The Non-Consumer Advocate

My younger sister treated me to lunch to celebrate my belated birthday, which then expanded to include a trip to Goodwill and an evening visit to a comedy club as her friend had two extra tickets. (In case you hadn’t noticed, my plan is to milk my 50th birthday for as long as humanly possible!) It was very fun and certainly a departure from my normal evenings which feature flannel pajama pants and the fourth season of Orphan Black.

I chipped 2017’s leftover Thanksgiving turkey from the basement freezer and simmered it on the stove all day. What I was thinking, I’m really not sure, as I’m now in possession of approximately 7423 gallons of turkey soup for just my husband and I. Anyone looking for either of us can just follow the wafting scent of turkey. Possibly into the month of March.

I received an email from the New Seasons grocery store about a free drip coffee if I used my debit card that’s registered for paper-free email receipts. I carted in my own travel mug and received enough coffee to share with my sister after our lunch.

I sold a pair of Lucky brand jeans through Facebook Marketplace. I received a mere $15, but since the jeans cost maybe a buck at the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet it was still enough to cover the $13.77 that I’d just spent at Trader Joe’s. Speaking of which, can I get a what-what for spending so little at Trader Joe’s, which can be bizarrely expensive. (I bought 11 bananas, 1 butternut squash, 2 onions, 1 avocado, 2 boxes of Joe’s O’s cereal, 1 bag of mini carrots and 99¢ packet of peanut butter cups.) The key is to stay away from the booze and their myriad of impulse options.

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

One of my eBay listings actually sold! (A lightweight mug that I picked up at the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet.) I’d be frustrated with how poor my sales have been in 2018, except I know that people take a break from buying in the month after Christmas. It doesn’t cost me anything to repeatedly renew my listings, so I’m not going to give it any worry.*

My husband dug a couple dozen D-ring notebooks from the garbage at work and brought them home. I’ll donate them to our neighborhood elementary school. Today hopefully, as I’m not enjoying the three extra boxes in our living room, especially since I’d finally put away all the tree and holiday decorations. Sometimes frugality is about creating frugal opportunities for others.

I listed a jump rope and a pair of outgrown winter gloves on my Buy Nothing Group and quickly found takers.

I finished my library copy of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, and will start a new library book this evening. I would not actually recommend this book, as the book essentially tells you to go through your own stuff before you die, which is a single sentence. The rest is just rambly. I do recommend Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant for people needing inspiration to declutter before death. A wonderful and honest memoir from the amazing New Yorker cartoonist.

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

My husband and I drove our kids to their respective universities and slept a single night at our go-to Ashland motel. However, I did use my AARP senior discount, (woot woot!) and saved an extra $3 from the bill. Hey, I’ll take it!

Our younger son realized that he’d brought his hangers home from school and somehow didn’t bring them back to his apartment. No fear though, as I am intimately familiar with southern Oregon’s thrift store scene. We grabbed 20 from the Medford’s St. Vincent DePaul for a budget and brag-worthy 50¢. Our plan was to stop back in Eugene to take him to dinner on our way back anyway, so Katy’s Hanger-Delivery-Service was zero extra effort. Dollar Tree hangers sell 8/$1, so we saved $2.50. However, I care more that we were able to buy used instead of new, meaning we didn’t participate in manufacturing/packaging/shipping from China to fill this need.

We were away from the house for two full days, so I turned off the furnace, dialed the hot water heater to “low” and switched off the surge protector where all our TV-related appliances are plugged in. (I knew there wouldn’t be any freezing temperatures, so I wasn’t worried about frozen pipes.)

I walked to Fred Meyer to buy eggs and bought nothing but eggs, I found a penny on the ground, I accepted a cookie sample which I brought home to my husband, (frugal generosity at its finest!) I’m cooking pinto beans in the slow cooker for a burrito night, I thrifted a Prius cargo cover to resell, I’m wearing a thrifted merino wool base layer instead of turning up the heat and I have The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning waiting for me at the library.

