The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. I checked out a “Lucky Day” book from the library and excitedly saved it for the end of a long and productive day. I picked out a pretty bookmark and then settled in to be immediately overwhelmed by the stench of cigarette smoke. Like the book had been used as an ashtray.

   I returned it to the library, but brought it to the information desk to make sure it didn’t automatically get reshelved. I asked the librarian if they had a trick to remove cigarette odor and she said they they did, which was to put it “in the garbage.”

   I’ve had this happen maybe three times over the years, which I suppose is a small percentage of all the books I’ve checked out through the years. But still, gross. Also, a sad waste.

2. Our free subscription to Peacock streaming TV which came with our Xfinity internet came to an end. We still have Xfinity, but this freebie is sadly over. Oh well, at least I got the most of it by sharing it with my sister and my friend Lise. I will miss The Office.

   I’d be tempted to start paying for it, but we already pay for HBO Max and Apple TV. We get Hulu, Prime Video  and Disney+ through friends and are getting a year of Netflix for free at the moment. At some point it becomes an excess of riches.

3. I’m normally really skilled with my ability to find amazing restaurants while traveling, but we ate in the absolutely worst Middle Eastern restaurant while in Nebraska last month. It had amazing Yelp reviews, but everything was absolutely dry and flavorless. Seriously, we couldn’t come close to finishing our meals and we easily spent $75 with tip. I’m still mad about it.

4. I bought the Lear Jet.

Now your turn. What “frugal fails” have snuck into your life lately?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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

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{ 57 comments }

1. My husband is getting a replacement Chrome Industries pannier through their warranty policy. (This wasn’t his first choice, as he would’ve preferred for the company to have a repair program.) Oh well . . . he’ll be able to keep the old bag, which still functions, just without some of the bells and whistles.

   This is very much an example of how when buying new, spending a bit more in the beginning can save money in the long run. Products with lifetime warranties can be worth the extra expense in certain circumstances. (Like these companies.) Since we mostly buy used, this is a rare circumstance.

2. My husband and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this summer and finally landed on a plan of what to do. The Alaskan cruise idea was #1 for a hot second until we talked to a friend-of-a-friend travel agent, who made us realize it wasn’t for us.

   The new plan? Fly to NYC to visit with my sister who just bought a house and is lousy with spare bedrooms. Stay there a few days and then rent a car and loop through New Hampshire to visit a dear college friend, then up to Canada — maybe Montreal, but definitely Toronto, (where I have a cousin and childhood friend) down to Pittsburgh to stay with family; and possibly even Niagara Falls as we drive from Toronto to Pittsburgh. Back over to NYC to hang with my sister again and then fly back to Portland. So . . . a road trip, but also not a road trip.

   My husband gets a sweet deal on rental cars through his job, which’ll keep the budget from spinning out of control. We only need hotels in Canada, which should keep the costs under control.

   I’d love any suggestions, especially from Canadians in the know. We’re looking to make the most out of this 30th year.

3. I made a trip across town to the Franz Bakery Outlet store, and although they only had a single sleeve of bagels in their “Bargain Room,” I still walked out with seven bread items for just $10.50.

   • Two loaves of their Hawaiian gluten-free bread.

   • One sleeve of plan bagels and one bag of their mini bagels.

   • Three bags of their premium hamburger buns — kaiser, potato and sesame.

   Considering the gluten-free bread is normally priced at $8 per loaf, I think I did pretty well. Good thing I have a chest freezer in my basement. You already know I pulled out my punch card for a future visit!

