The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. I drove past a tasty looking “FREE STUFF” pile and screeched to a halt, as they’re rare this deep into rainy season.

   

   I brought home:

   • A neutral baseball cap as my Nebraska Cornhuskers one is too bright red for comfort these days.
   • A handmade ceramic butter bell.
   • A “Supreme” brand knit beanie.

   

2. My son and I were visiting a family member in the hospital and stopped at Goodwill on the way home as he’s hot to find things to resell. He didn’t buy anything, but I did pick up this vintage needlepoint Portuguese rooster for $7.99.

3. I listed the Supreme beanie and the rooster needlepoint piece on eBay* before going to bed. For $75 apiece.

4. I have someone supposedly coming by tomorrow to buy a pair of dining room chairs for $40 that I thrifted for $1.99 apiece. My son no longer has room for a dining room table, so these are straggler pieces.

   Edit: Sold the chairs!

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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Curb picked rug and dresser for my daughter’s old bedroom.

1. I hemmed my comfy thrifted flannel pajamas, which are likely designed for men as they have satisfyingly deep pockets. They’re now the perfect length and I don’t have to worry about tripping over the dragging hems. I refer to them as my “winter solstice” pajamas as they’re dark blue flannel with snowflakes, pine trees and polar bears. Nothing Christmas specific, just the deep dark middle of winter!

2. My husband was going to Safeway to pick up specific items for his work lunches, so I added a couple of digital coupon items to his list.

   • Five-pound bag of potatoes for 99¢.
   • Half gallons of Tillamook ice cream for $2.99.
   • Two-pound loaves of Tillamook cheese for $6.49.
   • $1.29/pound turkey. Somehow the 19+ pound turkey rang up for $11.57 total, which I don’t understand but am happy to accept.

   The freezer and fridge are going to be very full by the time we get past all these Thanksgiving season loss leaders.

3. My son and I went through his closet, as he wants to start a Depop account to sell some of the cool clothing he no longer wears. His apartment is ideal for photography as there’s amazing light and white walls, which’ll make this project so much easier for him. He’s super motivated to start earning money outside of his 9-5 job, which is fun to see.

   

   Buy Nothing dresser for my son’s old bedroom.

4. My younger sister came into town for an appointment and stayed the night at the house. My empty nest is lousy with fully outfitted spare bedrooms, which makes it easy to welcome house guests. All I needed to prepare was to throw on some fresh sheets and run the robot vacuum to freshen up the room.

   Our three spare bedrooms are always set up and ready to go thanks to the Buy Nothing group and various curb picked furniture items. This probably sounds very hodge-podge, but the rooms all look cohesive and well put together.

   • My son’s old bedroom has a bed frame and antique dresser from Buy Nothing.
   • My daughter’s old room has a rug and dresser from Chez Curb, plus a Buy Nothing bookcase.
   • Our final spare bedroom has a hide-a-bed couch from our next door neighbors who switched over to a pair of recliners.

   My adult kids live on their own and absconded with their childhood beds and dressers, which is why I had to refurnish their rooms.

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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“Old money blonde”

People often think that the key to living a dedicated frugal life is about the things you actively do to support that mission. Making your own cleaning supplies, doing your own home maintenance and such. However, a fair amount of frugality is about what you’re not doing. I began mulling over this concept after reading a reader comment writing that she was “Sticking to tea/coffee/water at home.”

It got me thinking about much of how I save money by about what I don’t do.

• I also just drink tea and water when at home. I don’t like sodas or juice and save coffee as an occasional treat. I abhor the feeling of being drunk or even mildly buzzed, so I also save money by never buying alcohol for myself.

• I don’t color my hair, which has darkened with age. My color used to be referred to as “dishwasher blonde,” but has recently been upgraded to “old money blonde,” which sounds like a joke but isn’t. To go to a salon for a professional color service would set me back $150 or more. My life would be 0.0% better with a prettier hair color. Click HERE for a photo of my old money hair in all her glory!

• I live a few blocks from a retail heavy street that’s become a Mecca for dessert businesses. Ice cream, pies, cookies, frozen custard, pastries — there’s probably a dozen or more speciality stores that often have lines outside the door. However . . . I’m a good cook and can make my own desserts and would prefer to spend $4 on a half-gallon of Tillamook ice cream to treat the family, rather than $7.25 for a single scoop. (I kid you not on that price!) I know this makes me sound miserly and decidedly no fun, but I’m A-OK with with this passive frugal choice. Probably healthier too to stay away from the “dessert district.”

