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I sold my $7.99 thrifted kitchen cart for $75 through Facebook Marketplace. I’m still waiting on a buyer for my framed Nagel print, but patience is key.
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I curb picked a drafting table near my daughter’s apartment. I’ll hold onto it for a bit as my son likely needs a smaller desk, but will definitely put it up on Marketplace if he ends up passing on it. It doesn’t show in the photo, but the table top does tilt down.
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I ordered two used copies of books my niece wants for her birthday from Powell’s Books. I called them up and was able to pay using gift cards, and they’ll send the books to their location in my neighborhood. Needless to say, the gift cards are from selling books I got for free in the first place.
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• My step mother loaded me down with ripe cherry tomatoes from her garden. Thanks, Lindy!
• My husband and I started watching the new season of Only Murders in The Building through my friend’s Hulu account. Thanks, Lisa!
• My husband stopped off at Costco on his way home from hockey practice and picked up a $5 rotisserie chicken, olive oil and bananas. Zero impulse purchases.
• I also curb picked a fancy dish drain system and listed it on Marketplace.
• I cleaned and reorganized my refrigerator freezer and only threw out/composted some ancient bread crusts and a laughably iced over bag of strawberries. I’m now more aware of what’s on hand, which’ll help to minimize food waste.
• I bought a cantaloupe at Trader Joe’s and timed the cutting of it perfectly. My personal method is to buy the biggest one, (as Trader Joe’s prices per item, rather than by weight.) I then just wait a few days until the smell is nice and strong. This may seem like a “duh” moment to you, but I’ve only recently figured this out. It’s so disappointing and a waste of money to cut into an unripe cantaloupe.
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I didn’t curb pick any Lear Jets.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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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.”
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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!
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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.
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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.
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• 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.
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I didn’t garbage pick any Lear Jets.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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* Not even slightly.
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My husband and I borrowed our next-door neighbor’s power washer and used it to clean both the rug from my daughter’s old bedroom, (I accidentally shut the cat in there a couple weeks ago!) and to scrub the seats and rugs from my late in-laws’ Ford Fusion. Portland is looking at a string of 90+ degree days, so it’s the perfect time to get things sopping wet.
Our across the street neighbor hired a car detailer for his vehicle earlier in the week and we were deeply impressed with what an amazing job the guy did! However the cost was $450. Instead my husband watched a couple of car detailing YouTube videos, (so satisfying!) and got to work. It was an unpleasant task, but the seats are now almost new looking and hopefully the car should smell much better and we can get it sold.
My daughter’s rug was curb picked to begin with, but that doesn’t mean I should to give up on it. It’s far from a natural fiber and will essentially never break down in a landfill, so preserving its functionality as long as possible is important to me.
The rug now looks better than ever and all it took was some elbow grease.
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I cooked up a batch of black bean smash tacos for dinner last night. I took pictures to put together for a later step-by-step blog post, but until then here’s a photo of the finished product:
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My sister left behind a pile of stuff to mail off to her daughter, so I texted her asking if there’s any books she’d like or needs for college. (I’m currently flush with Powell’s Bookstore credit from selling books that I got for free.) My niece just turned 20 and I can use this credit towards her birthday present. I’ll wait to mail off the box-o-random-stuff until she gets back to me.
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• I gave the deck a light power wash, mostly putting my energy into removing the schmutz that lives in between the boards. Again, so satisfying!
• I stopped by Dollar Tree to pick up rice, ginger snaps, ketchup, mustard and pickles.
• I swung by Safeway for my husband’s work lunch items. They had an e-coupon for $10-off-$50, so I added a case of on-sale canned cat food to hit that mark.
• I gave away something through my Buy Nothing group.
• My husband and I watched the The Holdovers through my sister’s Prime Video account.
• I made sure to gas up the minivan at the one gas station that’s consistently 60-80¢/gallon less than its competitors.
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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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I recently asked members of my Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group “How are people affording groceries these days?” which solicited a lot of information. The group is chock full of creative thinkers and people’s answers confirmed this theory. I’m including a few here as there might be some “hack” that you hadn’t considered.
PLEASE add your own hacks in comments section below as there’s nothing better than top notch collective problem solving. Food prices are a definite problem right now and it’s going to take some ingenuity to pull through without depleting our bank accounts.
