The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. My son wanted something expensive, so he went through his room to find things of value to sell on eBay. Included is a $20 thrifted pair of sneakers that he listed for $200. It’s getting tons of traffic and has a number of watchers, so I know he’ll get them sold.
2. I drove my son down to school yesterday, which is an achey five hour round trip. However, the trip down had good company and he handed over a couple textbooks from last term so I could list them on half.com. I love selling with half.com, as it’s as easy as inputting the ISBN number and then a quick description. I stopped on the way back for a hamburger from Burgerville. Although Burgerville is generally pretty expensive, (think $5 burgers) I have a hack, which is to order the $1.75 child-sized burger, but have them add free tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and onions.
3. April 1st began the switchover from 5¢ to 10¢ Oregon bottle deposits, so I’d been holding off from recycling. However, today is April 2nd, so I gathered up all our bottles and cans, which are now waiting patiently in the back of the car for their payday.
4. My husband took a promotion, which sadly switched us over from good to crappy health insurance coverage. (He’s now management, so he no longer enjoys union member benefits.) I got a phone call on Friday from our pharmacy confirming the renewal of a medication for the low, low cost of $750! I had them halt the process and got in research mode. I did discover that the manufacturer offers a $60-off coupon, but that hardly makes a dent. I’ll make a few more phone calls on Monday and continue my investigation. Kind of deflates the satisfaction of having saved $535 from my son’s wisdom teeth surgery.
5. 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

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1. I drove my older son waaaay across town to hang out with a friend, partially motivated by this friend’s house being a block from one of my favorite Goodwills. (Don’t make me choose my actual favorite one, as they’re all precious to me.) I’ve been keeping an eye out for a pair of slip-on shoes that are somewhere in between my Uggs and my Birkenstocks. I scored a brand new pair of black Nike Air Wovens for only $25. They’re not as colorful as the $160 ones that were just announced a few days ago, but I’m not really craving so much attention to my size-10 feet. I’m still working on a Goodwill gift card from Christmas, (thanks mom!) so these shoes were free to me. The Nike world headquarters are right outside Portland, so there are always lots of great used sneakers to be found.
2. My son is doing well after his wisdom teeth removal, and I’ve been plying him with multiple smoothly frugal treats. So far he’s enjoyed homemade mashed potatoes with gravy, oatmeal, homemade red lentil soup, homemade applesauce and a free Wendy’s Jr. Frosty courtesy of the $1 key fob that I purchased a few months ago. Okay, let’s be honest here. He’s getting sick of his limited food options. I would be too.
3. I put together our April budget, which was thankfully not as uber-focused on the kids’ college fund as the last few months have been. The next college tuition bills won’t come due until October 1st, which gives us the breathing room to give some love and attention to other financial goals. We sent off $15,665.85 this week to Oregon’s university system, as we just did in January and last October. Having more than three months to come up with this amount is a luxury. Should we have been putting money into 529 plans since the kids were born? Hell, yes! But we simply didn’t have the financial wiggle room at the time. Although in retrospect, even a few hundred dollars here and there would have been smart.
4. I was sent a free RedBox code, which I’ll use to rent a movie to watch with the kids tonight.
5. 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

