WEBVTT - Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without with Katy Wolk-Stanley #643 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.520 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:05.800 and today we're discussing how you can use it up, 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 wear it out, make it do or do without with 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:31.200 Katie Woke Stanley. That's right, yeah, So everybody has heard 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.680 of a consumer advocate before, right, Like that's someone who 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.040 helps to make sure that individuals are getting the best 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.040 deal possible, or maybe to make sure that the quality 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.479 of those products is up to snuff. I'm thinking of 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:46.240 consumer reports, the countless reporting and tests that they perform 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.440 on basically any item out there that you can buy. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:52.280 But you likely haven't heard of a non consumer advocate before, 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.280 and that is who we're talking with today, our friend 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:59.040 Katie Woke Stanley. Katie is the non consumer advocate. Her 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:02.200 site is the Consumer Advocate dot com, and she helps 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:04.920 people to learn to live on less and to do 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.920 so in a way that lessens their environmental impact. She 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.360 is an uber frugal light who hardly ever buys anything new, 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.280 and she uses that superpower to help others to live 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.160 on as little income as possible. So we're gonna be 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.200 talking about all these different tactics today that anyone out 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.520 there can do. You know, whether you choose to. That's 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.840 up to you. But we are excited for our conversation today. Katie. 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.759 Thank you for joining us on the podcast. Thank you 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.360 so much, Joel and Matt for having me. All Right, Katie, 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:34.640 I'm really curious to hear your answer to the question 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.600 that we ask everybody when they come on the show, 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:40.720 because you are you approach buying things differently than pretty 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.080 much any guess we've had on before. So Matt and 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.880 I we splurge on craft beer and even while we're 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.320 saving the investing for the future, is there something you 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.360 splurge on in the here and now? I don't even 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:56.520 know well what I splurge on here and now. It 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.000 changes like through the years as I've gone through different 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.040 points in life. At the moment, what I love displourage 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.360 on is my adult kids. Although at twenty four and 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:11.320 twenty seven, they have gone into college, they've graduated, they 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.160 have flown the coop, they work full time. I know 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.800 that money is tight for them, and so I like 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.560 to be able to take them out to eat. I 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.000 like to slip them a little money here and there. 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:26.919 They don't ask for money and so they really appreciate it. 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.200 And it's it's a treat. My parents certainly, you know, 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.000 did a little bit of that when I was young 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.800 and just getting started in my adult life, and I'm 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.799 happy and privileged to be able to do it for them. Well, 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.560 love it. I guess that never goes away because there's 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:44.840 you know, Jill having three me having four kids. There's 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:46.960 obviously a certain amount of that that we do now 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.480 while still trying to find that balance of making sure 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.880 that they understand them money. It doesn't just grow on trees. 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.679 But maybe after you teach them those lessons, maybe you 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:57.680 feel a little more freedom to slip them some bills 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.880 instead of chocolates. For Valentine's Day, I gave me each 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.960 one hundred bucks. I mean, that's come on, that's what 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.160 That's what we need. We don't need more sugar in 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.560 our diets, right calls out that inflammation or whatever it 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:14.840 is of anyway, Katie, your slogan, or like the Moniker 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.520 that your site is, goes by is use it up, 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.440 wear it out, make it do or do without. And 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.359 we'll kind of cover each of these, we'll cover the 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.480 spectrum of how these kind of play out in your life. 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.400 But can you first tell us why that has become 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.920 your motto. Where did you come across that? And why 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.919 is it? You know that resonates with you? It is 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:37.160 a term that I certainly did not make up myself. 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.960 You'll find it used during World War Two. That was 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:44.640 like an effort to get people to kind of be 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:49.080 more thoughtful with howard they were consuming goods that needed 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.840 to be used for the war effort. But apparently it 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:56.520 goes back farther than that. I've had different people say 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:58.640 it was like, oh, that's an old Yankee term, or 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.720 that's a New England term. So I don't I've never 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.640 really been able to find out, you know, where precisely 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.040 it came up. But whenever I've come across that, even 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.040 long before I was blogging, it just really resonated with me, 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:15.440 and I was like, that is great. It's so like concise, 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:20.200 and yet it's it's wide and meaningful. Yeah, it feels 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.360 so kind of like foreign to the way so many 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:26.640 people live life today though. So it is interesting that 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.120 we were talking before we started recording about how about 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.880 rabid fan bases, And I think the people who follow you, 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:34.400 they are kind of rabbid in that way, like because 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.520 and I think part of it is because this slogan 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.840 is so antithetical to kind of so much of the 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:44.200 way our modern society functions. Yes, especially when it's just 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.120 so easy to um, you don't have to go on 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.359 your computer to buy stuff. You know, you've got that 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.680 Amazon app and you just like, you know, swiped to buy. 