The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. I sold a few items through eBay, including a new-in-box NBA robe, a sparkly Barbie outfit, a load of midcentury tapered table legs, a Hanna Andersson jacket, three Starbucks mugs and some miscellaneous board game pieces. Needless to say, all packaging was on its second (or third) life.

   Curious about whether your items are worth listing on eBay? Check out this piece I wrote for ClarkHoward.com.

2. My son was home from college for Thanksgiving break, so we drove up to my father’s Mt. Hood cabin so he could spend some time with his grandparents. We broke up the hour-long trip with a stop into the Sandy, Oregon Goodwill, where my son picked out a new looking corduroy shirt and I pounced on a leather footstool that was the exact match to my husband’s Lane brand armchair. (Seriously folks, it’s the same brand, style and color!) I’d picked up a similar-ish footstool awhile back, but its vinyl had begun peeling like crazy which looked like crap.

   Goodwill was selling the chair/footstool combo for just $6.99, but I chose to just buy the footstool as that’s all that I needed. And since the price was so reasonable, I didn’t even attempt to bargain them down.

   I have a theory that every item ever manufactured eventually shows up at Goodwill, and so far this theory has yet to be disproven.

3. I didn’t look for Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals on the internet. 50% off is still 50% that you’re paying. My husband and I have had an extremely expensive year with his medical bills and the kids’ college tuition. Now is not the time loosen any purse strings. Plus, there’s nothing we need. If anything, we need less.

   Instead, we’ve been completely content gorging on enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers and taking full advantage of the free opportunities that present themselves.

4. I spent five days in New York City helping my sister move. (She’s in an intensive graduate school program, which limits her time resources.) My mother booked the trip, so my only related expenses were $25 to ship my suitcase and a few random extras such as gasoline for the truck, a single airport meal, a couple slices of pizza and one diner breakfast. It was a challenging visit, made no better by a big ol’ snowstorm, but I’m proud of the amount that we did accomplish.

   For reference as to how focused this trip was, I drove a carload of my sister’s stuff to Goodwill and didn’t step foot into the store!! Shocking.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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1. I sold a board game, a vintage toy and a pair of shoes through Facebook Marketplace, as well as a pair of slippers through NextDoor.com. All items were cheapie thrift store finds.

2. I also picked up an extra shift at the hospital and confirmed that I’m on track to work enough hours to earn a bonus after the first of the year. (I get a $1.10 per-hour-worked bonus, but only if I work over 800 hours in a calendar year.) My friend once worked a few hours shy of her 800 hours, and her error put the fear in me. And since my son’s next college tuition payment is due at the beginning of January, it couldn’t come at a better time.

3. I’ve been making sure to keep a variety of cooked beans in the fridge for use in layered bowl meals, which are my favorite. White beans, black beans, pinto beans, they’re all so cheap, tasty and healthy! I’ve been watching YouTube videos from Stacey Flowers recently, and am inspired by her $50 per month food budget. (It’s rare that I find people who beat me in the financial extremity game!) Lots of what she calls “Buddha bowls,” which are essentially beans with easy add-ins.

   I’m working the next few days and have already pre-assembled my meals, which will be guessed it . . . mixed beans bowls.

4. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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I’m going to describe a situation that I know is far from unique to my personal experience.

I create tasty meals based on bulk purchased dried beans, I pick up every coin, (even the grubby pennies) I source my clothing from the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet or neighborhood free piles, I dumpster dive at dorm move outs, I pack leftovers for work meals, I stalk the library for reading material, my haircuts are all freebies from the Supercuts’ training center; and I repair and mend anything that promises to last another day, month or year.

None of these things will individually ensure financial independence, but together they make a difference. An opportunity for financial breathing room.

Mind you, these are all sacrifices that I’m happy to incorporate into my life. These choices allow me to pay cash for my kids’ college educations, they make it possible to throw 16% of my income into retirement and to step away from the anxiety of a paycheck to paycheck existence. Plus, I firmly believe that over manufacture of consumer goods is an environmental nightmare as well as a toxic mindset. So choosing this lifestyle pairs well with my beliefs.

However . . . it can be exhausting. It’s satisfying when it results in financial freedom, but it’s frustrating to save 50¢ here or $2 there’s when an unexpected $538 dental bill or yet another medical bill infests my mailbox.

I feel like I’m celebrating a found nickel while simultaneously throwing hundred dollar bills into the abyss.

2018 has been a year of intense expenses with my husband having two (two!) surgeries, as well as kids in college and the general expenses related to home ownership and the audacity to stay on top of dental care.