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1. My younger son has oral surgery today, which means that his pre-op consultation was yesterday. I’m still upset from when my older son went through the same thing a year-and-a-half ago. Not because he had any medical complications, but because our insurance refused to pay for the panoramic X-ray, which left us holding the bag for an extra $535. (They’ll only pay for this level of X-ray every two years.) I preemptively called up my son’s dentist and had them email any recent X-rays to the oral surgeon, including a panoramic one from last spring. The assistant tried to steer my son towards the X-ray room, but I asked her to wait until the surgeon had a chance to review the recent one. The oral surgeon was perfectly happy with the one-year-old X-ray, and I saved $535. BAM!
2. The surgeon gave us a prescription for multiple medications, including pain meds and anti-nausea pills. However, we still have these leftover from when this son had surgery last summer. More money saved!
3. My husband belongs to the Next Door group for our neighborhood and saw that some people were getting rid of a mostly decent propane grill. The two of us walked to their house and eagerly dragged it home. It had some surface rust, but it cleaned up in a jiffy. We’ll probably have to replace a few minor rusted out pieces, but it’s a Kenmore, so that should be no problem. The best part is that it has a intact waterproof cover, so we should be able to protect it from here on out.
4. I signed up for the next four week schedule of hospital shifts. Even though it meant running half my errands, hovering over the computer until exactly 5 P.M., and then heading out to run the second half of my errands. This makes it possible to get enough work, rather than having to scramble for shifts.
5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold plated Квартира в небе.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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1. I drove down to pick my son up from college to bring him home for spring break. I’d assumed that he’d have extra “points” on his meal plan, and that he’d be able to swipe me into the dining hall. He didn’t. Instead we stopped about halfway through the 2-1/2 hour drive home to get 7-layer burritos at Taco Bell. Not free, but inexpensive at $2.59, and since I already had water in the car, I didn’t need to buy anything else.
2. I turned in multiple Clark Howard articles over the past week in an I-can-see-the-finish-line effort to pile up as much money as possible for the April 1st tuition/room/board payments. I’m taking a week off from work to hang out with the kids, but that’ll be reflected in the paycheck that comes after the tuition deadline. I hardly get to see my older son during the school year, and he’s more important than my credit union balance.
3. I stopped at Costco on my way down to pick my son up, as their gas is always around 20¢/gallon cheaper than surrounding gas stations. There was a bit of a line, but I used that as an opportunity to call my sister to perform the entire Math of Love Triangles song from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Because yes, I’d spent the previous evening playing the video over and over until I’d memorized the lyrics. Luckily, my husband works night shifts . . . .
4. I worked yesterday and brought my own lunch, drank the free crappy coffee and had my annual evaluation with my boss. All is well, and I’ve jumped through all the hoops to continue work as a labor and delivery nurse for yet another year.
5. 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

{ 132 comments }

This article first appeared over at ClarkHoward.com.

Are you tired on clicking articles that promise you the “ten best frugal tips!” but are disappointingly just the same tired suggestions to “skip that morning latte” or “pack your work lunch?” Yeah, me too. I crave outside the box frugal ideas when I read an article. I want to know what the cheapest of the cheap are doing to save money! I may not employ very single one of their ideas, but I can certainly find inspiration within their creative and dedicated frugality.

Linda: We’ve had a drought here in California for the last 5 years. I always catch the clean shower water while I wait for the water to heat up, and then I use it for my vegetable garden. And if I take a bath, I scoop that water out bucket by bucket to water my non-edible plants and flowers.

Lesley: I ate the same two meals for lunch and dinner pretty much every day for three years while in college: lentil-vegetable chili with rice, or rice with pintos and salsa. I still eat both of those things, but not quite so much.

Phyllis: I painted a nasty old toilet seat. I already had paint and the toilet seat, so no cost!

Daena: I use white vinegar and/or baking soda to clean everything – except windows, I have some special cloth that does that with only water – but I never spend money on cleaning supplies.

Tammi: I get souvenirs ahead of time before we go to a theme park like Disney, by asking friends and family if they have items they no longer get want or need. This way my son can get “stuff” at the park and we don’t spend extra money.

Adela: About ten years ago, after my divorce, I lived without living room furniture for about a year and was quite alright with it; then my friend decided to put a dent in my spartan ways by gifting me the desk and bookshelves from his first time in college. They’re now going on 30 years, and have survived a few moves. I still have them with no plans to replace.

Kim: I know they say not to grocery shop when you’re hungry, but sometimes I luck into stores that are sampling and I end up with a small meal.

Kristi: I cut into my hygiene items such as toothpaste, lotion, and shampoo and conditioner and use every last drop.

Lisa: I dumpster dived for my couch, chair, and table. I’ve also used Freecycle.org to get a toilet, shower and sink. I get a lot of hand me downs from friends and family for myself and for my kids. We also have a small group where we trade for things we need for things we no longer need.

Mary: I picked up a plastic travel mug off the road, because Shipley’s Donuts will refill them for 50 cents a cup.