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

After months of keeping an eye out, I finally scored on a set of thrifted queen size flannel sheets. (Heck, I’ll even confess that spent time clicking through the pricey Garnet Hill website, as their flannel is freaking heaven on a stick!) Sadly, my commitment to buy nothing new coupled with an aversion to spending upwards of a hundred bucks on a set of sheets lengthened the sheets buying process. How much did I end up spending? $3.75! For a brand new $14.99 set of Goodwill sheets marked down an extra 75% due to their unapologetic holiday wintery theme. These sheets aren’t “made in Portugal of pure cotton that’s brushed on both sides for softness,” but they’re buttery soft enough for me. In case this isn’t coming through in my writing, I’m insanely excited to have found these sheets! Cozy, warm, burrowing under the covers excitement. Mmmm . . . .

I completed my eight hours of 2018 paid education and immediately submitted the paperwork to be reimbursed for the course costs. I love that I was able to read medical journal articles at home on “Common Neonatal Conditions” and “Perinatal Aspects of Cannabis Use” while in my pajamas. Plus I really did glean useful information to use my job as a labor and delivery nurse. I then signed up for the next month of hospital shifts.

I cooked up a batch of red lentil soup with . . . wait for it . . . ham! I know I wrote that I was going to freeze any leftover ham, but apparently that goes on tomorrow’s to-do list. Cooking from scratch is such a huge money saver, especially when you start with dried beans and are in possession of a free 12-pound ham that just won’t end.

I just finished reading a library copy of Shaun Bythell’s The Diary of a Bookseller. I highly recommend this surprisingly engrossing account of what it means to run a used bookstore in a small Scottish town. Hilarious and addictive, I had to force myself to slow down in order to not rush through the 310 pages. Of course, Bythell would not appreciate that my copy was from the library instead of a locally owned bookshop, but with two kids in college I really do have zero wiggle room in the budget.

“A customer at 11:15 a.m. asked for a copy of Far From The Maddening Crowd.  In spite of several attempts to explain that the book’s title is actually Far From The Madding Crowd, he resolutely refused to accept that this was not the case, even when the overwhelming evidence of a copy of it was placed on the counter under his nose: ‘Well, the printers have got that wrong. Despite the infuriating nature of this exchange, I ought to be grateful: he has given me an idea for the title of my autobiography should I ever be fortunate enough to retire.”

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

I worked at the hospital yesterday, for which I was paid a enjoyable time-and-a-half in wages. Management then asked if I could stay late to move my delivered patient to her postpartum room, to which I agreed. Especially since it was my only shift of the entire pay period. (I like to work less when my kids are home from college.) However, I arranged to do yet another eight hours of paid education, which I earned from working greater than 800 hours in 2017. With last week’s eight hours of education, I’ll end up with a perfectly acceptable pay check.

I ran into an area Goodwill to return a groovy vintage lamp which turned out to be missing a chunk. I used my store credit to buy a $3.99 game which I quickly sold for $15. I came home and scooped up a large pile of clothing that my son had decluttered from his room and donated it to Goodwill right before the December 31st deadline. I took a quick loop through the store and bought a pair of like-new Sperry Top Siders for my son and a new-with-tags Hanna Anderssson infant jacket, which I’ll sell. I kind of hoped that my son wouldn’t want the Top Siders, as they’re my size as well.

I held back on a few items that my son didn’t want for my Buy Nothing group, motivated to balance out having recently been on the receiving end of that spectrum.

I received my AARP card in today mail, and am exciting to tuck this bad boy into my wallet and start enjoying the occasional senior discount! (Yup, you only have to be fifty.) I do realize that only a few companies offer a discount starting at 50, but you can be assured that I’ll start asking for one.

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

I had a voucher for a “free turkey or ham,” which is the annual Christmas bonus from my hospital. I do not resemble the ham obsessed Ponyo, but it’s easier than having to bake a turkey. (Plus I’m still sick of turkey from Thanksgiving.) It was about to expire, so I stopped by Safeway to scope out the possibilities. However, the coupon was specific for the ham to be “6-8 pounds,” yet the smallest one in stock was 12 pounds. I took it to the counter and asked if it could be cut, and was told no. The per-pound price was $3.95, and I didn’t feel like spending $16 on something I normally wouldn’t even buy. I put the ham back and started towards my car, but turned back around to ask if I could get a rain check for when smaller hams get restocked. The manager (who knows me) told me that they would honor the coupon for the smallest ham in the store. This story ends with me in possession of a 12-pound ham and working very hard to incorporate it into every meal. So yes, our last three dinners have been split pea soup with ham, mixed bean soup with ham and black bean chili with . . . ham! My plan is to spend a few more days in ham hell incorporating into meals and then dice it up for the freezer. Ham ideas are welcome.