4. • My friend brought me a jar of black-eyed peas from the excessive amount she panic bought at the beginning of the pandemic.
   • I bought a huge bunch of cilantro, so I walked half of it over to my friend Lise. It’s hard for me to use an entire bunch before it goes bad, so I’m happy to have a friend who shares my aversion to food waste.
   • I’ve been listening to O, Pioneers by Willa Cather through the library’s free Libby app.
   • I wasn’t able to watch The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent when it was free through Starz a couple weeks ago, so I put the DVD on hold at the library. It’s now sitting next to the TV waiting for my husband and I to coordinate an evening for TV watching.
   • I’d written “pickles” on my grocery list for my Winco trip, but they were all priced $3.50 and higher, so I struck them from the list. What am I, a Rockefeller?!
   • I stopped at the Buck-Twenty-Five Tree Dollar Tree store near the Franz Outlet and picked up two jars of sliced pickles and a big can of pineapple in natural juice to try. (I like to combine the leftover juice with seltzer for a fun fizzy cheapskate beverage.) I also bought two 3-packs of bar soap.
   • We were able to use a $99 “companion fare” for my NYC plane ticket. It’s a once a year perk through our credit card.

5. 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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{ 53 comments }

1. My husband and 25-year-old son play on a recreational soccer team every Sunday, which doesn’t end until 6:30 P.M. Add in that my husband also plays baseball on Sundays as well and we have a hungry bunch by the end of the day. I’d never attended a game but decided to watch one yesterday, which meant I wasn’t home to pull together a meal. Sure, I could’ve planned something ahead of time, but such was not the case.

   I suggested we get takeout and chose Buster’s Texas Style Barbecue, which was nearby and a family favorite. However, I knew we had extensive dribs and drabs of random food in the fridge and so I placed orders for everyone except myself. My husband felt bad and tried to convince me to treat myself, but I was totally fine with scavenging for myself.

   I still had a small amount of free ground beef that my daughter had gifted me earlier in the week and wanted to make sure it didn’t go to waste. I’d seen a couple Instagram reels where people made Big Mac-style smash burgers with corn tortillas and knew I had all the primary ingredients. Mine turned out a bit of a mess, but it was tasty and I was 100% fine with forgoing the pricier takeout option.

   This may come as a bit of a surprise, but I’m kind of cheap.

2. After months of scanning thrift stores for a rug, I ended up finding a free one that had been put out after a garage sale. It had a stain, but that didn’t deter me as I’d been waiting for the perfect opportunity to try out Folex carpet spot remover. The rug was otherwise in excellent condition, perfectly fluffy and without any malodor.

   You’ve seen the BEFORE, so here’s the AFTER! You might be impressed, but all I did was spray on the cleaner and then rub it down with a scrappy old towel. Magic!

   

3. I spent an afternoon both Saturday and Sunday driving around two different wealthy neighborhood that had just finished their community garage sale weekends. (It’s where I got the rug.) I’ll write up a full blog post about it in a few days, but suffice it to say that my Little Free Library will be fully stocked for at least a month!

4. • I started rooting some oregano, which grows as a volunteer in my front yard. (It hopped over from the neighbor’s garden) I’m hoping to plant it in a backyard flowerpot.
   • My friend Lise and I turned our grocery shopping into an “errand hang,”  which transformed an otherwise dull task into a perfectly enjoyable afternoon.
   • I started listening to One Summer in Paris, by Sarah Morgan through the free Libby app.
   • I picked up a quart of free paint from Miller Paint, which gives out free paint on Saturdays. It’s a color I already have and now possess enough to repaint my son’s old room.

5. 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.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.

{ 42 comments }

1. My daughter’s roommate moved back to the East Coast and abandoned almost all of her furniture and larger belongings. My daughter moved into this apartment last fall and only furnished her own bedroom, as the rest came fully outfitted. This means she just inherited a kitchen table, chairs, rug, shelves, a couch, coffee table, lamps, artwork, coat rack, end tables and probably a bunch of other stuff I’m unaware of. Mind you, this is all nice stuff.

   I was worried she’d be suddenly left with an empty apartment, so I’m really happy for her. Also a bit relieved, as I would’ve taken on the task to help her source all new (used) furnishings.

2. My husband and I stopped by Costco yesterday and walked past the exact air conditioner we’d just bought last month, except it’s now priced $20 less than before. I took a photo of the price and stopped by customer service on the way out. The clerk looked up our previous purchases and then handed me a twenty dollar bill as a “price adjustment.” It felt like I’d conjured $20 out of thin air!