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There are a lot of ways we save on food. I look for meat priced at $2.99/lb or lower. We usually do ground turkey, ground beef, chicken breasts or thighs, and pork. Tonight we did crispy baked chicken thighs (99 cents per pound) with roasted potatoes and honey glazed carrots. The dinner cost less than $10, I brought some to my neighbor, and we have a lot left over. Potatoes and carrots are usually priced low. We almost never buy packaged foods (chips, cookies, cereal). I made homemade granola this week. We bought a huge box of microwave popcorn from Costco and that’s what we have if we want a crunchy snack. We don’t buy drinks. I make 1-2 gallons of iced tea per week (using 2-4 regular tea bags per gallon). I get a lot of tea from Buy Nothing, but I also buy boxes of 100 bags for the best price I can find. Today’s tea is 2 black and 2 lemon teabags. Yummy and refreshing. I got the app Too Good To Go. We use that for treats, like a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for $7 instead of around $20. We don’t feel like we’re deprived. There are so many good things to cook at home for way less than a restaurant.
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We’ve stopped eating meat of any kind. We’re saving a lot of money, our cholesterol has dropped, and we’ve lost weight. Win win win!
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That picture there is an invitation to make a gallon of yogurt in the instapot, at least it is in our house. So much cheaper than buying yogurt itself. Other ideas, our garden gets bigger every year. That helps with the budget too.
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Ground turkey or chicken is expensive. Chicken runs $2.99 and up per lb. We bought a 3-lb rotisserie chicken last week for $5 and made at least 10 portions of it. Broth, and gravy made with broth, and creamed chicken breast in gravy served over potatoes and carrots.
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Dry legumes. They’re so much cheaper than canned. Using only the veggies that are cheap. Using up everything in the fridge and pantry. Bigger garden.
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Yeah, I’m always looking for ways to eat frugally, too. So I shop sales & store brands, I know 101 ways to eat beans n rice and all kinds of salads. I focus on healthy dense high-fiber meals. Organic is expensive so I buy only organic salad greens, fruit, & vegs. I eat mostly fish and meat as a side in small portions. I waste nothing. And food co-ops are a good idea. Frances M Lappe’ “Diet for a Small Planet” & Adelle Davis, “Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit…”, got me started. Eatting low on the food-chain.
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We adapt. <– I love this comment!
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I stopped making a full meal list until I go to the Amish Discount, to see what they have and then I buy meat on sale or discount. Last month I bought 4 (15-lb) bags for $3.99. I also shop Aldi and local butcher shop when they have bundles.
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Partly due to cost and partly due to special diets that make eating out difficult, we’ve almost completely stopped going to restaurants (pre-pandemic and an additional dietary change, it was the 3 of us in a restaurant probably 3x a month and my husband sometimes bought lunch in the cafeteria at work which used to be reasonably priced, but has gone up quite a bit). The restaurant budget has gone to groceries and other expenses.
I shop at a store with rummage bins that frequently include food in damaged but safe packaging or are close to the best by date. It also frequently has gluten-free foods (I’m gluten-free). Today’s food items were a jug of gluten-free soy sauce 4 times the volume of my usual brand at lower price than one bottle and a favorite brand of jelly beans at 60% off regular per pound price (junk food, but something we enjoy). Last week it was buckwheat flour (gluten free) at about 65% off regular retail and which I will turn into gluten-free waffles.
One location of a local grocery store chain 1 to a few times a week posts a really great deal on their Facebook page. Frequently they are close to date, but we have freezer space. My last deal was frozen tilapia at $2.50 per pound instead of their usual $4.50 per pound and due to one of the dietary needs in our family we eat fish frequently, including tonight.
Making my own convenience foods/planning leftovers: I cook a big batch of something we enjoy that will freeze well and freeze in single portions or family meal size portions. This weekend it was boneless skinless chicken breast on sale for 70 cents per pound less than what’s usually the best deal I can find and ground turkey turned into burgers and loose crumbles (all 3 are enjoyed in hubby’s sack lunch or by son when he comes home after a late shift–he texts when he leaves work and it’s ready when he gets here), previously it was a batch of flavored rice, and before that it was lentil soup. I got 4 matching silicone trays with lids that each hold 4 portions and the tray is marked at both 4 and 8 oz.–these were $1.50 per tray at the rummage bin store, but silicone muffin pans, which one might already have, may work for others.