• I keep my electronics and mechanical items until they can no longer to be repaired. I only bought my used iPhone 8 only because I dropped my iPhone 7 into a toilet. I’ve since had the battery replaced and have treated the kids’ to battery replacements when they’ve complained about battery power. We drive a 2005 minivan and keep it in good repair. By avoiding the “serial upgrade” mindset, we save money by just continuing to use our functioning items.

• I don’t follow fashion trends, (I know — shocker!) nor do I follow design trends or really any kind of trend. This way I avoid my things becoming outdated in appearance. By thrifting timeless items I can avoid having to replace perfectly good items.

This list could continue on and on, but I want to know what you do to passively stay on the frugal path! Please share your passive frugal “hacks” in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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1. I sold my son’s old microwave through Facebook Marketplace for $30, as his new apartment has a built-in version. He bought it for $50 on Marketplace earlier in the year, but kind of overpaid. Happy to get it out of the house and a $20 loss on a microwave is actually not too shabby. He’s currently in a “crap out of the house, money in” state of mind.

2. I got my free Supercuts training center haircut yesterday, which is simply one of my favorite frugal hacks! (I did tip $5, even though I’ve never seen anyone else do so in my years of receiving these services.) I then stopped into the nearby Costco and bought the exact items from my list and nothing else. (Cat litter, a rotisserie chicken, chicken bullion, cheese, coffee beans and olive oil.) I try not to browse when I shop, as it leads to impulse purchases.

   The samples were peaking sampling, so I enjoyed some orange chicken, taquitos, vegetable soup, toast with jam and butter chicken over rice. No $1.50 hotdogs or $2 pizzas slices were harmed in the making of this errand.

3. I left a bit early for my haircut, as their new location is just a couple blocks from the Goodwill on 82nd Avenue. I wasn’t able to look through the whole store, but I did grab a 50%-off Dunder Mifflin “Party Planning Committee” Christmas sweater for $4.99. (Seems like this should be the regular price, not the half-off price, but I digress . . . ) I listed it on eBay* last night and hope to make someone’s “The Office” Christmas party dreams come true.

4. I made the most delicious white bean soup, which served as both my lunch and dinner last night. My son then stopped by after work and enjoyed a couple bowls as well. I believe the key to this soup’s next level tastiness was the addition of some of the 99¢ sausage from my online grocery shopping experiment.

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky!

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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1. I repaired my Birkenstock suede clogs using the last of two tubes of super glue and a couple of clamps. My sister gifted me these shoes maybe ten years ago, as they were too big for her, but the suede disconnects from the sole every so often. However, it’s just a matter of gluing them back together to get another year or so of use. Somewhat annoying, but time is going to pass either way, I might as well use fifteen minutes of it to keep these handy clogs in circulation.

2. I signed up for a seven-day free subscription to the Hallmark channel through our Roku box, as I wanted to watch a specific movie. I then went into my account to “unclick” the auto-renewal. <– This is key to all those “free trials!”

   The goofy part is that the movie I’d wanted to see, (Confessions of a Christmas Letter, starring The Office’s Angela Kinsey) was actually streaming over on Peacock, which we get for free through Verizon. Oh well . . . At least Hallmark always has a handful of Chanukah movies, which I feel contractually obligated to watch.

3. I helped my son sell his $30 West Elm chair for $110. It’s easier for me to meet with potential buyers, so he lists just his things through my Marketplace account. He works a 9-5 job that doesn’t allow him to have his phone on him, (corporate espionage issues) so I’m happy to help. He sources his own inventory, takes his own photos and then lists by himself; I just do the communication if he’s at work and I meet with buyers at the house. Team effort, bay-bee!

   

4. I got sucked into Simplysarahhart’s Instagram food prep reels, as she uses something called Super Cubes, which are silicone molds that allow you to meal prep single servings in a cuboid form. (I guess they were on the Shark Tank TV show, but I’m always little behind the times.) I looked them up and holy crap are they overpriced! Think $70 for a set of four for what is essentially a reconfigured ice cube tray!

   

   However . . . my husband owns a pair of big silicone ice cube trays, (fork for scale!) so I used one to freeze some leftover pumpkin pancake batter. I then popped out the batter cubes, which are now stored in a ziploc freezer bag. I really like the concept of this product, but I’m not one to overspend. I guess I’ll start keeping an eye out at Goodwill and figure out how to use what I already have on hand.

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky!