3. My father and step mother have birthdays just a week apart and we celebrated them in very different ways.

   For my step mom, (and former first grade teacher) I got her to accept me taking her out to lunch, which was at a food cart pod near the house. It was a great option as we could both choose the kind of food we were in the mood for that day. It incorporated a nice walk, which was a bonus.

   My dad didn’t want to be taken to lunch, so I had him over to the house and we hung out in the shady backyard. I tried to get him to at least accept the sheet of Ursula Leguin stamps that he asked me to order for him, but he fervently insisted on paying. He did accept a handful of freezer Ziploc bags for his homemade bread, which I jokingly called his “birthday gift.”

4. • I bought four ears of corn for 10¢ apiece at Safeway, which was the loss leader limit.
   • I was able to score a vacuum cleaner for my daughter through my Buy Nothing Group. Yes it was super grubby, but I disassembled it and gave it a thorough cleaning and it’s now in perfect condition and ready for action.
   • My daughter brought me free bacon, ground beef and four organic eggs from her schwanky grocery store.
   • My husband is skim coating our 109-year-old house foundation with I can only imagine is saving us thousands of dollars by doing it ourselves.
   • My next door neighbor and I scheduled a get together, which is almost always just carrying a cup of tea from one house to the other. No more expensive than drinking tea at home, yet it scratches that itch of socializing over a hot cup of caffeine.
   • I brought home a bag of books and two sealed Lego kits from a neighborhood free pile. I slotted the books in our Little Free Library and I gifted the Legos to the seven-year-old boy across the street.
   • I’m finishing up listening to Jenny Colgan’s 500 Miles From You, through the library’s free Libby app.

5. 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.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.

{ 35 comments }

1. You may remember how I’ve been on the hunt for a dresser (and a rug) for my daughter’s old bedroom, which I’ve graaaaaaduallllly been reassembling since she moved out. (With all her furniture.) I’ve even taken to muttering “dresser and rug, dresser and rug” under my mask whenever I enter a thrift store.

   Thus far, my incantations had landed on deaf ears. Until yesterday when I took a circuitous route home from the library and passed by a derelict $300 Nordli IKEA dresser set out on the curb. Visually, it wasn’t too promising, with grubby drawers and a note about how one drawer was “broken.” However, my husband and I are fairly handy and the price was right.

   My husband and I spent an hour or so cleaning every nook and cranny and then a year off our lives humping it up the stairs. (It’s both insanely heavy and lacking any logical grab points for carrying!) And that wonky drawer? Mostly fixed.

   Now, to find a rug.

   

2. My daughter brought us more free food from her schwanky grocery store. This week it was:

   • Cherries
   • Marinated shrimp skewers
   • Lactose-free sour cream
   • Four eggs

3. • I got an almost full bottle of CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion from my Buy Nothing Group.
   • I was able to get a refund at Winco after being double charged for yams. This was despite the clerk denying her mistake and customer service being closed. I had to get back in line and start over with a new cashier, but received $5.27 for my efforts. Don’t worry, I was super polite throughout the process.
   • I went to Trader Joe’s and only bought the toilet paper, butter and bananas from my list. I always think this should earn me some kind of reward as Trader Joe’s is 95% impulse items.
   • I did get a cookie sample at Trader Joe’s.
   • I scored three mesh bags of red, yellow and orange peppers for $1 apiece from the Fred Meyer clearance shelf. I then sliced and froze them for future use.
   • I remembered to use a Fred Meyer coupon for a free print of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream before it expired.
   • We loaned our wheelbarrow to the neighbors across the street for their landscaping project.
   • My husband and I shared a single enormous burrito from the neighborhood taco cart, which was plenty of food for both of us.

4. This last one isn’t necessarily a “frugal thing,” but I’m going to include it anyway because it’s so freaking cool! Remember that free pile from a couple weeks ago that provided my new fireplace screen and the vintage trash bin? It just hit the market and the Zillow listing is the best thing I’ve seen all year!

   Total 1909 time capsule house, as in I don’t think a single thing has been updated or “remuddled” since the day the day it was built!

   Click HERE for the Zillow listing and then come back and tell me what you think of the stove!

5. 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.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.

{ 80 comments }