CJ: We collected rainwater for using in the greenhouse, (which was made out of scrounged materials) for the garden, to fill the waterfowl pools, water all the farm animals, truck washing and flushing. In a pinch I’ve also used it in the washing machine.

MJ: I reuse baking paper, (parchment) wash out ziplock bags and use powdered milk for all my baking. We grow all our own herbs and some of our own veggies and fruit.

David: I picked up a free desk left on the side of the road while between jobs on a night shift.

Kristy: I once found a dumpster full of bread and bagels behind a bakery. It was winter, so all of it was frozen in clean bags. I took those bags home and ate bread forever. Lol.

Sandy: All of our furniture and kitchen supplies are from deceased grandparents and garage sales. Most of my clothing and jewelry come from garage sales. My produce comes from gardening and foraging, which I then freeze for winter.

Lynn: When we were kids our town had an annual “large stuff/household items” trash pick-up. People would put their stuff out at the curb, and we kids would ride our bikes around the neighborhood and freely and unabashedly scavenge. And – adults did it too, just not in their own neighborhoods!

Korina: We live in a historic art deco house (115 years old now) and when my dad sees another such house being renovated/demolished in our town, he goes dumpster diving. Saved amazing wooden doors, metal locks, furniture . . . repaired a lot of it and used it here.

Kris: I’d have to thank a college roommate for this story. My roommates and I were having a tough time at a school without a cafeteria and we couldn’t find jobs. The neighbors below were kicked out of the dorm and the stuff they left was bagged and thrown out. We went in while the cleaning crew wasn’t there and took all their nasty, dirty dishes from the sink, refrigerator, and counter tops (the cupboards were bare.) We soaked, scrubbed, bleached, washed the dishes, pots and pans, silverware, etc. We finally had something to cook and eat with!

Julie: We don’t have a heating system in our home other than a wood burning stove. We’re in Pennsylvania and spent $0 on wood this year. This is because we had some leftover from last year, as well as a few dead trees in our property that my husband cut up.

Alexa: At one point we cancelled the phone/internet/tv subscription and just used our pay as you go track phones ($200/year for 2 phones), and paid $15/month for a small data plan for internet (just so my husband could check his Etsy sales.) We ended up saving about $100/month and we felt so free from that constant internet pull.

Joy: In Alaska you can get on a roadkill list. The state troopers call you when a moose gets hit and you can claim it if it’s your turn.

Marcie: I’ve moved several times and I think paying for new boxes is absurd. I drive behind strip malls and dumpster dive for boxes. They even have dumpsters for cardboard only, so no ick factor!

Randall: I worked on the crew that built a huge log cabin for a client. He only used it in the Winter. He couldn’t, and didn’t want to shovel the snow off the wraparound deck we built around his house. None of the neighbors that lived nearby would do it either, so I took on the task. Turned out it was quite relaxing. Put on headphones and shovel. We had an arrangement based on how many inches of snow. From November to March I would bring in between $200 to $400 a month.

Patricia: I work two jobs, and after the office parties I always volunteer to stay and clean up. People think I’m so nice, but in reality, I’m packaging up the leftover food to take home. My weekend job is security at a banquet hall, and after the weddings and such, the chef always says to “take whatever you want, we’re only going to toss it.” Many times I get a week’s worth of high end food already cooked. I take what I can carry, and freeze what I can’t.

Korina: When I was about 16, my dad saw a mobile phone in the middle of a busy crossroad, so he stopped and picked it up. We had no way of identifying who it belonged to (busy tourist spot, no info in the phone.) It looked like someone probably left it on the top of their car and it fell off when they turned. We got a prepaid sim card . . . and lil’ teenager me had my first mobile phone!

Nicole:  The garbage in my apartment complex had a large snapware container in it with some moldy muffins. It was on top of some stuff toward the bottom of a fairly clean bin. So, before dumping my stuff, I reached my whole self in so I could grab the container (like the size of a casserole, so I know it was expensive new.) I opened it and dumped out the moldy muffins in the food/yard waste bin, and then cleaned the container at home.

Catherine: My bathroom walls (floor to ceiling) have unique tile designs composed of the cheapest plain square white tiles interspersed with compositions of broken china, some accidentally smashed at home, some bought at thrift stores or auctions, or from a high end antique store that scorns to sell chipped china. (But you can scavenge their discard box in the basement if you ask nicely.)

