actually wear.

One of my beloved Pittsburgh cousins came through town with her husband and although they stayed with my father, I offered to host a dinner one night. I knew I’d have to plan a meal that could be fully pre-prepared as they’d begged to be taken to Powell’s Books which I believe is now legally required for all Portland tourists. Here’s what I served:

• A pan of spinach lasagna, which I could throw into the oven as soon as we got back to the house. The noodles were from Dollar Tree, the mozzarella was from my favorite “dented vegetable” grocery liquidator, the ricotta was a freebie from my grocery worker daughter and I cooked the sauce from scratch.
• A big spinach salad, which I assembled that morning and waited to dress until we sat down to eat. Needless to say, I also mixed up a batch of my Tea Towel Salad Dressing™.
• A warmed up loaf of random artisan bread that my daughter gifted me last week and was thrown into the freezer until that morning.
• A “Royal Delight” icebox cake, which is made with chocolate wafers and whipped cream and left to set in the fridge. Not frugal, as the chocolate wafers have skyrocketed in price through the years, but is still a nostalgic family favorite.

It would’ve been easy to take the easy route and get takeout as I’d be away from the house until right before dinner. But with a bit of planning, I was able to serve a frugal home cooked meal and still participate in any and all bookstore adventures.

I also brought a bag of books to sell to Powells, which garnered me $13.50 in store credit, (woo hoo!) and I convinced my son to tag along as he possesses a rare 20%-off discount card through a job he worked earlier this year. They even let our entire party use his discount, which was an unexpected surprise.

I hit up the aforementioned dented vegetable store for my normal veggie fix and scored six dented boxes of Annie’s gluten-free macaroni and cheese for 50¢ apiece, (normally $3.50+ per box!) I’m defrosting an extra turkey that I got for free last year, my husband installed our $25 “learning” Nest thermostat, a tree-less neighbor let me use her yard debris can for some of the 7.2 quadrillion leaves that fall on our sidewalk, my neighbor gave me her uncut pumpkin and I received both a box of frozen bison steaks and a case of Momofuku Chili Crunch as a thank you for keeping a tight eye on my aging aunt and uncle who visited from Nebraska last month.

This last “frugal thing” is actually a “frugal fail.” I sold a huge stuffed plush Pikachu on eBay, which I placed both in a large plastic bag as well as a lightweight shipping envelope. I carefully squished the air from the package and taped it closed. The package must have expanded significantly afterwards, as I got a notification that I was being charged an extra $24 for shipping! It only sold for $30, so this sale pretty much garnered me nothing after eBay fees. Oh well, I did get it for free. Still though . . .

I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or spend 44 billion dollars to implode Twitter.

I unlocked a new level of non-consumer achievement after sixteen years of participating in the buy-nothing-new Compact. I bought a used toothbrush for the family to share! Yes, you read that right.

Okay, perhaps some clarification is necessary. My husband and I share a Sonicare toothbrush system, which means we use the same motorized handle but each have our own toothbrush head. You know, like normal people. However, the rechargeable handle had gotten to the point where it no longer held a charge. Normal people would buy a new system.

I believe that every newly manufactured item degrades our planet a little bit more, so I found a “refurbished” handle on eBay for just $9.40, plus $5.90 for shipping, (An equivalent one would be at least $80.) Saving money without overtly killing the planet is kind of my jam.

Would you buy a used toothbrush handle?

I took advantage of an instant Portland General Electric rebate to get a $249 programmable Learning Nest thermostat for just $25. You likely already know what a Nest thermometer is, but just in case:

“The Nest Learning Thermostat programs itself, automatically helps you save energy when you’re away and can be controlled from anywhere.”

I’m very curious to see whether we’ll save an appreciable amount off our gas bill as we already have a Honeywell thermostat that we keep at 63° during the day and 58° at night. This may sound extreme, but I bump it up to 67° if I’m home and chilly. My thinking is that it’s easier for me to turn it up than it is for me to actually remember to turn it down.

However, I’m not perfect and I did leave my empty house at 67° a few days ago, despite being away for an extended period. A Nest thermostat would’ve allowed me to adjust the temperature through the app and I’d have avoided this waste of natural gas. It’ll be interesting to see if I can game the furnace to use less gas. I see that this program is available through many different utility companies throughout America, so check and see if yours does as well.