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I’ve had a garden since the 80’s. When we lived in an upstairs duplex I had a garden at my parents place. Been gardening here since 1988. One of the first things we planted were fruit trees and I am busy dealing with a glut of plums and lots of apples. Making jams, and will try my hand at apple pectin and maybe cider and cider vinegar. My usuals are canned apple pie filling, frozen apple pies and canned tomato sauce. Been picking blackberries and freezing them for my husband who usually buys frozen berries to eat on his morning cereal. Freezing grated zucchini and also baking muffins, breads to freeze. Been freezing beans and peas and expecting a bumper crop of yellow beans later so will be canning those. I harvested my dry beans they are drying on a tray in the sun room to be sealed into jars later. Front porch is covered in onions and garlic curing as well as some early pumpkins. When I bake I always use skim milk powder in place of milk. We buy what ever is on clearance or in bulk and don’t eat a lot of meat. We’ve raised the occasional beef, pork or poultry in the past but with only two of us now, it’s too much. My husband watches the sales and stocks up. If we go out for a meal we use coupons or go on days when there are discounts. We have two freezers and a cold room to store food. We also make our own wine.
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Salvage stores for all the interesting parts of a meal. Around here, ours are run by people who don’t seem to have a taste for international foods, so we can get some really fun stuff super cheap, because they just want it to move off the shelf. Yogurt that is getting close to dates is a dollar for a quart. Everybody has a garden, so we eat a whole lot of zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes in the summer. We buy beef and pork by the half or quarter, directly from the farmer. We do have an Aldi, which is a huge blessing, and every couple months I make a run to the big city to get whatever is on special at Trader Joe’s. The biggest thing, is that I no longer have teenagers in the house! So if I buy it or cook for them, it is a gift, rather than a regular monthly expenditure of hundreds of dollars.
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I’ve been challenging myself on the grocery front since the beginning of June. It’s been “interesting.” I ended up shopping by myself on Fridays at Kroger. I could spend as much time as I wanted with my calculator, hit the loss leaders, and clearance items, AND save at least $1/gallon of gas by taking advantage of the 4x gas rewards. I’ve slowly been switching my shopping strategy to fresh stuff and stocking up weekly rather than buying everything as we need. With the kids back to school, I’m focusing on making food for them to take to school instead of buying. It’s a bit of a challenge with my 16 year old son who is weight lifting and requires lots of protein.
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Been a lot healthier buying and cooking local produce in season from scratch with basics and have joined an online foraging group – I amazed what fresh food there is around for free and how it does not contain all the additives and chemicals, let alone plastic that the food in supermarkets has.
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We cook in bulk and eat the leftovers all week. Saved a ton of money. Currently eating green pepper casserole this week.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Today is the last day of hosting my out of town sister, so you’ll have to excuse me if this blog post is a bit less than spectacular. I’ve had the fullest of full plates and I haven’t had the mental energy to sit down and write anything cohesive. Apologies.
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I’ve avoided the dreaded “borrowed vacation mindset” that happens when hosting out of towners. This is not my splurge. All meals at my house have been frugal to the extreme.
For example, I hosted an extended family dinner the other night and served my version of The Prudent Homemaker’s white bean rosemary soup, to which I added paprika, garlic powder and nicely carmelized white onions. I paired this with grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread that I picked up at the Franz Bakery outlet store for two bucks. Guests brought vanilla ice cream, which I served over a homemade mixed fruit crumble.
You get the picture. Cheap, but yummy.
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I stopped at the Franz Bakery Outlet while my sister visited with our father, as it’s somewhat in the neighborhood. The pickings were slim, but I did buy two sleeves of $1.50 everything bagels and the aforementioned $2 sourdough bread. To have bought this bread at Fred Meyer would have been $18.50 instead of the $5 that I spent!
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I nipped into Fred Meyer for a half gallon of milk and instead bought a full gallon of clearance price milk for $2.07. I also grabbed a four-pack of apples from the $1 clearance shelf and a 2-pound carton of sale price cottage cheese for $2.50.
