The Non-Consumer Advocate

My eBay woke up over the past few days, and I sold a number of things including an antique bronze griffin for $150, a $60 electric typewriter, a $21.50 mug, a $30 barkcloth curtain panel and a $15 diploma case. I also listed a few more items to keep my inventory fresh. I’ll be hitting up some neighborhood garage sales this weekend and hopefully keep up the momentum.

I bought a brand new Herschel “Pop Quiz” messenger bag at Goodwill for just $6.99, as it was machine embroidered with a company logo. (They sell for $89.99 new!) Luckily, I enjoy a challenge, so it was no big deal to sew one of my husband’s soccer related patches over it and present it as a birthday gift. He’d been expressing interest in a new laptop bag for awhile, so this was a kiss of kismet.

Click HERE to view the baggy goodness.

Although my husband’s birthday was last week, we didn’t have time to celebrate with a Birthday Day of Adventures until a few days ago.

Here’s what we did:

– Ate brunch at Pine State Biscuits, which is one of his favorite spots. There were no discounts involved, but nothing on the menu is over $12.50.
– Stopped into Goodwill to buy movie candy, as I had a gift card. (I also bought a cute vintage suitcase to sell.)
– Leisurely coffees at a so-so café. My plan had been to use my husband’s  free birthday drink at Starbucks, but we somehow let it expire. NOOO!!!!!!
– A 2 P.M. showing of the movie “Us,” which set us back $2 apiece. Such a wonderfully creepy movie! (2-for-1 tickets on Tuesday, bay-bee!)
– Dinner at a local Japanese steakhouse. This may not sound frugal, but since I won a $50 gift certificate last week, our bill was very reasonable. Especially since they sent a text offering free sake a couple hours beforehand. Our daughter joined us for this meal.

My husband was extremely pleased with the attention, so I floated the idea that we should do these “adventure days” every month or so. Dedicating an entire day to fun activities and delicious food is too enjoyable to ration out in a miserly fashion.

My husband gifted me with a big bag of free-from-work bubble wrap, as did my friend Lise, I returned a $12.99 item to Goodwill as it wasn’t what I thought it was, (they have a great return policy) I continued reading a library book and I schlepped over to Ikea to write without home distractions as well as to enjoy their free coffee.

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

I attended that two-hour consumer opinion panel which earned me an adorable little hundred dollar bill, (for your own area, I suggest doing an internet search for “paid research + your city” to find similar opportunities.) I picked up a $5 intense groovy glass lighting shade and took it immediately to a local shop and was handed $15, I sold some vintage L’eggs pantyhose on eBay for $10 and I listed a few more items on eBay.

I met with the buyer for a high end decor chain to try and sell an enormous antique mirror that I picked up at Goodwil for $15. He didn’t buy it, but he and I had a long chatty conversation about what they do buy, as well as where else I could sell the mirror. I ended up getting $75 in store credit from a different shop, which wouldn’t normally be my first choice, but they create their own midcentury-style fiberglass lampshades that I’ve always coveted.

Coming soon . . . a statement piece lampshade!

I bought gas from a 76 station, as I saw that they were once again running a promotion to earn two tickets to Thorns women’s major league soccer games with each fill up. This promotion ran a few years ago as well, and I spent the summer earning and then selling soccer tickets which earned me a tidy profit. It was a terrific little grift opportunity, as I sold the tickets for less than the box office price, which was great deal for both the buyers and myself.

I took advantage of a single nice day of weather to wash a thrifted Pendleton wool blanket to ready it for resale. The Pendleton website instructs that “dry cleaning is the best way to maintain your blanket,” but I used cold water and ever so gently swished it in the bathtub and then hung it to dry which seems to have worked well.

My friend Lise and I walked to the library to return books and I picked up a Lucky Day copy of Bullshit Jobs, by David Graeber, my husband rescued nice snap-top glass leftover containers from his work refrigerator that were going into the trash, I sewed a button back onto my coat and I picked up another free bag of bubble wrap from a local shop.