So do I give up on my money saving efforts?

Nope. I renew my library books, grab my reusable bags (that save 6¢ apiece!) and head out to the inconvenient discount grocery store across town. I sell an item or two through Facebook Marketplace and pack up a bean based meal for tomorrow’s work lunch.

Do you feel like your scrimping and saving is hardly worth the effort when life is full of endless high cost obstacles? 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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Today’s Five Frugal Things blog post is an overview of the errands I ran in my neighborhood this afternoon. They all have the same theme, which was to:

A) Get stuff out of the house.
B) Earn a bit of money/avoid losing money through library fines.

1. I brought a book and DVD set to the library as the DVD was due. I also went up to the customer service desk and had the librarian explain their cultural passes, which turn out to be called My Discovery Pass, and allow patrons to “Visit local museums and cultural institutions for free.” Unfortunately, almost all the passes have been given out for the rest of 2018. However, there were still free movie passes to the historic Hollywood Theater, so I’ll take a look at my schedule so my husband and I can enjoy an evening of free entertainment.

   And you already know that I’ll be hitting the library website on January 1st to see what’s available for 2019!

   This frugal hack may seem specific to Portland, Oregon, but my research tells me that many library systems have similar programs. Please visit your local library (or library website) to discover what free stuff is available to you!

2. I brought two books into Powell’s Bookstore that I’d received for free from a local bookstore reading. (They weren’t exactly “free,” as I did pay $10 for the event, which was a reading/talk from Cheryl Strayed.) I received $6 in store credit, which’ll come in handy towards holiday gifts. I did read one of the books, (an excellent collection of travel essays) but know myself well enough to admit the other one was destined to gather dust.

3. I then walked over to the CD Game Exchange store and sold two unopened blu ray movies that had been gifts. They gave me $12 in store credit, which I’ll also use towards holiday gifts.

4. My last errand was to return an adorable vintage kitchen timer to the Boutique Goodwill, as it had been a unapologetic impulse purchase. (Seriously, wasn’t it the cutest?!) Because even though it looked freaking adorable in my vintage kitchen, it was still destined to become yet another piece of clutter in my home. Luckily, Goodwill has an excellent return policy, and I’m now in possession of a $10 store credit to use at any Portland area Goodwill retail store.

5. I didn’t buy (or sell) a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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1. My mother and I celebrated her 76th mother’s birthday by indulging in a Birthday Day of Adventures. (We’d gone to dinner last week, but I hadn’t given her a physical gift.)

   We ended up at the Linn County Historical Museum located in Brownsville, Oregon. Sure, it’s an hour and a half from Portland, but I’d briefly been there once and knew it was right up my mother’s alley. (Plus their suggested donation policy brings the admission price down to a reasonable amount.) Needless to say, it was a hit. My mother made fast friends with the curator Joni, who even snuck us in for a free quick and dirty tour of the 137-year-old Moyer House, which would’ve normally set us back $5 apiece.

   The funny thing is that I’d just been talking about how I’d always wanted to do one of those cheesy ole western photo shoots, but was too cheap to pull the trigger. ( <– Such a great pun!) And wonder of all wonders, this museum had free replica pioneer clothing available for dress ups, photo ops and shenanigans! For free! Needless, to say . . . things got silly.

   We also worked in some thrifting, (shocker, right?) hitting both the Goodwill Outlet here in Portland as well as the regular one in Albany, which has recently risen to the top to become my favorite store. (Hello, $12.99 midcentury modern desk!)

   I did pick up a few things to sell, (Snoopy mugs, Ugg slippers, a vintage macrame hanging light, a framed painting and a Nightmare Before Christmas plush) as well as a couple items to keep, (two Williams Sonoma dish towels and a specific round stacking stool that I always keep an eye out for as they’re infinitely practical as end tables/seating/bedside tables.)

2. I sold a pair of Rothy shoes and a vintage macrame kit on eBay, as well as a pair of Danskos and (hopefully today) a pair of vintage Snoopy waterskis through Facebook Marketplace. I also gave away an Edible Arrangements kit and an embroidered pillowcase through my Buy Nothing Group.

3. My husband has been out out town all weekend, so I cooked up a big batch of bulk purchased brown rice and black beans and have been assembling meals from it over the past couple of days. Simple, cheap and yummy, especially since I buy Costco sized jugs of chunky salsa at The Grocery Outlet for just $2.99 apiece. I could see myself being one of those people with a $50 monthly food budget if I lived alone.

