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Yesterday was a full-on travel day from Portland, Oregon to Newark, New Jersey. And although the flight itself was a dreamy non-stop endeavor, the day itself was long, long, longity long, as my hostess-with-the-mostess sister lives in The Bronx, not Newark. She had classes at her college in the aforementioned Bronx that afternoon/evening, which meant that my public transportation adventure included the tram, the railroad, the subway, the subway, the subway and a wee bit of walk just to meet up with her. So yes, a loooong day! However, hooray for New York/New Jersey’s amazing public transportation!
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I had an odd assortment of almost empty NYC Metrocards, which I consolidated into a single card totaling $5.49 which was enough for two subway trips. The crazy thing is that they all expired exactly yesterday! So random.
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I was able to assist with a fellow passenger’s medical issue during my flight from Portland to Newark, which I was happy to do. In return I was issued $50 in airline credits as well as four adorable bottles of gin. (Is there a name for a grouping of gin bottles? If not, may I suggest a “genius of gin” or “gerbil of gin.”) I didn’t actually drink on the plane as A) I like to keep my wits about me when traveling alone, B) I rarely drink and C) It’s a terrible idea to identify first responders and then get them drunk. However . . . hostess gifts!
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I prepared all my own food for yesterday’s flight and packed it in my handy Goodwill Outlet lunch bag. (It’s super light, so I probably paid around 20¢ for it.) I overpacked food, which worked out well as my sister’s classes didn’t end until 10:10 P.M. and I like to snack. Of course I brought my own reusable water bottle and coffee mug which saw their fair share of action throughout the day.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky. Even though I did walk past one today, and I do have to say that my creaky 103-year-old bungalow trumped its vulgar opulence.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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The Rose Room ceiling of the New York City library on Fifth Avenue provides the perfect writing environment.
I’m currently in New York City visiting with my sister, which turns out to be an extremely frugal way to travel/rationalize a vacation by reframing it as a “writer’s retreat.” Sure, I paid $241 for a round trip ticket, but I’ll make sure to knock out some paid writing. But more importantly, I’ll work on a book proposal that’s been thwarting me for almost two shameful years.
Distractions of home? Banished!
However, I don’t want to squander the sights of New York, so I’m engaging in a category of tourism titled “Destination Writing.” Which essentially means that I’ll take my laptop to unique/inspiring/minimally distracting locations to work under the glow of history/inspiring architecture/coffee/close access to a subway stop/indoor plumbing.
My sister is currently a full-time student, which means that her free time is beyond nonexistent. However, I think I can rope her into my writing adventures, as I feel this is the perfect opportunity for us to parallel play towards our independent goals.
Today was day one of this plan, which due to circumstances related to accepting a lunch invitation from a dear old friend nutritional needs didn’t actually begin until 2 P.M.
Today might not end up as my most productive writing day, but only because I’m feeling the effects of a long travel day and some significant jet lag. Definitely not from eating a large and indulgent lunch.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Yesterday was the last day of my sons being home from college, and I wanted to put together a nice brunch for them. I walked to the grocery store to buy bacon, but otherwise assembled everything from grocery staples on hand. I baked up a small blueberry coffeecake, which used up the last of some streusel topping that had been sitting in my freezer for ages, (I’d made too much for a different recipe) and then scrambled up some eggs. The smell of bacon and coffeecake pried them from their beds and I was even able to send my older son off with leftovers for his long drive back to school. The coffee cake was deliberately small, as I didn’t want unhealthy leftovers after days of Thanksgiving gluttony. Urp . . . .
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I sold some thrifted Christmas stripe Hanna Andersson pajama bottoms on eBay and packaged them up in a padded envelope that my husband had just received in the mail. Actually, I used half of the padded envelope, as it was pretty big and I figured I could get double usage from it. My next door neighbor let me know that she had a stack of used envelopes for me. Hooray for reuse and free shipping supplies!
