The Non-Consumer Advocate

eBay inventory — before

1. I made the decision to go full steam with decluttering my eBay items and donated around 75% of everything. This gave me the opportunity to organize what was left and make room for things that’ll sell better. Most of what I donated was stuff I got for free or paid very little for. Mind you, it was all very organized, but there was just too much stale inventory.

   I made sure to list out each donation, so I’ll be able to get the full tax credit come next April. And yes, it was very cathartic.

   Organizing the eBay stuff motivated me to give attention the rest of this spare bedroom, as it had become filled with artwork from my late in-law’s estate. I was paranoid that something would get stepped on or cat damaged, so everything is now either properly displayed, (so much pottery!) or safely in the dry area of our basement. I was also worried about not being able to keep this room appropriately clean, as I’d seen a moth in there a few days ago and wanted to vacuum my wool rug before it became an all-you-can-eat buffet. So many of my in law’s valuable items were destroyed by moths and rodents. If you can’t be an inspiration, at least be a cautionary tale!

   

   eBay inventory — after!

2. I sold another Wii guitar through eBay, (this time for $40) although sadly not as local pickup this time. Kind of a pain to package, but the time would’ve passed anyway so I might as well be productive with it. I had both these guitars listed for over a year and then they sold in the same week, which was odd but welcome.

   I also sold a wooden accordion style wine rack for $15 through Facebook Marketplace.

3. On top of everything else, our 2005 minivan is now having problems, something to do with the ignition and how the car recognizes the key. This happened when my husband had the car crammed full of the last of his parent’s belongings and was finally on his way home from the Oregon coast and stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom. I got a 9 P.M. phone call and drove his father’s car down to him and together we waited until 2 A.M. for the tow truck before driving home. Our insurance paid to have the car towed to the house and then towed to the mechanic this morning and we’ll pay to get this issue fixed.

   Why are we spending money on a 19-year-old car? Because it’s an otherwise great car and neither of us are interested in buying a new or even a used a car, especially when used cars are selling at such high prices. Maintain what we already own instead of using this isolated issue as an excuse to buy new.

   Update: $960 repair!

4. • I slapped a piece of duct tape onto a torn reusable grocery bag that my son handed down to us. I had a moment of being tempted to toss it, but am glad that I didn’t.
   • I listed three picture frames on Facebook Marketplace that my son no longer wanted. These were ones that I rescued from a neighbor’s garbage can earlier in the year. There were six frames originally and I sold the other three in February or so.
   • I created an ugly but functional Franken-box to ship the Wii guitar using supplies I already had on hand. I protected it with second hand bubble wrap that my husband brought home from work.
   • I continue to eat the chicken soup that I made over the weekend, although my husband and I did share a well deserved plate of fish and chips at a local pub last night.

5. No Lear Jets, bought or chartered.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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I’m still in the midst of swirling chaos, so I’m going to scrape the bottom of the barrel for this Monday’s Five Frugal Things blog post. Okay, let’s see what I can come up with.

1. Last Tuesday found me stashing my perishable groceries in my mother’s refrigerator across town, as well as abandoning a pot of chicken soup that I’d started in the Instant Pot. I finally got my groceries back and finished the soup on Sunday. I even made a loaf of artisan bread to accompany the soup!

   It’s easy to lose track of frugality goals when life goes off the rails, but this soup will be an easy heat-and-eat option to have in the fridge. I try to keep a couple of zero effort meals on hand, which are usually homemade, but can also be from Trader Joe’s. Think frozen gyoza or such. It’s a favor to my future self.

2. I sold a “just for parts” Wii Rock Band guitar through eBay that I probably listed in 2021 or so. (I didn’t notice that it was broken until I got it home.) I have a whole shelf of stale eBay inventory and often wonder if I should admit defeat and donate it all back to Goodwill, but then I make a random sale like this and change my mind. I’ve gotten much much pickier about what I buy for reselling, which means that the stuff I currently pick up ends up selling pretty quickly. The old stuff? Not so much!

   The money to buy these items is already spent and it costs nothing to keep everything listed on eBay, so I might as well just keep it up for sale. Right?*

3. My husband finally (FINALLY!) got his late parents’ house on the market, which was an enormous endeavor and we thought would never happen. He and his brothers did almost all the work themselves, (Home Depot did install the new carpet) and hopefully we’ll find a buyer in the near future. He and I sunk thousands of dollars into this project, which’ll come back after this supposed sale.