4. I finished reading my library copy of Money Diaries: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Your Finances & Everybody Elses, I rounded up a number of items I’ve been meaning to sell on eBay and actually listed them, I watched random dumpster diving YouTube videos while listing on eBay, my husband fixed our refrigerator, which was leaking water from a broken ice maker, (it’s 20 years old, and I imagine that many others would use this issue an an excuse to buy a new one) I ordered cheap pizza for dinner as our kitchen was a mess of leaking water and sopping wet towels, I used a $5-off-$15 Target coupon plus an e-coupon to buy all our Halloween candy, I saved the cost of a stamp for my mail-in ballot as I’d brought my daughter into the election office to change her address, (we Oregonians vote by mail) and I reused second hand packaging for all my eBay sales.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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1. My mother signed up for a booth at a local school’s craft fair, and asked me to come work it with her. I’m not particularly crafty, but there’s enough time between now and November 9th to figure out a few things that I can sell.

   Hmm . . . are rocks with googly eyes still a thing?

2. Now that my husband is healing from his ankle/foot surgery, I went ahead and gave away his thrifted shower stool through my local Buy Nothing Group to someone who said that she couldn’t “stand long enough to shower & would love such a gift.” It would’ve been easy to shove this bulky item into our attic in the name of “but we might need this again some day.” Instead, I put it into the hands of someone who’ll use it, which not only saves them money, but also keeps a useful item in circulation.

   There are countless practical things stashed away in our homes. Can you imagine what would happen if we all worked to put these items directly into the hands of people who needed them?

3. We just shelled out a little over $1000 in college fees that we hadn’t been expecting, which is never a fun day. (My son picked up an extra class and my daughter had some lingering college fees.)

   However, we have money set aside for exactly this situation. It does mean that we now have $1000 less tucked aside for winter term’s looming deadline, but we have until January 1st to amass the next payment.

   How is this a “frugal thing?” My thousands of “frugal things” make this possible.

4. I sold a curb picked chair through Facebook Marketplace, I returned a book to the library, I made a huge pot of white bean sausage/kale soup instead even though I was exhausted and felt lousy, we were treated to a lovely meal out with my mother to celebrate her 76th birthday, I scrubbed my mildew-infested shower curtain instead of replacing it, (seriously, I’d let it get disgustingly bad!) I replanted lettuce seeds after harvesting everything, I raked leaves in my backyard and crammed them into the yard debris can that we share with our next door neighbor, (which saves us $182 per year) I stopped into New Seasons Market and enjoyed a free tiny coffee and food samples, I started a new library book and I’m using a menstrual cup instead of disposable (and expensive) products.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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We celebrated our daughter’s 23rd birthday with yet another Birthday Day of Adventures which included:

• A trip to Kyra’s Bake Shop for a gluten-free cupcake. However, we splurged on just one for the birthday girl, as they’re $4.75 apiece (plus tip) and I’m too damned cheap for that kind of nonsense indulgence.

• A foray into the impressively maze-like Cartlandia food cart pod, where my husband chomped down on a bacon cheeseburger while my daughter and I slurped down our Thai noodles. This was my first time to these food particular carts, and I’ll definitely be scheduling a return visit.

• Admission to Quarterworld, which is a nearby bar-arcade that I’d always assumed was only for 21 and over. (It turns out to be all ages until 8 PM.) Anyway, we went during happy hour, which meant our admissions were a buck apiece, and the three of us happily fed ten dollars of quarters into the video games, pinball machines and Skee-Ball games until our jangly pockets were a distant memory.

  My husband and daughter sipped adult beverages while I enjoyed a refreshing cup of water. (C,mon . . . don’t even pretend to be surprised.)

  My favorite game? The Twilight Zone pinball machine, as Rod Serling and I share the same alma mater. ANTIOCH!

• We then made our way over to the Academy Theater, where we paid $4 apiece to see the movie Leave No Trace, which was loosely based on a man who’d been secretly raising his daughter in Portland’s own Forest Park. I enjoy a good non-Hollywood blockbuster film, and this one did not disappoint. Lots of food for thought.

  And our movie snacks? Starlight mints, leftover from eating out while in NYC last week. (Thanks, mom!)

• Our last stop was to Ya Hala, where we indulged ourselves with plates of Lebanese food. I was still full from lunch, so I ordered a bowl of lentil soup, although I do have to say that their hummus was the silkiest ever. I wish I could recreate it at home!