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I’m starting to get organized for my week in NYC. It’s tempting to use this as an excuse to buy new stuff, but instead I’m figuring out how to make use from what I already own. Living in Portland, Oregon I don’t own a winter coat that can handle New York style low temperatures. However, it looks like the next week is forecasted to be in the 50’s, which is well within my outerwear’s limitations. I probably should own a serious winter coat, but I’d prefer to find one for just a couple of dollars, which requires some platinum level patience. (Heck, I’ve been very impressed with the Goodwill near my sister’s grocery store, so maybe I’ll luck out there.) Either way, I’m not falling prey to the mindset that travel should trigger a bunch of new purchases. And souvenirs to bring home? Those’ll be chocolate covered cannoli from one of the many Italian bakeries in the Bronx. (The chocolate covered ones don’t get soggy so quickly.)
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I’m not spending the day scouring the internet for super ah-mazing Cyber Monday deals. Everyone on my gift list already owns more than their fair share, and want or need for zero additional items in their homes. It doesn’t matter if a $300 item has been marked down to $100, it’s still $100 that you no longer possess. Don’t go broke in the name of saving money.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I sold three eBay items on Thanksgiving and packaged them up in free used shipping materials. I then dropped them off at the post office on my way back from dropping my son at a friend’s house. (Batching errands.) The eBay app on my phone makes a “cha-ching” sound whenever a payment comes through, and it’s just as dopamine-tastic as the obnoxious but oddly satisfying bells and whistles on a Vegas slot machine. (All the fun of a gambling addiction without the heartbreak.) I did buy a book of the Ezra Jack Keats Snowy Day stamps while at the post office that I’ll gift to my sister for her birthday. (She’s too busy with pre-grad school to read the blog.)
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Yesterday was Black Friday here in the United States, but I didn’t set my alarm to scoop up any 75%-off 5 A.M. deals. Instead I slept in and then puttered around the house and ate my way through a tremendous amount of leftovers. (This particular cheesecake stalked me throughout day.) My father stopped by in the afternoon and we enjoyed tea, conversation and yes, cheesecake. I put together a couple of eBay listings as shopping season is apparently upon us. There’s nothing frugal about buying stuff at Goodwill “to sell,” and then letting it languish in what’s referred to as a “death pile” in the eBay community.
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I put out the word in my Buy Nothing Group that I wanted uncut pumpkins for puree and then life got in the way. I finally picked up a couple on Wednesday night and baked one up, which provided a full ten cups of yummy pumpkin puree. I used four cups for two pies, and then froze the rest in two-cup portions for future use. I still have another enormous pumpkin to precess, as well as an acorn squash. (Since Target sells a small can for $1.69, this one pumpkin saved me $16.90.)
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I lent my stock pot to a neighbor, I gathered a full grocery bag of random stuff to drop at Goodwill, I considered setting up my garbage picked artificial Christmas tree and then decided to wait as I have about a week, maybe a week-and-a-half of looking at Christmas decor before I activate Scrooge mode.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
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The following is a reprint of the previously published post.
I’m a lucky person. Why? Because I was lucky enough to be born into a country that values workers’ rights. As a hospital nurse, I take for granted that my enormous hospital has multiple fire extinguishers, fire doors, fire prevention protocols and policies that keep both people and structure from igniting.
Were Americans always so lucky?
No.
The industrial revolution hit our cities hard, and the influx of fresh immigrants meant that labor was both cheap and easily replaceable. Complain about your working conditions? Well there were many others who would be happy to take your job, so keep your mouth shut or get fired was pretty much the policy around the turn of the last century.
The New York City 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a wake up call to America industry, and it allowed for the union movement to start bringing safe and reasonable working conditions to our workers. Child labor, unending work hours, locked work spaces and other blatantly unsafe working conditions finally got the scrutiny they deserved.
It wasn’t immediate or easy, but unions brought safe workplaces to America.
Problem solved, right?
Wrong.
American manufacturers, now saddled with the cost of paying working wages built overseas factories in countries that did not require the same workplace safety measures. Where cheap unending labor was once again easy to find and where abject poverty was the norm.