I’ve started back up on thyroid medication as I’ve been feeling supremely cruddy and my labs backed up the lethargy. I had enough leftover Synthroid (Levothyroxine) to not need any for awhile, but still took this as an opportunity to look into Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company as a way to save money on future prescription medications. I have health insurance through my husband’s employer, but the American health care system is horrifically profit based, so it’s often cheaper to buy discount medications outside of the insurance you’re already paying for.

Cost Plus Drugs charges patients the actual cost of their medication plus a small percentage for preparation and shipping. For some meds the price difference is shocking, (think $26 vs. $500 for Albendazole!) so go ahead and click HERE to check if your meds are available through them.

Click HERE to read their mission statement. By the way, this might read like it’s sponsored, but I assure you that it isn’t.

My husband installed a”new open box” ice maker that we bought off eBay, I remembered to bring my houseplants back inside before they succumbed to freezing temperatures, I scored a free squatty potty off my Buy Nothing group, (don’t worry, I gave it the scrub of a lifetime!) I accompanied my son to Trader Joe’s and only bought the stuff on my list, (toilet paper and hummus) I made sure to use the $10-off-$50 Winco grocery coupon that I poached from my neighbors and I watched Last Holiday through my sister’s Prime Video account.

I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or spend 44 million dollars to ruin Twitter.

I took my mom to the Goodwill bins, where I scored a small LLBean duffel bag, a new looking Land’s End lined rain coat, (in my size!) a lazy Susan and a miniature wooden Pinocchio. All of which I’m keeping.

The Adventure duffel was unfortunately embroidered with the name “Eleanor,” which I’m 93% sure is not my name. While it would’ve been perfectly acceptable to keep the monogram in place, (maybe it’s the bag’s name and not that of the previous owner?) I decided this was the perfect opportunity to experiment with removing the lettering. I paid around 50¢ for the duffel, so it wasn’t exactly a big gamble.

Luckily I own a lil’ seam ripper, which worked perfectly. Sure, it was a slow and finicky job, but I used it as an excuse to watch delightfully mindless TV.  I probably spent 45 weirdly satisfying minutes picking out the stitching, all the while being verrrrry careful to not snag the fabric.

Can you still read the “Eleanor?” Sure, but I’m guessing it’ll fade with laundering and use. I’m going to keep the bag as the quality is excellent and it’s the perfect size for an overnight trip or some sort of local adventure.

You can click HERE to watch my step-by-step process.

I’ve gotten lazy again with listing stuff on eBay, which translates into few sales. However I did sell these items this week:

• A vintage flying geese wall art piece — I paid $1.99 and sold for $48.
• A Cutco slotted spoon — I paid 99¢ and sold for $13.50.
• A cashmere flat cap — I paid $4.99 and sold for $70.
• An Aristocats stuffed animal — I paid $2.99 and sold for $30.

I asked for and received my neighbor’s “$10-off-$50” Winco Foods coupon that came in the mail. I know they don’t grocery shop there, so it would’ve otherwise gone to waste. This may reek of over the top moochiness, but I always tuck my New Seasons Market coupons into their mailbox so I feel zero guilt on this one.

I used some chicken thighs that my daughter brought home from work to brew up a huge pot of chicken noodle soup, (which also included four bendy carrots and the zest and juice of a lemon leftover from my aunt and uncle’s visit!) I called Costco and got a $100 refund due to the three documented scratches from the delivery and installation of our new refrigerator, I served my mother a bowl of reheated broccoli potato soup after the bahn mi restaurant we initially tried was closed, I listened to Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart through the library’s free Libby app, and then started listening to Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan.

I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Our new Costco refrigerator was delivered today, but was lightly scratched in the transportation process. The installation worker took photos of the scratches and informed me that Costco would contact me to either replace the doors or refund some money as compensation.

I think you can guess which one I’ll choose.

Portland finally remembered that it’s a cold damp climate, not an arid desert. Here’s what I’m doing to keep heating costs under control:

• I closed off the heat registers in the kids’ empty rooms as there’s no need to heat their unused spaces.

Edit: I’ve just been informed that closing off heat vents is a bad idea. I looked it up and here’s what I found:

“The short answer is no; you should not close air vents in your house. Closing vents can actually waste more energy than operating your system normally. How does closing air vents waste energy? Because when you close vents in unused rooms, your central air system will push the excess air to other places in your home. Let’s take a look at what happens to all that extra air.”

‘Nuff said. I guess I’ll go open those vents back up again!