My goal is to not draw any more money from savings while my husband works to ready his parents’ house for sale. This extreme frugality supports that goal.
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• I sautéed and froze a large amount of white onion that I also bought from the $1 clearance shelf.
• I tried making my own oat milk, which turned out okay-ish. Fine to taste, but awful in tea and a not good in a smoothie.
• I used money from one of my Powell’s Books gift cards to pay for something my sister was buying for her son. She then reimbursed me, (although I gave her a discount.) This store credit is from selling books I get for free.
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No curb picked Lear Jets.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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My sister, husband and I drove to the Oregon coast together, as my husband needed to spend a couple days working on his late parents’ house. (He also needed to drive a U-Haul of stuff back to their storage space in Oregon.) Our youngest sister then drove up from Eugene to meet up and the three of us spent the day in Newport enjoying the beach and each other’s company. We did buy takeout burritos, but otherwise kept to the “Two Thin Dimes” theme.
My husband stayed the night at his parent’s house, which he normally doesn’t do as it’s been unsanitary in the past, but he’s done enough work at this point to make it acceptable. This saves us around $200/night. My sister and I were pretty full from the burritos, so we skipped dinner and gorged on quesadillas when we hit home at 10:30 P.M.
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I scored three two-pound boxes of strawberries for a buck apiece from Fred Meyer’s produce clearance shelf. I immediately washed and cut them up for the freezer. Except for the prettiest ones, which we enjoyed while they were nice and fresh.
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I spent twenty minutes or so cleaning out the minivan the day after we got back from the beach, which meant wiping surfaces with a damp cleaning towel and brushing things out with a broom head. (I unscrew the handle from the broom, which then functions as a hand broom. This eliminates the need to own a hand broom!) Easy. Simple.
I got to thinking about how doing regular cleaning maintenance on our 19-year-old minivan means we rarely need to do detail-level cleaning because it never gets gross. This also eliminates the need for speciality cleaning products and the task is easily completed without it becoming a Huge Project. I feel like this is a lesson that isn’t specific to car cleaning. Do the work before it becomes overwhelming.
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• My sisters did splurge on $6.50 cups of clam chowder at Mo’s restaurant in Newport, but I stuck with coffee as I wasn’t actually hungry.
• I mailed a piece of artwork to my cousin in Pittsburgh, but used Pirateship.com for discounted USPS shipping.
• I listed a vintage kitchen cart on Facebook Marketplace for $100 that I thrifted for $7.99. I don’t know if it’ll sell for that much, but I might as well shoot for the moon. My mother was over and helped me style it up cute to hopefully make it more appealing.
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I didn’t beach comb for a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I hosted an extended family dinner at the house, as a pair of third cousins were in from out of town. My mother and step father ordered pizzas, but I still shouldered the work to ready the house, do the dishes and generally manage the occasion. (Who’s ready for dessert?”) I put out appetizers and baked up a mixed fruit crumble; (free apples, free figs and store bought frozen mixed berries) that I served warm with vanilla ice cream topping. Somehow it was about as much work as if I’d actually cooked the meal. However it was a fairly frugal meal for nine people, so I’ll call it a win.
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My sister and I drove up to visit our father at his cabin on Mt. Hood for the day, but left the house early enough to fit in a trip to the Sandy, Oregon Goodwill store. I bought a small $2.99 Robert Maxwell bud vase and my sister scored a new looking Garnet Hill flannel robe for just $7.50, which was a bargain as they sell new for $100!
I did not buy this “Hello, Gorgeous” upside down pineapple mug. Although I did jokingly text a photo of it to my husband, writing that it could be a ” ‘Welcome to the neighborhood’ gift for new neighbors.”
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I picked and ate lots of red huckleberries around my father’s cabin, all the while pretending that I was a contestant on the TV show “Alone.” I kept handing berries to my father and sister, telling them that “It’s important to get enough vitamin C to survive the harsh winter months.”
They indulged my nonsense.
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• We brought leftover pizza slices up to my father’s cabin.
• My step mother gifted me a jar of homemade fig jam.
• My sister actually bought me the above Goodwill vase as a hostess gift.
• My neighbors are out of town, so I’ll be watching over their house and wheeling in their bins.