I wrote in 2010 about a factory fire in Bangladesh that killed a least a hundred people, where most deaths were attributed to workers jumping from upper story windows because a gate to the stairwell was locked.
Read that again, the stairwell was locked.
This garment factory was producing clothing for Gap, JCPenney, H&M and Wal Mart.
And now the story of another Bangladeshi garment factory fire has hit the news.
“The Tazreen fire is the latest in a series of deadly blazes at garment factories in Bangladesh, where more than 700 workers, many making clothes for U.S. consumers, have died in factory fires in the past five years. As previously reported by ABC News, Bangladesh has some of the cheapest labor in the world and some of the most deplorable working conditions.”
I like a bargain as much as the next person, probably more. But there is a cost, a human cost to all those super cheap deals.
I will not be taking advantage of all the awesomely cheap consumer goods to support my holiday shopping this year.
Or any year.
Join me and buy used, buy American, buy local, buy from manufacturers who certify their safe labor practices.
And keep those poor workers and their families in your thoughts. They are just as deserving of safe working conditions as you and I.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I sold two things on eBay, one item through Instagram and am arranging a Facebook Marketplace sale of a thrifted Vera Bradley purse for later in the week.
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I accepted my father and step mother’s generous hospitality and spent one night at their mountain cabin this weekend. I stopped into the nearby library and bought a 50¢ Tony Hillerman paperback to read on the airplane for my NYC trip at the end of this month. It’s the perfect travel book as it’s light, cost next to nothing and I won’t need to worry about bringing it home if I finish it during the trip. I can even leave it at my sister’s library for the next reader!
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I finished a library book, wore thrifted clothing, created my own eBay packing materials using paper bags and cereal boxes, closed off the heat vent to my son’s room after he visited, arranged free USPS pickup service to avoid a post office trip, was reimbursed for something I picked up at Costco for a family member and wore layers instead of turning up the heat.
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I hit the magic number of 800 hours worked in a calendar year to earn a bonus check in January. All the “resource” RNs can earn a bonus $1.25/hour once we work over 800 hours. I’ll likely end up working around 1000 hours this year, which’ll come in extremely handy after making the next university tuition/fees payment on January 1st. By the way, this will be THE LAST double tuition payment, as my older son is due to graduate college at the end of winter term!!!
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
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I took advantage of an opportunity for a free haircut this morning, which was perfect timing as my hair was getting long and stringy. I hooked up with this service by doing a web search for “free haircuts Portland,” which brought me to a Facebook page which I then “liked.” The offer then popped up on my feed for “complimentary haircuts this week.” These cuts were for “advanced stylist training,” so I made an appointment without a second thought. Unlike a beauty school service, (which can take an extended time) this cut took just 35 minutes from my day. I tipped $5, which then brought the total cost up to . . . $5. I also got put on an email list for future free services including color.
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I drove to my hospital for a one-hour continuing education class. Not ideal to drive 18 miles for a single hour of work, but it was mandatory, it was paid and I had no choice. Unlike many of my co-workers, I chose to fill my travel mug with free crappy coffee instead of spending money to get a coffee from one of the on-site kiosks.
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I stopped at Goodwill on my way home from the hospital and bought a groovy vintage radio that’ll be the perfect gift for a particular person on my holiday gift list. (Or . . . maybe I’ll sell it. I haven’t decided yet.) I came across some other interesting items which I documented on my Instagram, but left in the store. (My favorite was a 1921 wedding certificate with absolutely gor-gor-gorgeous art nouveau lettering!) Edit: I sold it.
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I mailed out a Pottery Barn linen pillow sham that I bought because I’d needed the down insert after cannibalizing the previous one for my son’s off-campus apartment. The $14.99 I made from the sale will more than cover the cost of the pillow insert since I bought it at the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet. (Even with eBay fees and taxes.)
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Pinterest.
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The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!
You all know that I’ve slowly but surely been working on redecorating and rejiggering my fifteen-year-old son’s room. Although a teenage boy is not your typical design client, I’ve been enjoying helping his room to become brighter, more organized and cheerful.