Najia: I fed my family and numerous other families (all military) from the thrown away food at the commissary for months. I actually started an unofficial food bank from their incredible wastefulness.

Cat: I am a traveling RN and plan my grocery, gasoline, and other stops around where I’m seeing patients. Once home, I rarely leave unless absolutely necessary.

Cindy: Didn’t have a washing machine when we were first married. Did all laundry, including diapers, by hand in the bathtub.

Conclusion:

Whether you find inspiration from frugal folk who save their bath water or those who dumpster dive for still usable items, these ideas are still a thousand times more useful than yet another barista-themed frugality article. You may not be ready to seek out your state’s “roadkill list,” but you can certainly set aside your “ick factor” and scavenge a perfectly good snapware dish or a freezer full of delicious wedding leftovers. I know I’m freshly inspired to find new ways to work frugality into my daily routine.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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This blog post originally appeared over at ClarkHoward.com.

What is it about the word “hack” that elevates a mundane chore into something more fun? Is it because a hack implies a clever solution to an otherwise frustrating household dilemma? Whatever it is, I love a good hack and I know that I’m not alone. Especially when those hacks require zero extra purchases and require nothing more than my frugal supplies already on hand.

However, a lot of these supposed miraculous internet hacks are a bust, so I went through the trouble of testing four of them to save Clark Howard readers from wasting your precious time and energy.

Hack #1: Squeegee on carpet.

This hack has legions of fans who love how the lowly squeegee easily removes pet hair from hard to clean carpeted stairs. For this test, I borrowed my neighbor’s cat friendly stairs, as my own are wood. I doubted whether there’d be anything to clean, as my neighbor’s house appears immaculate at all times. Lo and behold, I was rewarded with a satisfying amount of cat hair after just a few swipes with my $1 Dollar Tree squeegee.

Hack #1 — thumbs up!

Hack #2: Polish silver with boiling water, baking soda and aluminum foil.

This hack promises to polish silver without the work of scrubbing, and it’s actually been in my rotation for a number of years. I love my old silverware, but I hate, hate, hate the work of polishing it. (Hand cramps.) My mother has informed me that this method is incorrect, as it temporarily removes the dark details, but I still rebelliously dip my silver into this magical elixir.

Instructions: Line a pan with aluminum foil, add in a couple tablespoons of baking soda and boiling water almost to the top. Dip your silver into the solution and watch the tarnish magically disappear. Pro tip: Use tongs, as the silver quickly gets very hot.

Hack #2 –Thumbs up! (Sorry, mom.)

Hack #3: Use an extra stretchy sock for your Swiffer Sweeper.

I love the convenience of a Swiffer to clean my 104-year-old hardwood floors, but I hate spending money on expensive and wasteful disposable cloths. Enter an extra stretchy sock to the rescue! I have a couple pairs of these puffy socks, which are extremely stretchy and work perfectly for this function. I simply dampen the sock, and then swiff and sweep to my heart’s content. I then switch it out with a new sock to dry any wet areas. The best part is that the sock has enough texture for actual cleaning, plus they’re washable for reuse.

Hack #3 — Thumbs up!

Hack #4: Clean your oven door using vinegar and baking soda.

It seems like however much I clean it, the inside of my oven door reverts to being a baked on mess. I’d seen online tips for sprinkling the door with baking soda and then spraying with vinegar as an eco-friendly cleaning hack. This method sounded easy, so I happily gave it a try. Unfortunately, this hack was a bust. Yes, I was able to get a decent before-and-after photo, but it was only with a tremendous amount of back breaking scrubbing and elbow grease. This was far from being any type of clever solution. Seriously, it took forever.

Hack #4 — Thumbs down!

Conclusion:

Although the fourth hack got a resounding thumbs down in my book, it was still worth a try. I want to work smarter not harder when it comes to maintaining my home and its contents, and without a bit of experimentation I’d never have discovered how well the other three hacks worked. And nothing makes me feel smarter than finding clever solutions to life’s little problems.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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