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

My eBay and Facebook Marketplace sales have been stagnant, so this portion of the blog post where I normally appear impressively side hustle savvy (S.H.S.™) is instead impressively lackluster. However, I did find 49¢ on the ground and I’m participating in a $100 consumer opinion panel this evening. I have a couple of high value items to list on eBay, so perhaps I’ll pencil that project onto my crushing to-do list.

You may remember that my friend Lisa generously gifted me with a copy of the memoir Inheritance, (which I found to be both thought provoking and beautifully written. Thank you, Lisa!) But I knew that I’d never reread it, so I schlepped it over to Powell’s for some precious store credit.

I used that credit, (plus some from a previous transaction) to pick up a pair of Solmate Socks. For those not in the know, these socks are manufactured in North Carolina by a very non-consumery company whose “products are knit from pre-consumer, recycled cotton yarn.” I absolutely adore their patterns and colorways, which I see as reminiscent of Kaffe Fassett.

And no, this isn’t sponsored, I just love shining a spotlight on companies that get it right!

Click HERE to read about their sustainability practices.

I have a hard time focusing at home, as there’s always laundry to be done, litter boxes to avoid scoop, weeds to be pulled and let’s face it . . . the siren song of electronics. So I jammed the old laptop into my backpack and pointed my dented Prius towards Ikea. I chucked a couple of crusty spent batteries into their recycling bin and then enjoyed an unholy amount of their free coffee while putting some much needed focus onto my writing.

I could have hit up a local coffee shop, but I try to save money wherever possible. Plus the Ikea cafeteria, (restaurant?) doesn’t seem to care if you park yourself down for an extended period of time. Or if they do, they’re extraordinarily subtle about it.

I dropped our three ballots at the local library instead of using stamps, I spent just $27.13 on four bags of groceries at Winco, I continue to listen to the thralling A Court of Thorns and Roses audiobook through the library’s Libby app and I washed out my ragtag collection of reusable grocery bags to keep them in circulation.

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

I sold the vintage train case that I’d picked up at Goodwill awhile back, as well as a cute butter dish on eBay and a groovy lighting globe through a local shop. I also booked a consumer opinion panel that pays $100 for two evening hours that likely would have been spent on the couch mindlessly watching Netflix. I also won a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant, which I consider to be pretty damned exciting!

I tuck all this extra money into a savings account.

My younger son recently celebrated his 21st birthday, so my husband and I drove down to Eugene to take him out for dinner. He didn’t want dessert, which saved us the anticipated cost of treating him to Sweet Life Patisserie.

Our gift was a ticket to the upcoming Mastadon concert. Choosing an experiential gift rather than a THING can feel off kilter, but my son needs zero physical items and genuinely loves live music.

My husband also had a birthday this week, although we haven’t celebrated it yet since he had to work that night. However, I did buy him a big chunk of his favorite dessert, which is the banana cake from New Seasons. I could have made one from scratch, but the two of us do not need an entire cake for the two of us. I’ll plan out a Birthday Day of Adventures for later in the week when his schedule opens up. We no longer give gifts to one another and instead plan out signature adventure days.

Studies have shown that experiences make us happier than stuff, and I wholeheartedly agree!

I read one of my 75¢ used library books, (“The Age of Light” by Whitney Sharer) I joined a free online health program through my health insurance that’ll give me a free Fitbit, (you can already guess that my plan is to sell it!) I renewed my library books, I sewed a button back onto my jacket, my husband and I caught up on How To Money podcasts during a four hour drive and I’m stubbornly keeping the heat off despite the house clocking in at a chilly 63°.

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

I finally sold the $6.99 Goodwill table from last month, but since the buyer paid $80, it was worth the wait. I also sold a pair of wooden clog/sandals, some wireless headphones and a lot of vintage measuring tapes through eBay. Later today I’m meeting up with a buyer to sell a vintage suitcase.

I spent the weekend in Seattle visiting with my old friend *Lisa, which is always fun on a stick! And since she hosted me in her lovely home, it was also a budgetary mini vacation. Needless to say, I splurged on a generous hostess gift.

