The Non-Consumer Advocate

1. I invited a childhood friend over to the house who’s going through some tough times. I’d made an inexpensive pot of chicken soup with dumplings, which she remembers eating at my house when we were little kids. I also threw together a loaf of no-knead artisan bread because everything’s better with warm buttery bread.

   Had we met for coffee or lunch (her suggestion) not only would we have spent money, but our time together would’ve been limited by how long is an appropriate amount of time to monopolize a restaurant table. Instead we got to sit on comfortable furniture without external stressors — no one listened in on our conversation and we both saved money. Plus I enjoyed a couple days of leftover soup.

2. I’ve been enjoying walks lately, (mostly evenings) sometimes with my husband or a friend, but mostly on my own. I’ll either listen to a Libby audiobook or a podcast or — shocker — think my own thoughts. Sometimes I come across great “free boxes,” but I’m just as happy to walk without gamification. I’m not marching to reach a specific number of steps, but am simply enjoying the longer days and the luxury of feeling safe after 8 P.M.

   Just today I walked a mile or so to a real estate open house I’d seen on Zillow. I’ve admired this house in the past and welcomed the opportunity to explore the interior. (I was honest with the real estate agent about simply being a curious neighbor and she assured me that many others were doing the same thing.) I then meandered to the library to pick up my holds and nipped over to Fred Meyer to grab ingredients for scampi, (my husband’s sole Father’s Day request.) I was probably out for around two hours, yet my only expense was the $21.25 for dinner ingredients.

   Extreme frugality is often viewed through a lens of deprivation, yet I got to indulge my interests without spending money. Free exercise, free open house, free books (more Roz Chast!) and $21.25 for a special occasion meal that’ll serve meal four people — likely with leftovers!

3. My husband invited a friend to dinner, as they were headed to a punk rock concert that evening. (Very much not my thing!) The friend had initially suggested a restaurant, but my husband instead offered to barbecue some chicken kebabs.

   There have been times when the prospect of spontaneous guests was stressful, as the state of our house veered more towards messy than clean and tidy. I’ve put a metric crap ton of work into decluttering and organizing the house through the years and I no longer live in fear of the spontaneous stop by. It’s just so relaxing to exist in an orderly home that can welcome guests without those inevitable feelings of panic.

   Not gonna lie, it helps that the kids are grown and flown.

4. • I scored a $1 bag of apples from the Fred Meyer clearance shelf.
   • I’m watching over our neighbor’s house as they’re traveling again for a couple of days.
   • I walked over to the tail end of our block party and enjoyed conversation and a slice of overly sweet bakery cake.
   • I stopped into H Mart for gluten-free soy sauce and curry paste, yet somehow didn’t succumb to any impulse purchases.
   • I combined errands when I needed to drop off probate forms with our estate attorney and then swung through downtown to pick up a repaired pair of earrings.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

1. I assembled my bag of tricks and picked up two Popeye’s Chicken meals for a mere $3.49 after my son’s evening soccer game. I paid with points (from his birthday dinner) for one of the meals, plus had done a “back of the receipt” survey to earn the second free (with drink purchase) meal. It was a bit finicky to do the transaction, but well worth it as it fed the three of us.

2. My neighbors, (whose house I’m caring for while they’re on vacation) let me set our yard debris bin out with their weekly pickup. It’s not so much about a full bin, but rather the smell which is currently seventh level of hell horrific, and I need to spray the demons from its depths. We share garbage service with our other next door neighbors and it would’ve been another week before it was our turn.

   

3. My son and I walked over to the local consignment shop, where I picked up a Jumbo Fiestaware “peacock blue” mug for just $2. My sister likes these mugs, so I thought it would be fun to provide one for her upcoming visit. They sell for around twenty bucks on eBay,* so I knew it was a bargain.

   We then went to a new/used outdoor supply shop as my son is seeking Army surplus pants. They didn’t have any, so we nipped over to the closest Goodwill thrift shop. They also didn’t have any, but I did find a half-price $7 T-shirt for myself. My summer wardrobe is lacking, so this is a necessary purchase. Decades of working as a nurse means that I put absolute zero effort into my home clothes. Sure, it was amazing to never pay for a work wardrobe, (not even scrubs, as they were hospital provided!) but owning just a couple of decent T-shirts becomes a problem in warmer weather.