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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1. I decided to reorganize the closet in our spare bedroom, which led to giving away two board games and a cycling backpack through my Buy Nothing group. I needed a few extra organizing bins/shelves, but remembered that I had a stash of curb picked wire grid component pieces that would do the trick. I also nabbed a small bin from a shelf of DVDs, which created enough storage for everything.

   Oddly, I’ve curb picked this type of organizing cube system thrice over the years and love them as they can be configured in so many different ways. The key is to use zip ties to assemble, which keeps them structurally tighter than the actual doohickies that come with them. Does everything match? No, but that’s not a goal for me as this is hardly a visible area.

   There’s just something so satisfying about a freshly organized space, especially when it’s able to be achieved without spending a dime!

2. My son texted asking if I wanted to go thrifting, as he wanted “to find stuff to sell.” You can guess my answer. He picked me up and drove us to the Goodwill on S.E. 52nd, off Woodstock, which I suspect prices their furniture lower than other stores, as their store has a smaller footprint and they need their furniture to sell quickly.

   

   My son quickly found a West Elm arm chair for just $29.99 and gave it a quick inspection, realizing that there was was enough potential profit to be worth the thirty bucks. I also found a $4.99 vintage lighting globe for him to flip.

   

   We then drove over to Lounge Lizard to sell the globe and were rewarded with two ten dollar bills. “Finding stuff to sell” isn’t always so successful, (or immediate) but it’s pretty awesome when it is!

   

3. I stopped at the library to return one of my copies of After Annie and pick up two new holds.

   

4. • I found nine raggedy wet pennies in the Lounge Lizard parking lot.
   • I didn’t buy anything for myself at Goodwill.
   • My son photographed and listed the chair within an hour of bringing it back to the house.

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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1. I’ve scheduled a free haircut through the Supercuts training center for next week, which is good as my hair has reached the length where it snakes around my throat while I sleep. I love this frugal hack as I get to do something semi-indulgent for myself without the guilt of overspending. (The average price for a woman’s haircut is between $45- $75, if not more for hip urban salons!) The stylists aren’t students, but are instead fully licensed professionals, so there’s no worry about being on the receiving end of a wonky haircut. I’ve been enjoying their services for at least six years and have been 100% happy with each and every experience.

   You can check if free Supercuts salon services are available in your area by just calling around, which is how I got on the Portland area’s email list.

2. I checked out a fresh stack of library books when I took my mother to sign up for a library card. My library is closed for construction, so I haven’t been able to browse the stacks for at least a month. I won’t necessarily read every book, but it’s nice to have choices to match whatever mood I happen to be in.

   I accidentally checked out a “Lucky Day” book that I already had at home, which I guess shows that my taste in reading is consistent.

   

3. I perused the clearance rack on my recent trip to Winco Foods and scored a big $1.28 jar of Plochman’s Stone Ground Mustard, which was a great deal as it would’ve cost $8.39 had I ordered it from Amazon. I’m unlikely to score 10¢ bags of chocolate chips ever again, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be checking that shelf with each and every trip!

4. • I used up the last of a bag of mediocre store brand shredded cheese in some grits. It was about to go bad and I’ll make a mental note not to buy it in the future, even if it is on sale.
   • I binge watched the TV show Somebody Somewhere through my parents’ HBO account. (So good!) It’s fun to have a new streaming service to flick through.

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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1. My neighbor got her furnace replaced and returned the space heater that we’d lent to her. She also gave us two homemade “Crumbl” style cookies that were a meal in themselves. I rarely bake cookies, so this was a special treat. A smart blogger would’ve photographed the cookies. I did not.

2. I took my mother out to run errands yesterday and convinced her that she had time to pop into the library for a replacement library card. She recently purchased her first ever Kindle and is looking forward to getting back into the habit of reading. The librarian took the time to explain the many digital benefits of her card, such as using Libby.com and I anticipate many ebooks are in her future!

   She also treated me to lunch. Thanks, mom!

3. I took my long detail shopping list to Winco Foods to make sure I’d hit the $125 barrier to qualify for a “free turkey” with purchase. It turn out that the promotion doesn’t actually begin until November 18th. Oops . . .

   I still got six bags of groceries for $103, which included a case of canned cat food and multiple sale items.

4. My husband and I stopped into the Franz Bakery outlet and picked up two sleeves of bagel, two loaves of marble rye and two enormous commercially packaged loaves of caraway rye bread for ten dollars.

5. I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky.

Katy Wolk-Stanley 

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

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