• We had a huge rain storm, so I held off on watering all my outdoor plants.
• I helped my sister gather rocks next to the cabin, as she’s a NYC earth science teacher and is always looking for varying rock samples for her classroom.
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No foraged Lear Jets.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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My sister is visiting from New York for a couple of weeks, so today’s blog post is going to be very sister-centric. Both of us are rather cash poor at the moment, so we’ve assigned a theme of “Two Thin Dimes” to her trip. Because why not rebrand a limitation as a fun challenge?
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We invited our mother and step father over for dinner last night and served a “burrito buffet” of pinto beans cooked in the Instant Pot, (bulk purchased from Winco of course!) rice, plus a variety of veggies and such. Dessert was a carton of $3.99 Tillamook chocolate peanut butter ice cream, which is my favorite flavor.
Zero complaints, at least not in front of me.
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I set up my son’s old bedroom for my sister, which involved washing the bedding, dusting the room, running my beloved robot vacuum and placing a laundry basket in the room. I also brought up a small table from downstairs and placed some of my backyard hydrangeas in a vase. I was tempted to pick up a sweet treat, but my son talked me out of it.
How is this frugal? I chose “I’m having a house guest” as a creative challenge instead of an excuse to buy anything new (or even thrifted) for the room. I remembered that I had a bag of hard coffee candies, which I’d received as a gift, so I put one on her pillow case. The room looked all fresh and inviting and I didn’t need to spend even one thin dime.
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My son wanted something specific from IKEA, so we went after his work day, which happened to be on a Tuesday. Their entrees are all half-off on Tuesdays, so the two of us had dinner for just $7.98. And yes, we had the meatball platters.
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• I put a pile of CDs from the after-garage sale freebie night into our little free library. I’d run them past a consignment shop first and these were the ones they didn’t take.
• My sister and I stopped into a small church thrift shop and I didn’t buy anything, although my sister bought some crocheting supplies for her classroom.
• I donated a bag of miscellaneous things to Goodwill and made sure to get a receipt for my taxes. I wrote down everything I donated to get the full deductions.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
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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In addition to this blog, I also run a companion Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group, which is currently hovering around 79,000 members. Prospective members have to answer a simple question, which helps to weed out the ever present spammers. The answers are always interesting, so I’ve started saving them to share in blog posts.
Enjoy!
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I read your blog and comment fairly regularly and always enjoy a frugal community.
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Because my house is fit to burst with the amount of ‘stuff’ I keep buying and I desperately want to change this.
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To be wiser in spending and learn from others.
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Be part of a frugal community.
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I’ve followed your blog for many years. My background is frugal PA Dutch but I continue to learn many new money saving tips/tricks from the blog.
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Join like minded people saving money.
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Trying to cut down the amount I consume and spend.
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I follow you on IG and I just love your frugal tips!
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To find more people who are like me.
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I’ve been living frugally for over 40 years, but there’s always room to up my game! A community of likeminded folks is inspiring. Also, have followed your blog for years.
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I love your blog and want to be even more inspired with using what I have.
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Inspiration to spend less money on things I don’t need. To be less wasteful with what I already have.
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I am inspired by the blog posts and am hoping to be part of the group to hear what others are doing to be frugal.
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To share frugal and money saving ideas.
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Saw your profile on the Frugal Girl’s blog. I’ve had to be frugal my entire adult life….so, always looking for ways to save.
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Refill shop owner.
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I’m interested in learning more about being more of a minimalist and less of a consumerist.
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I’ve been reading your blog for almost a year, and get great ideas/motivation from it. I’d love to see what others are doing/posting.
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I saw this group mentioned on the Tightwad Gazette Fan Club and was intrigued. I am a proud frugalista and will do whatever I can to use resources wisely rather than automatically buying new.
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I would like to live more self-sufficiently, and more sustainably.
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My wife is a podiatrist and reads your blog.
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Moving towards less consumerism.
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To learn how to save more money in life.
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I want to become a non consumer don’t know where to start.
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I would like to see more anti-consumption information and inspiration in my feed to combat facebooks ads.
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I was actually invited to this group by a friend so I really don’t know much about it. But I am interested in consuming less, reusing things, mending, and repairing things.