4. • My daughter gave me a handful of gluten-containing food items, which were leftover from her old roommate.
   • I started listening to Jodi Picoult’s Wish You Were Here through the library’s free Libby app.
   • My husband and I have been eating black bean tostadas with sautéed onions and peppers on repeat as they just hit the spot. Needless to say, clearance price onions and peppers, tostadas from Winco and bulk purchased beans cooked in the Instant Pot. Cheap, healthy and yummy!

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

1. I drove past another curbside stack of flowerpots and literally turned the car around to investigate. Most of the pots were of the plastic variety, but I chose a stoneware one which washed up beautifully. I was briefly tempted by the big terra cotta pots, but I don’t really have a spot for them and I’m trying to be particular about what gets to live at my house.

   You probably already guessed that I nabbed the colorful one from the bottom right hand corner. Here it is all scrubbed up and ready for action.

   

2. My younger sister was is town and the two of us hit up Winco Foods to grocery shop. (I found out last minute that she was visiting, which is how she got to accompany me on such an exciting adventure.) I’d been jotting things on a shopping list for at least a week, so there was no way I wasn’t going to check this off my to-do list. We had a nice catch up and it turned out she needed to grab a few things from the bulk bins anyway.

   I picked up a couple of abandoned receipts in the parking lot and scanned them into my Fetch app*, which worked out well since one awarded me 4000 points!

   I am THE cheap date!

3. I did a metric ton of laundry for my daughter, whose apartment complex has terrible laundry facilities. I’m happy to do this favor for her as it saves her money.

   

4. • I bought two bags of clearance price spinach at Fred Meyer and then immediately returned them as I hadn’t realized how truly slimy they were. Blegh!
   • My sister and I also hit up the Goodwill that’s a couple blocks up from Winco, which I blogged about HERE. Combining errands is always a money saver!

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

1. My neighbors will be out of town next week, so I’ll water their plants and bring in their mail. I’m actually happy to have this opportunity to help them out, as they help care for our elderly cat whenever we travel. Not that we’re keeping track as some kind of quid pro quo situation, but it’s still good to try and keep a balance when giving and receiving favors.

   I also bring them the occasional warm baked good to even out the occasional “Hey, can I get a splash of milk for my tea?” requests.

2. I’ve been an unapologetic homebody lately, due simply to the reason that I’d rather hang out at the house than needlessly go out and about. Being at home means home cooking, zero impulse purchases and a generally full gas tank. My husband and I go for evening walks if he’s home, (his work shifts don’t end until after 10 P.M.) so there’s minimal risk of cabin fever. It’ll never go viral for “Ten Crazy Ways to Save Money,” but cooking from scratch, gardening, reading, puttering about the house, visiting with neighbors, hosting friends at the house and a bit of TV in the evenings is just about the cheapest way to live your life. Not always, but it’s nice for now.

3. My husband swapped our fancy Nest “smart” thermostat back to the standard programmable Honeywell version. (Luckily, we held onto the old one!) Ideally the smart thermostat would’ve saved us money, but I was constantly adjusting the temperature, as the heat would suddenly turn on at random times. (I don’t need blast the heat while we sleep!) Plus it didn’t have a way to set the “house fan” function for longer than 12 hours at a time, when we actually run that mode 24 hours per day during hot weather.

   It wouldn’t function as it was supposed to and I’m happy to be rid of it. Was it a lemon? Who knows, but it’s happily in the past.

   

4. • I lined my vintage canning supply tin with white contact paper. The paper was leftover from some long forgotten project, so my out of pocket cost was zero-point-zero. This’ll protect the contents from rust, both real and imagined. I didn’t try to make it look perfect as it’s the inside of a tin and I got to use up some random scraps this way.

   

   • My other neighbor gave us some locally grown strawberries as they’d “bought too much.” She then borrowed my biscuit cutter for shortcake.
   • I pulled a mostly eaten Costco rotisserie chicken from the freezer and made a pot of lovely chicken soup during our atmospheric river weather event. I was out of onions and garlic, but did have garlic and onion powders, which still tasted great. I added tons of finely chopped carrots and am finally down to just two one-pound bags from last week’s clearance rack score.
   • That frustrating Nest thermostat was cheap enough through our electric company, so minimal money was wasted.

5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

Katy Wolk-Stanley