Challenge Updates

by Katy on January 15, 2012 · 12 comments

52 Weeks, 52 Letters Challenge

I started this challenge last year, with full intention of mailing out my 52 letters. Alas . . . life and a susceptibility to distraction brought this down to a twenty-something letters challenge, which I’m actually okay with.

I sat down to write a couple of thank you notes the other day, and realized that I would like to continue this challenge into 2012.

Even though I got a paper cut on my lip from licking an envelope! (I think the personal sacrifice makes it all the more impressive.)

Waste No Food Challenge

This challenge goes all the way back to May of 2008, and will never end, as keeping an eye on eating up leftovers is a full time project.

Just yesterday I:

  • Served two bowls of leftover split pea soup with ham to myself and the Japanese exchange teacher who moved in with us. The ham was the last of a “free turkey or ham” that I get from my employer every December. We ate it for dinner, we ate it in sandwiches, and finally we ate it in soup. (Whew . . . ) I transferred the last of the soup into a smaller see-through container, which will help to ensure I do not forget to eat and serve this rather delicious ham-tastic soup.
  • Cut up three starting-to-be-mealy apples to make a small apple crisp. Needless to say, it was delicious.
  • Made sushi for dinner. Unfortunately, there was a rather large amount of cut up avocado, canned salmon, cut up cucumber and crab leftover at the end. So I walked down to the store, bought an extra pack of nori sheets and cranked up the rice cooker up for another batch. I then assembled a rather huge batch of sushi for the fridge. Excellent grab-and-go food that will not get wasted.

Found Change Challenge

This challenge is easy, as all I need to do is drop all my found change into a jar throughout the year. My plan is to spend it on something fun in the end. So far I’ve collected $3.80, as well as a Canadian penny and a mysterious African coin.

This challenge really plays to the embarrassingly nerdy thrill that I get whenever I find money.

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do or Do Without Challenge

I haven’t really done much with this challenge this year. I do have a cupboard filled with mostly eaten boxes of cereal that should be attended to.

How about you, are you challenging yourself this year? Please share your progress in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Help a Reader — Switching to Corelle

by Katy on January 14, 2012 · 19 comments

In today’s blog post, I ask you to help out Renee, who is wanting to switch over to her dishes without resorting to buying new. Here’s her question:

“In an effort to simply my life I’m thinking about switching out all my dishes for Corelle (or any other unbreakables – are there other brands like that?). They are lighter, take up less space, and most importantly I want my toddler to start help setting the table. I’ve been to a few thrift stores, but haven’t found a set, and don’t totally want to go mismatched. Any ideas of how to make this swap work in a non-consumer way? Do I just need to be more patient and keep at it at the thrift stores and on Craigslist?”

My suggestion is for Renne to put the word out among her family and friends, maybe even post something on her Facebook wall,(this question was originally posted in the Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group, and garnered a lot of response.)

Do you have a suggestion for how Renne can get ahold of enough Corelle dishes? Please share your ideas and resources in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Argg! Martha Stewart’s Coming Over!

by Katy on January 13, 2012 · 29 comments

In honor of having to pull my I-worked-yesterday house together for the Japanese exchange teacher who’s moving in today, I present to you a dusted-off old gem of a blog piece. Enjoy!

Martha Stewart

I really don’t like cleaning.

I don’t like tidying up, I don’t particularly like getting things organized and I especially hate doing dishes.

I’m proud of the fact that Peg Bracken, author of the classic “I Hate to Housekeep” book was a Portlander.

I respect people whose houses are always at peak condition, but I know I’ll never be that person.

When I was in college, my apartment would get pretty bad, so I would play a game called, Martha Stewart’s coming over. The idea was to pretend that the diva of domesticity would be gracing my one bedroom Albuquerque home in, say, a half an hour. This would throw me into a cleaning frenzy that would result in a decently clean apartment. Maybe not Martha Stewart clean, but definitely Wolk-Stanley clean.

I know, I’m a bit insane.

This game would work for awhile, but then I got to a point where it wasn’t so effective anymore.