   We still need to go through their belongings, which are split between their storage space and our basement. (Even though most of their stuff went go the landfill or Goodwill.) It’s a soul crushing burden, please don’t do this to your loved ones. Also — have a lawyer put together a will!

4. • The Wii guitar sold to someone local, which means I didn’t have to fuss with packaging it up. Woo hoo!
   • My husband bought a Costco take-and-bake pizza to eat while he was at his parents’ house at the coast. Unfortunately their oven didn’t work, so my husband brought it back home to Portland and we had it with a salad for dinner last night. No food waste!
   • I went to a neighborhood real estate open house on Saturday, which was inspirational, relaxing and downright enjoyable. What does it say about me when my favorite houses are devoid of personal belongings?

5. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t buy a Lear Jet. Last week was a kind of blur though, so you never know.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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* I kind of think it would be cathartic to have a blank slate with my eBay inventory.

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Today’s blog post is going to be the shortest ever, as I pretty much have nothing frugal to share. This week has been the perfect (imperfect?) storm of implosion as nothing has gone well and frugality was the last thing on my mind. Family members with health crises, helping my son move on a day when the skies let loose a torrent of rain and then my daughter had a sudden and emergent rental issue. My husband is out of town trying desperately to finish everything on his parents’ house to ready it to go on the market and everything damned thing has been expensive.

That is all. Hopefully things will be better in a couple of weeks.

I did buy all of the above groceries for $25.05, so that’s something. Right? Sigh . . .

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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P.S. Anyone else stress buy dairy products? 

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Remember these curb picked chairs from yesterday?

I sold them in under 24 hours for sixty bucks!

Then I sold that curb picked Patrick Nagel framed print for another $65.

S’up sexy?

Tomorrow someone is supposedly coming by to buy that curb picked drafting table for another $40. I’m not worried that I’m counting my chickens before they hatch, as I have a couple of backup buyers.

Edit: Sold for $40!

I just now listed this classic and sturdy office chair for a budget friendly twenty dollars, which should help it to sell in a timely manner.

Of course I gave it a bit of a scrub before taking my photos!

Look at this chair and ottoman set that I curb picked back in June. It was a bit grubby, but I took a soapy towel to the fabric and it cleaned up perfectly. The pair then sold within hours of listing for $75.

Better, yes?

You’ll notice that all these items have one thing in common — all they needed was a quick scrub, a “glow up” if you will. I’m not looking to scrape paint and upcycle finicky old furniture. I’m just looking to clean and list on Facebook Marketplace as quickly as possible. Also note that I’m not lugging home enormous unwieldy hunks of furniture that require a buyer to rent a truck.

Another thing that I do to keep the reselling as simple as possible is to set the furniture out on my covered front porch for buyers to pick up at their convenience. I direct buyers to put cash in my locked mailbox or I’ll send them a link to my Venmo, which keeps me from being tied down to the house. I’ve sold hundreds of items through the years and have yet to be burned.

Keeping it simple. Simple like a fox.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
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1. I walked a mile to pick up a Hydroflask water bottle and hiking headlamp from someone in my Buy Nothing group, even though it was hot and kind of humid and I was sorely tempted to drive. I dropped them off at the house and then walked another mile or so to pick up the books I’d ordered from Powell’s Books for my niece’s birthday. (Which I also got for free, as I used gift cards from selling books!) Picking up the books in person saved me the cost of shipping, plus it became a zero waste packaging transaction.

   Buying from Powell’s Books allows me to support a local business while keeping to my 18-year (and counting) buy-nothing-new goal.

2. I discovered a small amount of frozen sliced red peppers and a partial bag of frozen blueberries when I cleaned out my freezer last week. I used the peppers in a stir fry and the blueberries in a smoothie. I hadn’t realized I had these items, so I’m pretty happy to have rediscovered them.

1. I stopped by my daughter’s apartment and ended up curb picking a slightly grubby, (but otherwise perfect) office chair from one of her neighbors. I then came across a pair of Article brand “Svelti” chairs that normally sell for $69 apiece. I’ll sell all three chairs, although the desk chair’ll need a half hour or so of elbow grease.

   EDIT: I sold the chairs for $30 apiece in under 24 hours!

   

   My favorite items to sell are things I got for free as I can charge less and make a quicker sale. Plus having zero dollars tied up at the get go makes it easier to be patient when finding a buyer.

2. • I found a penny on the ground outside Powell’s Books.
   • I grabbed a “free box” glazed flowerpot while out walking home from picking up the Buy Nothing stuff.
   • My son didn’t end up wanting the curb picked drafting table, so I listed it on Facebook Marketplace.