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I follow the Instagram account and enjoy it, so this seems fun!
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Get ideas from other like minded people.
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Because I LOVE your IG posts!
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Ideas.
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I enjoy reading your blog, including the comments. I think the Facebook group might give inspiration as well.
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Joining the non consumer movement.
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Learned about you from the frugal girl and I love your blog; I have downsized and want to do more without feeling guilty about selling all my kids things as they are done with them-other people keep some or lots of their kids outgrown items
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Recently found your blog from a link in frugal girl and am loving it.
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Looking to live a more frugal and simple life.
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To join a like-minded community.
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Ideas.
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Joining the non consumer movement.
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Your blog is comical and light hearted but very interesting on how you progress through this consumable world.
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To learn and meet people who consume less.
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I’m trying to be content with what I have.
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A friend shared it with me thinking i may like it. read the NYC post and was intrigued. 🙂
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You are My People!
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I’m always interested in getting more ideas to be frugal and take care of our planet.
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I would like to be better at using what I have before purchasing more.
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Learn.
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Want to stop buying.
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I like and need ideas and inspiration for being a non-consumer.
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I like and need ideas and inspiration for being a non-consumer.
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As a lifelong frugal guy originally from New England, I’m fascinated with the benefits of a low consumption lifestyle but finding it hard to practice in a large family with so many wants. Looking for daily inspiration!
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I’m addicted to shopping and need inspiration for less.
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I’d like ideas to spend as much use less
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I be under-consuming 🤠
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To reduce my carbon footprint.
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I despise society as it stands. I want community.
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Reduce consumption, be more self conscious of consumerism and save money.
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Because I need to reverse course from being an over consumer… this hasn’t been a healthy way to live…. please help!
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I’ve been following reduce, reuse and recycle for years.
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overconsumption disgusts me.
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I think I would fit in.
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It seems to align with my values.
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Information.
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Slow spending, waste less.
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Currently started my pursuit into becoming a Consumer (“non”-consumer”) Advocate for NJ Citizens! Would like to gather any & all information from every angle possible that would better help me in helping our people!
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Long-time blog reader. Not on FB much, but would love extra NCA content and community.
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I have been mostly a minimalist for about 15 years and I have just come across “underconsumption core” which is what I already do. I came across your website which I had forgotten about and it led to finding this group.
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I am interested in reducing my spending and acquiring on stuff.
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Because I’m trying to stop buying stuff I don’t need.
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I’m looking for others who are like minded.
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To help the environment.
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To get advice on pricing used items to sell and purchase.
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Interested in ideas and inspiration from like minded folk.
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Interesting.
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I need to limit my shopping and do better with using what I have and make better choices.
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Advice.
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For support to not feel like I need to consume.
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Get ideas on how to minimize consumerism.
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I’ve long been interested in ways to make our family lifestyle less consumer focused, more minimal and frugal, and have enjoyed the content on your website – would love to be a part of a larger community!
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To get some helpful tips.
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My sil and I have spent years supporting each other on our frugal journey. She recently mentioned the Non Consumer Advocate blog, I started reading, and now I’m hooked.
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I’ve shared a post on my wall that a member of this group thought that would be appropriate here so I am coming here to check it out and learn stuff.
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Wanting to become less of a consumer and would appreciate great ideas from other like minded individuals.
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I love DIY projects and upcycling or recycling what others would consider garbage.
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Learn about reusing.
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Looking for ideas to reduce what I send to the landfill.
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Interested in thrifting, up cycling and zero waste!
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Getting myself out of the mass consumerism mindset.
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To use less resources. Saving money is nice too.
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I like to try to find useful ways to use items rather than throw them away.
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I don’t like being a consumer first and a person second.
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To ask creative people for ideas.
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Learn to live simply, not consuming.
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To learn from others.
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I am inspired to find more ways to be frugal when I observe others doing the same.
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I found you through the Frugal Girl Blog. I am reading your blog and love what I am learning and have been on quest of my own to consume less, buy from the thrift store and use what we have.
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Because…the earth!
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To get ideas about the repurposing and recycling of throw away items.
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Decrease waste.
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To learn new ideas.
Which was your favorite? I rather enjoyed “I despise society as it stands. I want community.”
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
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