Remember the wall stripes? I’m still unabashedly in love with them. Mwah!
Unfortunately, the opposite side of the room was pretty bland. Sure, it featured the cool Portland Timbers skateboard shelves, but the wall itself was lacking any pizzazz. However, my son did have a stack of soccer scarves with potential. I put the word out on Facebook asking if any of my friends had an extra curtain rod lying around, and my friend Heather from Mile73 came through for me. She didn’t have the brackets to secure it to the wall, but I was able to scrounge a pair from my House O’ Odds & Ends. (Coming soon to a mall near you!)
Look how great this wall now looks with all the scarves!
The best thing is that’s it’s super easy for my son to remove scarves for Timbers games, and also that I spent zero dollars and zero cents on this project!
I didn’t take any close up photos, as installing a curtain rod is just a matter of getting it straight and finding the studs. Also, I have yet to research fixing my digital camera, so my less than pin-worthy photos are grainy and from my husband’s iPhone. Sorry.
I consider having no money for decor projects to be a good thing, as it activates the creative lobe in the brain. And in the end, my son gets a unique and personalized bedroom that is 100% him.
A limited budget can sometimes be a gift.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I passed along a frustrating wooden dust catcher puzzle through my buy nothing group, I sold a Descoware saucepan through Facebook Marketplace, I sold a Rae Dunn glazed ceramic blob that read “GIRLFRIENDS” through eBay, (both from the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet) I put together some new eBay listings and I re-listed a few Facebook Marketplace items that had expired.
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My husband and I drove down to visit our son at college yesterday. We spent a bit of money taking him out to lunch and then dessert, but I’d rather scrimp and save in my daily routine than scrimp when it comes time to hang out with my family. The reason I choose to live a life of extreme frugality is so that I never have to think twice about paying for the things that really matter. If I have to forgo a shiny new car, annual Disneyland vacations or expensive hobbies to make this happen, then I feel very comfortable with these decisions. My sons will graduate college without student loan debt, which is better than anything I could have bought in the mall.
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We stopped en route to fill up the minivan with cheap Costco gasoline, and also picked up a few snacks at Trader Joe’s so we wouldn’t be tempted by junk food along the way. Bananas, mixed fruit and BabyBel cheese for the win! (However, an utter zero waste “fail” is terms of food packaging.)
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I’ve mostly been laying low on my days off from work. Puttering around the house, writing, cooking from scratch instead of venturing out into the world. I cannot over emphasize that the most frugal thing you can do is to just keep it simple.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
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The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!
We live in a throwaway world. It doesn’t help that it’s often cheaper to replace an item than it is to repair it, and the artisans who formerly had those specific skill to repair household items are a dying breed. And for most people, the temporary thrill of a shiny new thing wins over the excitement of a cleverly repaired item.
No one ever compliments you on a invisible repair like they would on its brand new counterpart.
“Wow, awesome shoes that I’ve already seen hundreds of times! Are they recently repaired?”
Yeah . . . that doesn’t happen.
I choose not to inhabit a throw away world. I repair and mend, even when the repair only saves me a couple of bucks. I also try not to bring unrepairable stuff into my home. (Plastic, particle board furniture and cheap electronics come to mind.)
The above picture is the wool lining of my beloved Keen boots. I bought them on clearance in 2008 for $37.50 and have worn them approximately seventy–bajilliontimes since then. I recently shelled out $30 to have a cobbler replace the zipper, and yesterday I took a needle and thread to the wool lining to restitch a seam.
Good as new? No, they don’t look new, but that’s okay with me. They’re in good repair, incredibly comfortable and dare I say it? Pretty cool looking.
The instinct to replace rather than repair is a recent phenomenon. Whether it was the umbrella repairman or a handy wife who turned a collar, the mindset to repair is missing for many Americans. Our resourceful grandparents would not have have filled their trash cans with easily repairable items.
It’s expensive, it creates a culture of wastefulness and I choose not to live that way.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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