We ate a few meals out, took a couple of walks, watched some stupid TV, met up with our mutual friend Ed, but our frugaliest excursion was to America’s largest Goodwill store! Never have I ever paid the suggestion donation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a handful of random coins come out empty handed from this thrifting Mecca.

So big, so well organized, such amazing donations! I’d be hitting it multiple times per week if I lived in Seattle! The concentration of wealth in The Emerald City means that their thrift stores are stocked with top notch merchandise!

I ended up buying a pair of $14.99 Swedish sandals, (which I immediately flipped for $60) a Marimekko tray, a vintage box of Boeing note cards and an Antioch College mug. Goooo Bulldogs Straggly Anti-Establishment Weirdos!

*Lisa want blog readers to fully understand that she is 100% responsible for any and all amazing finds that I encountered while enjoying her generous hospitality.

I took my mother out for a belated mother’s day lunch at Bob’s Red Mill, which set me back a mere $8.99 since I’d been hoarding a buy-one-lunch-get-one-free coupon and they don’t accept tips. Side note — their reuben sandwiches are to die for!

I test drove the Patagonia suitcase that I picked up last week and may actually keep it, I downloaded a free audiobook of A Court of Thorns and Roses through the library’s Libby app, I power washed my couch cushions and then set them in direct sunlight for three days, (they’re back on the couch and appear to not smell like cat pee) and I found two quarters under the credit union’s coin counting machine.

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

I sold a thrifted Starbucks green patio umbrella that I’d listed for sale back in the cretaceous age. It inhabited a sizable chunk of space and was one of those things that everyone was interested in, yet no one followed through on. (I just looked and 18!! people expressed interest in it before it actually sold!) In the end I profited an impressive $5, but at this point I was just happy to rid of it.

I did sell a $5 chair for $30 and have somebody who wants the buy the cute midcentury table that I refinished a few weeks ago. I try not to count my eggs before they hatch, but the potential buyer does seem serious. Crossing fingers. Saying a prayer. Summoning a demon.

Not that it’s a “frugal thing,” but selling the chair and the end table will help my living room to have less of the over-crowded “furniture showroom” aesthetic.

I ran a batch of errands in a specific area of town yesterday based on the used library store having a BOGO sale on hardbacks. My kids volunteered for the library’s summer reading program back in elementary school, and each received $15 gift certificates at the end of the season. (Remember, my kids are now adults.) However, these gift certificates never expire, and we’ve been chipping away at them ever since. I picked up two books, which drained $1.50 from the certificates.

I also dropped off two pairs of spent sneakers at the Nike outlet store for their Re-Use-A-Shoe program which grinds up old shoes for playgrounds, tracks and such.

I then stopped by my father’s house, as he and my step mother will be traveling through Italy for a few weeks. I hung out with my dad while he kneaded bread, weeded the garden and puttered around the house. I snipped a few more babies from his spider plant and enjoyed an afternoon snack.

Unsurprisingly, I stopped into his neighborhood Goodwill store, where I snagged a new looking Patagonia wheelie convertible backpack which I may actually keep. I paid $12.99, but will probably list it on eBay at some point as they sell for $100 and up!

I washed my car in the driveway, I cooked up a big batch of black beans in my Instant Pot, I put out the word for Starbucks travel mug lids and got one from my friend Lise, I walked a couple things to the consignment shop and got $6 in store credit. (Whee!) I made sure to bring my own tap water with me while out and about and I picked up the bulk ingredients to mix up a knock-off version of Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel.

I used the consignment store credit to get a 15-pack of plastic hangers for my clothesline, as well as a component piece that adds an extra vertical level to my son’s specific bookshelf. I’ve only found the pieces once before, so I snapped this one up.

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

My daughter and I are sorting through her immense amount of stuff, and we’re being very deliberate with how everything is distributed. (Seriously, she has so much stuff!) Anything Japanese goes to the local Japanese language immersion program, a few things are listed on eBay, clothing is donated to Goodwill and special items are being gifted to her friends. The goal is to transition her childhood bedroom into a studio apartment of sorts, which requires some ruthless decision making. She’ll get her own apartment at some point, but we’re happy to have her at home for now.