Who is this Martha person? And who the heck does she think she is, being so judgmental about my housekeeping skills?

I haven’t played this game for probably 15 years, and have actually gotten a lot better about keeping the house at a level of tidyness where an unexpected visit doesn’t throw me into a white-hot panic.

Or at least that’s what I thought.

I was going about my business this afternoon, mixing up some tortillas to make the kids some late lunch when I heard the phone ring. It was my step-mother Lindy, wanting to know if it’s okay to bring her mother Mary over to see the terrific job my sister did building the brick patio and rock wall in the backyard.

“Sure. C’mon over. How soon should I expect you?”

“In two minutes, we’re at a restaurant in your neighborhood.”

Gulp.

Gammy Mary is as close to Martha Stewart as this house is ever going to see. Not only is she a drop-dead gorgeous octogenarian, but her housekeeping skills are the stuff of legends.

Two minutes? I’d better get my act in gear!

I was able to:

  • Clear off and wipe down the dining room table
  • Take laundry to the basement, (not into the washing machine, but close to it.)
  • Wipe down the bathroom sink
  • Wipe down the kitchen counters
  • Tidy the entryway
  • Vacuum the living room
  • Arrange the couch pillows
  • Straighten the furniture
  • Load the dishwasher
  • Send the bedraggled teenager up to his room.

And you know what? The house didn’t look half-bad. It might not have been up to Martha Stewart’s standards, but it met the highly lax Wolk-Stanley standards.

And . . . I think I just invented a new motivational game called, Gammy Mary’s coming over. I may even turn it into an infomercial and take it on the road.

What do you do to get yourself motivated to clean your house? Tell us about it in the comments section below. Extra points for sounding more insane than I am. Points deducted for phrases that include the words “enjoy” and “housework” together.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

by Katy on January 12, 2012 · 7 comments

Yesterday we said goodbye to our Japanese exchange students. Although they only stayed with us for six days, we really got to know these two kids.

All host families received a $25-per-kid stipend, which was unusual. Another mother insisted that I accept her money to go towards my sons’ class trips to Japan. Such a lovely gesture.

Today I received a hand-me-down copy of The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook in the mail from a blog reader. This, I think, was the fourth time that readers have mailed gifts to me. Such lovely gestures.

Tomorrow I work all day, as does my husband. As a result, my kids will have to get themselves off to school on their own. As a backup in case my younger son misses his school bus, my neighbors will be able to drive him to school. Such a lovely gesture.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Clarification of Commenting Guidelines

by Katy on January 11, 2012 · 95 comments

You may have noticed that I closed comments on yesterday’s blog piece. It was not an easy decision, and it was only after being called a “bitch” by a reader (as well as other unsavory terms from other readers) that the decision was made.

The Non-Consumer Advocate is a place for respectful discussion, but yesterday’s comments crossed a line and were wholeheartedly inappropriate. I do not sit at the computer all day, so I felt it was better to have no comments rather than let mean spirited readers take over the blog.

This blog is about non-consumerism. So yes, I will be writing about how not buying brand new expensive items is preferable both from an environmental and a financial standpoint.

So here’s the official Non-Consumer Advocate commenting guideline:

It’s okay to disagree, it is not okay to swear at or call names to me or any other community member. 

Can we get back to business now? I’ve got laundry to fold and soup to prepare.

Frugally yours,

Katy Wolk-Stanley

 

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Think Globally, Host Locally

by Katy on January 11, 2012 · 9 comments

Colin, Take and Yu learn that being a teenager is pretty much a global experience.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Are Your Expensive Purchases Weighing You Down?

by Katy on January 10, 2012 · 39 comments

My $50 dishwasher will not make me any sexier, but it sure does free up the budget.

A recent conversation about my $50 Craigslist dishwasher got me thinking.

Because I choose to buy a $50 dishwasher instead of a $500+ dishwasher, (and a $45 washing machine, etc. etc.) I am then able to do things like travel to Japan and work part time.