• I’m dressing in cozy warm layers to heat myself instead of the entire house.
• I ensure that there are ample lap blankets available to anyone who happens to sit still in the living room.
• I flipped the switch on our new ceiling fan so it can spin warm air towards the ground.
• I’m making sure to not run the bathroom and oven exhaust fans too long as I don’t want to pay to heat a room to only suck that expensive heat back out of the room.
• I switched from Crocs/sandals to last year’s eBay shearling slippers and have added wool socks to the equation.

My hair has once again grown to the “sister wife” length and I’m in desperate need for a haircut as I’m either wearing it in braids or it tangles with no in between. I’ve used the Supercuts “training center” for free cuts at least six times, but it was organized through a Facebook page which seems to have been abandoned. I finally remembered to call the Supercuts salon that houses the training center and was told that cuts are now arranged through email. I quickly typed out a request and am hoping I can zip over for a free cut in the next few weeks.

I’ve gotten my hair cut through beauty schools in the past and not had good experiences, but Supercuts’ training centers use certified stylists who often have years of independent experience but happen to be new hires. It doesn’t take any longer than a normal appointment and I get to hit an awesome Goodwill that’s out of my normal sphere of errands. WIN-WIN!

My friend Lise texted asking if I wanted to go with her to the “bent vegetable store.” I bought three salad kits, two bags of mixed greens, two cucumbers, three containers of fresh mozzarella, a pound of bacon and a restaurant size package of cut and prepped broccoli for $16.35, (I was accidentally double charged for the cucumbers, so it should have been $15.35.) I got my free Bivalent Covid-19 booster vaccine at  the CVS in Target and didn’t browse for stuff to buy and my daughter continues to drop off free random groceries from her work which includes eggs, provolone slices, chocolate chips and cake.

I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Our freezer stopped keeping the frozen food, well . . . frozen. We do have a basement chest freezer, but it was already close to full. I’d normally punt this task to my husband, but he was at work, and I’m inordinately pleased to announce that I fixed it by myself by simply scraping frost off the back wall and running a hair dryer over some blocked vents.

We’ve had this refrigerator for 24 years, which I’m aware is a very long time for a modern era appliance. I was worried that it was a big picture repair which would require a big dumb new purchase, (B.D.N.P.) but occasionally a simple fix actually works!

Update: Pride comes before a fall. My husband spent a couple fruitless hours trying to figure out why the refrigerator also stopped working properly. To the point where our milk prematurely curdled and the eggs smelled like Dante’s seventh cicle of hell. (Violence, they smelled like violence.)

My husband and I found a bare bones white refrigerator on Costco.com for $649, which includes delivery and removal of the old fridge. It’ll be delivered on Monday between 7 A.M. and 9 P.M., no joke. Big. Dumb. New. Purchase.

I’ve spent the last week ferrying visiting family members around the Portland area. My mother turned 80 this week, so my aunt and uncle flew in from Nebraska, as well as my sister from NYC. As such, I’ve been treated to a tremendous number of restaurant meals and hosted a party at the house. I filled my minivan with octogenarians for a day trip to the beach and planned out a week of meals.

The week was a huge success, even though one night’s main dish was dropped to the ground before reaching its destination. Leftover homemade lasagna stepped up to the plate, which luckily lived in my aunt and uncle’s functional AirBnb refrigerator. There’s no such thing as everything going smoothly, but sometimes these glitches make the best memories.

My husband finally completed our backyard deck, which was mostly pieced together using wood from our disassembled treehouse. He did end up buying seven decking pieces, plus two lengths of treated lumber as he accidentally cut two of them too short. (Oops!) We also shelled out for a roll of landscaping fabric, new screws and metal support thingies. We luckily had enough waterproofing stain leftover from building our Little Free Library.

The overall cost was around $450 for a 10′ X 10′ platform deck, which hardly sounds like a bargain, but the price of wood these days is astronomical. I initial entertained a goal to keep the project under $100, but was quickly snapped out of that hallucination. Nothing is cheaper than you think it’s going to be.

My college friend Diana flew into town and instead of going out instead we visited at the house, I rooted rosemary stems and planted them in a garbage picked planter, (I need plants for the deck!) my aunt and uncle insisted that I take all the food that they didn’t eat from their AirBnb, I was treated to multiple restaurant meals this week, (Bob’s Red Mill restaurant!) my neighbor gave me a bag of rice when I realized that I’d somehow forgotten to add it to my shopping list and I mended my son’s mohair sweater.

I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.