I was itching to get out of the house, yet didn’t want to derail the budget lockdown that we’re currently in. The weather was cold and rainy, so outdoorsy activities were out of the question. However, my younger son is always up for shenanigans, so the two of us drove over to Ikea to enjoy steaming mugs of their free coffee. We each brought a blank book and spent an hour or so doodling and jotting down ideas and weirdness. Finding fun and frugal activities was pretty easy when my kids were young, as there’s always something going on at the library or a new playground to explore. It’s a little trickier when they’re teens, so I felt pretty good about the frugal hack.

I paid my younger son’s tuition and fees for the winter term as the deadline was January 1st. I then logged into my older son’s account and was pleased/elated/ecstatic to discover that his tuition deadline is somehow not until January 12th. This is fantastic as we’ll have a few more paychecks under our belts, including the one that includes my work bonus. Cash flowing two kids in college is sometimes a laughable goal.

My birthday is later this week, so I’m starting to plan my Birthday Day of Adventures™. This family tradition to spend on experiences instead of stuff is a great hit at our house, but I’ve learned over the years that’s it’s best when I make the plans. Even for myself. So far I’ve sourced 2-for-1 movie tickets through my Buy Nothing Group and accepted a friend’s offer to use her museum guest passes, as there’s a Laika exhibit that the four of us should enjoy. I’m still trying to figure out the meals and treats, but it’s a good start for a day that will promote family bonding and memories. I want for nothing, and value the rare instances when the four of us get to spend an entire day together more than anything sold on Amazon. Experiences > stuff, people. Experiences > stuff.

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

I’m spending the day at home working my way through online educational modules for which I’ll receive eight hours of RN pay. I earned this benefit through working greater than 800 hours as a labor and delivery nurse in 2016. I also earned this benefit for 2018, as I worked waaaay more than 800 hours in 2017. However, since 2018 starts in a few days, I can actually piggyback two years of education sessions onto the same paycheck. This is great as I’m not working much while my kids are home from college, yet those college tuition payments are like a financial elephant on my chest.

Today’s sweater, jeans and socks are all semi-recent finds from the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet store, while my tank top is a long ago 25¢ garage sale item. I did receive new Keen slippers as a gift maybe five years ago, although they seem to be holding strong and should last another five years. I would hazard a guess to say that I spent two dollars on today’s outfit, but it’s only that high due to the Land’s End sweater being cotton and having some weight to it.

I’m working on eating from the fridge and pantry as much as possible right now. I cobbled together a pizza for my sons last night, which I topped with frozen pepperoni. My husband noticed that his work refrigerator had a Costco sized bag of sliced pepperoni which was going to be tossed, so he brought it home. I froze what I can only guess was four pounds of pepperoni in small resealable bags, so we’re now set for the next couple of years. I also threw some dried black beans into our crockpot, which simmered throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I enjoyed a bowl for dinner, which I garnished with various random items, including the last of some organic salsa that someone had brought to a party last summer. (It didn’t get opened until last month.) There’s enough black beans left over that I can set out a “burrito bar” for the evening meal. I do need to pick up a few grocery items, (specifically fruit) but I’ll go to Trader Joe’s, as their bananas are 19¢ apiece and a bargain, especially if you take a moment to grab the biggest ones. I’m guessing they’re a loss leader, but I have no shame about walking past their aisles of impulse items to just buy bananas. After all, I am the “loss leader of the free world.”

I was able to buy one of my son’s Christmas presents (Metallica Guitar Hero for our PS3) using store credit I earned from bringing in games from a long ago free box, I lined our kitchen garbage using plastic bags from the Chinese restaurant where we ate Christmas dinner, (a NYC Jewish tradition and my Bronx-raised step father’s treat) I’m using bandanas as my nose tends to get runny in cold weather, and I made one of my son’s college tuition payments early so I can avoid late fees if there are any issues with routing numbers or other such nonsense. (My payday’s not until Friday, so I’ll make the other son’s payment then.)

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