3. I didn’t curb pick any Lear Jets.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
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My friend Lise texted this morning, alerting me to a “Free pile 2 doors from me,” which got me off my tuchus and over to her house. (Only a block away, but still giving myself credit for my speediness!) She sent this photo:

I recognized the framed pink print as a Patrick Nagel, infamous for his Duran Duran covers and prolific stylized prints from the 1980s and 1990s. I’d sold a couple of his pieces in the past and wanted to get a closer look to see if my suspicions were correct. Nagel’s artwork was commercially successful to the point of saturation, so this wasn’t my “Portland Woman Finds Lost Renoir in a Free Pile” moment, but still worth bringing home to resell.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the price was right.

I also browsed through the rest of the pile, which ran the gamut from “Haunted Oval Portrait”

To sexist vintage magazines:

I did bring home two other items. This vintage wide-mouth “GEM” canning jar, which I’ll add to canning supplies.

Plus this antique-ish Japanese porcelain bowl. So sweet with its fluted edge and hand painted designs. No chips, no cracks and just a bit of wear on the gilding. It had been holding a handful of rocks, which I tipped into a rusty pan. I suspect it’s post WWII, manufactured to sell to an American serviceman. I think I’ll keep it.

Here’s the Kanji on the back.

I stopped in to chat with Lise before heading home and then passed a contractor who was helping himself to a box of drywall screws, assorted nuts and bolts and two full sheets of plywood. I love how so many Portlanders set unwanted things out on their curb instead of dumping things into the landfill. These weren’t things I’d have use for, but this guy did.

I took just a few minutes to wipe down the grimy print and reglue the framer’s label onto the back.  I quickly listed it on Facebook Marketplace for $75 and suspect that I’ll get it. She’s not my taste, but I know that someone else will snap her up.

Thanks, Lise!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
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1. I made a double recipe of kale pesto for the freezer as we finally used up the last batch. I normally buy a single head of kale, but noticed that Trader Joe’s had bags of washed and chopped kale for a buck-ninety-nine; and who am I to turn down convenience? I hadn’t planned on doubling the recipe, but the first batch turned out super garlicky, (so much so that the taste of my own mouth woke me out of an otherwise deep sleep!) Luckily it was just a matter of scooping the garlic-tastic pesto back into the food processor and adding in a second batch without even a single clove of garlic.

   Fortunately I had enough scavenged Bonne Maman jars, which work perfectly for pesto. Thank you, neighbors who put the occasional jar into your recycling!

   Here’s my recipe.

2. Like many American library systems, Multnomah County offers a limited number of free “Cultural passes” to local museums and such. They can be an amazing money saver, but you have to be crafty to actually score them.

   It turns out, I’m one hell of a crafty lady.

   I know that they release them once a month, so I made sure to stay up late on Saturday so I could log into the My Discovery Pass website at the moment the clock struck midnight on September 1st. I wasn’t sure if my plan would yield results, but it actually worked a dream! Not only were there passes to Rose City Comic Con, but also tickets to the OMSI, (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, The Japanese Gardens, but also The Portland Art Museum, which is what I was hoping to find.

   I was able to score a pair of tickets to the Portland Art Museum, which would normally cost $25 apiece! The tickets are for a specific date in November, but that’s okay as I like having things to look forward to. I also got a pair of tickets to see Connie Chung speak as part of the Literary Arts Festival, which I’ll attend with my friend Lise whose mother worked in television news. The venue is a beautiful historic theater and it’ll be fun to get dressed up and hit downtown with a friend. Again, these tickets normally start at $25 apiece.

   

3. I went for an evening walk and came across a hefty fuchsia plant that someone had just dug out of their yard. Mercifully it was just a couple blocks from the house, as the plant was rather unwieldy. It’ll be the perfect addition to my shady backyard and it fits quite nicely into my non-existent gardening budget.

   Good thing I’m both muscular* and difficult to embarrass.

   

4. • I added a handful of leftover parmesan cheese packets to the pesto. These were leftover from the takeout pizzas a couple weeks ago.

   

   • I’ve been super tired this week and you and I already know that there’s nothing more frugal than going nowhere and doing nothing.
   • My friend Lise and I went to IKEA and indulged in free cups of coffee. I did splurge on a $1.15 veggie hotdog, but I guess I was feeling flush that day.
   • My adult son got invited to join his friend’s family vacation to Montana and is currently enjoying time at a gorgeous lake cabin. Lucky guy.

5. I didn’t garbage pick any Lear Jets.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
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* Not even slightly.

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