I also went through a bit of my son’s stuff and donated his expensive martial arts outfit back to his old studio. There’s no reason for it to take up precious space in our home when it no longer even fits! My sister jokes about how there’s an inverse relationship with how much you spend on martial arts supplies and how interested your kid is in the classes. But really, this could apply to all kid activities.

I’m giving my couch one last chance after having been peed on by a certain cat a few weeks ago. (Hyena, it was Hyena!) I literally poured the enzymatic cleaner onto the cushions in the desperate hope that it’ll soak as deep as the urine. I’ll then spray the heck out of them with a power washer once the solution had a chance to eat away at the offending nastiness. Portland is forecast for multiple days of rare hot and sunny weather which should dry out the thick cushions. It’s definitely a last ditch effort to save this miserable couch. I could buy a new (to me) couch, but the last thing I want to do is to repeat this buy-couch-ruin-couch cycle.

For those worrying about our two cats, they’ve been pronounced healthy and currently enjoy a luxurious numbers of litter boxes which are liberally sprinkled throughout the house. Specifically right next to the couch. So gross.

I’ll understand if you prefer to stand when visiting our home.

Sarah from Go Budget Girl published her YouTube video of us “Treasure Ranger-ing” at the Goodwill outlet bins. The audio at the beginning is clanky, but if you can power through the first few minutes it’s worth the effort. The video is part one of two, the second of which will air on Thursday.

Click HERE to watch the video!

My husband fixed a dresser drawer which had split, I walked to Fred Meyer for lettuce and bought nothing more than lettuce, (so challenging as it was after dinner and the ice cream aisle was whispering my name) I proposed more freelance article ideas, I reached out to a high end store about buying one of my gorgeous thrifted mirrors, I’m planning a Seattle mini-break, complete with free housing, (thanks, Lisa!) and I picked up various lovely bread items at the Dollar Tree.

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

I spent a couple hours pruning my backyard hydrangeas, as well as hacking away at some oppressively low maple tree branches. I then swept and raked the brick patio for an overall tidy/well kept aesthetic. (Note the lack of words such as “impressive” or spectacular.”) I don’t want to make you jealous, but I filled two rolling yard debris containers!

The patio furniture cushions were impressively grimy, so I treated them to a spa day soak in my beloved Dollar Tree Oxyclean. The end result? Perfectly fine. Not perfect, not magazine ready and certainly not like new. They’re now completely acceptable and I kept them out of the landfill for one more year.

The mindset to replace things when they’re dirty or broken is important to resist. Especially when consumer goods seem cheaper than ever. The environmental ramifications of buying-and-tossing is killing our planet, so I challenge you to give your stuff a second chance whenever possible.

Click HERE to see the before and after.

I didn’t end up buying Fred Meyer fuchsia starts for my three hanging baskets this year. Even though they’re priced at just 5-for-$3, I didn’t feel like spending the $9. I’d been rooting some free spider plant babies on the kitchen counter and realized that there were enough to fill one of the hanging baskets. (My dad has a huge spider plant in his kitchen that I occasionally snip from.) I now have a filled planter which cost me $0.00, and there’s an extra $9 in my credit union account. Click HERE to see the planted basket.

Bonus win — no plastic packaging!

I ran out of milk yesterday, so I walked to the grocery store where I was delighted to find half-price 2% gallons for just $1.49! (Yes, “delighted.” I stand by this word.) The expiration date isn’t even until May 13th!

I finished listening to a free audiobook through the library’s Libby app, I sold a vintage marmalade crock for $25 after having paid $1 for it, I crisped up three almost empty boxes of stale Chex cereals in the oven, I unscrewed and then cleaned up a gorgeous old doorknob from a dumpstered door, I chose to do some writing at Ikea to take advantage of their free coffee and battery recycling, I listed more stuff on eBay and I stopped by Trader Joe’s and bought nothing more than their 19¢ bananas. No hummus, no snacks, no booze, no cookies.

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