The decision to switch from physical presents to experiential gifts has been an amazing tradition to fold into our family culture. Our birthdays are now fun for all of us, and I love that we’re creating memories instead of clutter.

Want to know how we’ve celebrated past Birthday Days of Adventures? Click any of the links below to see how there’s absolutely no sacrifice when you choose experiences over stuff.

Experience Over Stuff: A Birthday Day of Adventures
Celebrating Birthdays on The Cheap: Experiences Trump Stuff
My Birthday day of Adventures
A 50th Birthday Day of Adventures
It’s Okay to Be Cheap
Eight Frugal Things – Birthday Edition
A Birthday Day of Disappointments
Birthday for a 17-Year-Old Boy
A Day of Birthday Surprises for My 18-year-old son
A Day of Adventures for a 16-Year-Old Boy

I’ve probably have written a few other birthday posts, but since I started this blog in May of 2008, there’s a deep and murky well of content.

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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1. My mother and I are in New York to help my sister with a project, and it’s basically the cheapest trip that anyone’s ever taken to New York City since travel and money was invented. Why? Because we’re staying at her place for free, all meals are provided and the only money I’ve spent so far is on a couple slices of cheese pizza and an admittedly overpriced Halloween pumpkin for my beloved niece. And since we’ve hardly strayed from my sister’s neighborhood, (except to run errands in her car) I haven’t loaded a red cent onto my MetroCard.

   I did garbage pick a superficially grubby suitcase from behind the Goodwill, (which cleaned up beautifully) and I’ve picked up dozens of coins which I’ll add up after I get back to Portland.

   I’ll definitely splurge on a box of Zeppieri’s cannoli to bring home for my family, which has become my tradition. Portland has transformed into a foodie’s wet dream, however . . . quality Italian style baked goods have yet to cross our borders. And since I can put food soiled paper into my municipal compost, it’ll even be zero waste. (I try to only spend on experiences, consumables and necessary items/household expenses.)

2. I grabbed a variety of snacks for the airplane, saving me from being at the mercy of airline meals priced as if they’re dipped in 24k gold leaf and then rolled in free trade, shade grown, gluten-free, organic vegan, bird friendly free range caviar.

3. My sister is an employee/student of the American Museum of Natural History and was able to get me in for free including entry into the Hayden Planetarium (and the rest of the extra exhibits) which normally costs $33. (I’m actually blogging in a student only area right now, partaking of their kick-ass free WiFi!) I’ll then take myself on a self-guided tour of the Upper West Side while my sister focuses on her studies.

4. We drove up to the New Rochelle Habitat ReStore and picked up a vintage end table and an old and groovy af art-deco table lamp for just $33. Not thrift store pricing, but much less than they would have cost from a traditional retailer.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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1. I finally found a great TV for my son’s apartment for just $39.99. Because yeah . . . I did my electronics shopping at Goodwill. I’d scoured the Salem, Oregon Goodwills without luck, but found success at the Albany location. I was hesitant with the purchase until the clerk reminded me that all area Goodwills offer a 14-day no questions asked return policy. (As long as you keep the price tag on and return it to the same store with receipt.) And yes . . . it worked!

   I also bought a midcentury desk from the same Goodwill, as it was priced at $12.99 which I don’t have to tell you is a screaming good deal. Although I have warm and fuzzy feelings about the antique desk that’s inhabited our living room for years, it functioned to hold a desktop computer that no one used and not much else. This desk has a larger top surface and will provide much better functionality. Hey . . . it might even inspire me to do more writing. Stranger things have happened!

2. I picked up three windfall apples from a neighbor’s tree and assembled a delicious apple crisp, I bought beets and steamed/sautéed the stems/leaves to go with tonight’s dinner and I ate a number of free meals while accompanying my husband during his three-day work conference. Why is cheap food so delicious?

3. I plucked a grubby small desk fan from a neighbor’s free pile, (or “freeple” as my niece calls them) and restored it to pristine condition. My family has a number of large box and standing fans, but were lacking a smaller one. Perfect for the times during cooler months when schlepping a big fan from the attic seems like a Herculean effort.

4. I found a quarter while out walking with my friend Lise, I arrived early to a work event so I could stop by the labor and delivery unit for a free coffee, I’m selling an antique console table that I got for free, I sold a sweater on eBay, I bought a crapload of groceries at the discount grocery store Winco as I’ll be out of town for five days, (my post-surgical husband still can’t drive) and I picked up a couple of Goodwill items to list on eBay.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley    

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

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