The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. I had a nice low key Mother’s Day with the kids here at the house and a simple brunch. No pressure and the kids staggered their visits, which expanded it into a nice long afternoon.

   I then took my mother out the next day for belated fun, just the two of us. I picked up a Starbucks mocha along the way, (her favorite treat, plus I had credit on my Starbucks account) and we browsed an antique mall in the neighborhood. I also took her to Montelupo for their mushroom focaccia with fresh ricotta and arugula. She also received the rooster planter that I curb picked a few weeks ago, now freshly planted with hens and chicks from my backyard.

2. We were almost out of Palmolive bar soap, so I stopped into Dollar Tree. I heard a rumor that their prices are going up again, so I also grabbed extra toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner. I miss the era when their soap was 3/$1 especially since it’s now 2/$1.25.

   Those were the good old days . . . .

3. My father-in-law passed away last month, so my husband’s been busy going through their house and scrambling to find places to donate their belongings. There’ve been multiple loads of their stuff to Goodwill, (clothing, books and kitchen items) plus a number of dump runs as many items were no longer in any condition for usefulness. My late mother-in-law was an art teacher and had an overwhelming amount of unused art supplies. We donated those to the kids’ high school art department, which was a perfect solution. She also sold semi-precious stone beads, which we took to a bead shop in the neighborhood. The money will help a bit with all the sudden expenses. (Cremation, probate lawyer, bond and associated costs.) Everything is complicated by there being no will. There’s also a storage unit that we’ll have access to after my husband is named the official executor. Luckily the storage unit is in Portland.

   This project is nowhere near completion and is complicated by them living two and a half hours away on the Oregon coast. This means that we spend a couple hundred bucks on a motel room every day my husband works on their house.

4. • Our daughter needed a bicycle and my husband was able to put one together for her out of two bikes that were collecting dust in our garage.
   • Our neighborhood is having their annual “neighborhood cleanup day,” and although I can’t think of anything we need to take over, I’ll still do a sweep through the house and see if there’s anything we can get rid of. I’m extra inspired at the moment to not burden my kids with a house filled with excess Stuff!
   • My friend’s daughter is training as a volunteer docent at a local museum, so we’re going over there today to be her guinea pigs. Free museum entry!

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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1. 1. An old Antioch College friend came into town and took me out to breakfast, which was a lovely treat. So great to catch up with her and hopefully we’ll see each other again while she’s in town visiting with her son.

   2. I found two nickels and a penny while walking home from the restaurant. So yeah . . . I recently came into some money.

      

   3. My friend Lise and walked to Fred Meyer (Kroger) on Tuesday, which was their monthly senior discount day. I didn’t actually need much, but I did pick up clearance price bags of kale, spinach and tomatoes; plus I used a 65¢-off coupon for eggs and a coupon for free Haagen Dazs. I’ll make a batch of kale pesto and save the vanilla ice cream for when I next make an apple crisp or pie.

      10%-off Fred Meyer is still more expensive than Winco.

   4. • Portland remembered that it was Spring, so now I get to open the windows and keep the heat off.
      • I was late returning two library books, but Multnomah County Library no longer charges late fees.
      • I rewatched the first three seasons of The Detectorists (best show!) on the free Roku channel.
      • My downstairs bedroom acts as a kind of catchall for this, that and the other, which means it can get disheveled. I spent a half hour or so reorganizing and cleaning everything, so it looks all nice and ordered again. No items were purchased in the making of this room refresh.

   5. I didn’t pay any hush money.

“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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