So enjoy your sexy high end stainless steel appliances, as they are now your ball and chain.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Non-Consumer Photo Essay — Invasion of the Living Room TVs

by Katy on January 9, 2012 · 19 comments

Our spare bedroom will be used for hosting Japanese exchange students and teachers until next summer. This means that our normally hidden TV comes front and center into our living room. However, we were able to find a nice TV stand at a local thrift shop for $23.50. (The TV normally sits in an enormous cabinet that looks as at home in our living room as a 747 in a model plane shop.) Because this unit has tempered glass shelves and a dark wood front, it's less intrusive.

 

However, the TV-in-the-living-room required a complete rearrangement of the furniture. This was the best I could manage.

 

This was how our living was arranged before the TV invasion. The picture is from a few years ago, so it shows our old coffee table, which was beautiful, but simply too big. It also kind of tipped the room from period-appropriate-antiques to this-looks-like-your-grandma's-living-room. (I do have to say that I love my $10 garage sale ottoman as coffee table sooooo much! And since I sold the old coffee table for $100, it was an income producer to boot!)

 

While TV-cart shopping, I came across a tuchus-load of wooden hangers for 25¢ apiece. I've been replacing our plastic hangers with wooden ones from thrift shops for a year or so. I just think it's such a better look, as our closet door is almost always open. The funny part is that I am more interested in the hangers than the clothes themselves! (You'll notice that almost all the clothes are my husband's.)

While at my father's house, I came across these old dresses that my mother sewed for me. They were prairie-style, and I felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder whenever I wore them.

 

My mother almost always embroidered my name on my dresses. A tradition I carried on with my sons' overalls when they were little.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Today I am . . .

by Katy on January 7, 2012 · 11 comments

Today I am . . .

  • Hosting two Japanese teenagers.
  • Driving up to Mt. Hood to play in the snow.
  • Hoping to to have either snow or a sunny day, but not driving rain.
  • Using a gift card to buy fresh bagels.
  • Excited that my older son’s Japanese tutor will be moving in with us until the summer. She wants to cook Japanese food for us and help with cleaning! She will also help the kids with their homework, and give them someone with whom to speak Japanese away from school.
  • Parked on the couch under a down lap blanket, thinking that a second cup of tea is necessary before I go get those bagels.
  • Getting used to the new configuration of the living room, which points all seated furniture at the TV.
  • Calling the living room a “media room.”
  • Recalling how cute all the boys looked while playing Beatles Rock Band last night. (This was not possible when the TV was in the spare bedroom, as there wasn’t enough space to spread out.)
  • Trying to let go of any negative feelings I have about becoming a TV-in-the-living-room household, as welcoming exchange students into our home is a thousand time more important than the aesthetics of the house.
  • Planning a restaurant dinner of Mexican food, which the Japanese boys have never had before.
  • Unsuccessfully trying to find a coupon for said Mexican restaurant.
  • Happy.

How about you?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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Reading, Listening, Watching, Doing, Thinking

by Katy on January 6, 2012 · 18 comments

I am reading Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy, by Martin Lindstrom.

I am listening to The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back, by Kevin Salwen and Hannah Selwen.

I am watching repeats of Big Bang Theory, as well as the movie The Joneses.

I am currently hosting two Japanese teenagers for five days. They’re both super outgoing, and one of them is even in an apparently successful band, and played us an amazing Chopin piece on our embarrassingly  atonal piano. We will soon be welcoming my older son’s Japanese tutor into our home for six months, which means that our TV will move to our living room. My husband is going to Ikea today to buy a not-room-overwhelming TV stand. (I would like to buy used, but was outvoted.)

I am thinking about my husband Dale, whose Facebook status yesterday was:

“‎24 years ago I dropped everything and ran off to England to chase the love of my life. I am the luckiest man in the world to be married to the kindest, honest, and most beautiful woman in the world. I love you Katy! I hope you had a great birthday.”

Yup. he loves me, even though I’m notoriously difficult to buy gifts for.

How about you? What are you doing now that the holidays have passed?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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