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:58.159 It's so easy and frankly so cheap. But I mean, yeah, 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.880 this thing is how is this seven dollars? And it 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:05.680 includes shipping when you know the shipping costs more than 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.440 that if we were to ship it ourselves. People want 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.440 a different perspective, and I think that is why people, 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.320 as you said, a rabbit, I would just say more 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.440 loyal yeah to me at I don't know, I see 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:23.479 them foaming at the mouth all the time. Following I 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.039 am curious though, because yeah, you say, use it up, 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:27.920 wear it out, make it do or do without. And 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.880 so what makes your list of things that you will 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.279 purchase brand new or there are is there anything or 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.960 like or absolutely there are absolutely things that I do 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.400 buy new and I start and by the way, I 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:46.640 started the buy nothing new practice myself even before I 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.280 started blogging, So that was I think, like in two 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.960 thousand and six, two thousand and seven I am not 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:56.320 out there like looking for a used toothbrush, so I 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.200 would that's good to know. I would categorize that or 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.000 like a personal care item. Okay, something that is like 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.440 touching my body in that way. I don't mean like clothes, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:15.760 but floss, tooth fresh undergarments. I think, you know, although 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.440 I have bought used songs before because you can just 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.720 wash them and sometimes they look amazing. Well, and your 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:23.479 feet are so peripheral, I mean you know, though, like 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.400 they're basically the closer you get to the core of 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.040 your body, I too would also want to like the 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.080 further it gets away from my face or my mouth, 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.520 I think I would be more comfortable with going a 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.440 little more used. We bought a brand new mattress at 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.120 this point, like two years ago. And although I have 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.440 gotten a used mattress before, and I got it from 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.120 somebody that I knew, that was just not something I 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:49.320 wanted to use. There's just two. Once you start thinking 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.280 of bed bugs, you can't stop thinking about, right, Well, 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:54.640 that might be one area where I've got you beat, Katie, 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.479 because we my wife and I slept Actually, no, shoot, 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.640 we still have this mattress. Our daughter is now sleeping 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:03.120 on it. But we got to use mattress for free 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.599 from a neighbor. But we knew them. They're neighbors of 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.320 a friend of ours, so they knew them, and so implicitly, 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:11.720 I guess we trusted them. But I'm telling you it's 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.679 a good mattress. Yeah, and it's like anything we regretted. 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:17.520 Sometimes getting stuff up the side of the road can 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:19.160 be a little daunting. I had a friend who brought 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.840 home a chair that looked nice, but then it had bedbugs, 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.240 and that caused a whole mess. So you want to 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.360 avoid that, just burn the whole apartment down. I guess, right, 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.440 And that's the case. I do a lot of curbside 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.440 shopping and a tremendous amount of thrifting for things that 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:39.600 I want and need, And if it's even slightly something 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.840 that could have bedbugs, I examine it in the store, 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.960 and then I also leave it on my porch so 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.000 I can't give it a better examination. I've never had 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.320 get the headline something that I would call a cautionary 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:55.120 tale from that though, got it okay? Well, so we're 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.200 kind of talking about I don't know, just buying stuff new, Katie, Like, 0:07:58.200 --> 0:07:59.680 do you have any thoughts on buying things that are 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.320 more well made, like things that are higher quality that 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:06.360 come with maybe better warranties. Is that important to you, 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.360 you know, when when you're at least occasionally buying something 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:13.080 that that hasn't previously been used. Yes, although mostly I 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:17.080 really don't buy that much stuff. And I understand what 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:20.720 you're getting at um to you buying like a higher 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:26.040 quality item from a responsible company exactly, warranty that will 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:30.480 stand behind their product is always like the ideal. My 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.080 goal is to then just get it used when the 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.640 person who initially bought it gets bored with it. I 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:38.439 like that well. And one of the things that you've 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.120 you've written about, you've talked about too, is that you 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:43.920 prioritize lower tech solutions because those things need to be 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.880 replaced less frequently. And I think, like you've mentioned tea kettles, 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.160 and it's funny because we went to like an electric 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.960 tea kettle, but we've had like they didn't last very long, 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:54.880 and so I'm like, do I need to go back 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.920 to just this basic like just kettle on the on 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.360 the stove things. That's I mean, that's kind of your approach, right. Yes, 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.280 I do have a kettle on the stove, and it 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:08.920 is such an although it's not that old, it is 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.320 probably I know, fifteen years old at this point. It's 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:14.520 exactly the one that you can see on the show Madmen, 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:19.679 so it's classical one. But yeah, I don't want things 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:23.240 that I'm going to have to replace. I did just 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:25.960 buy a new refrigerator this fall, now that I think 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:27.920 of it, and I did get one that had like 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.160 zero bells and whistles. The less that's going on with 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.400 the stuff that you own, the less that can go 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.360 wrong with it. Yeah. Yeah, you don't want your fridge 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.160 connected to the internet with like a tablet on it 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:40.520 and all this other kind of stuff. You're right, I 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.959 mean I think that that is like there's more stuff 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:45.720 to replace, and it's the same kind of with modern 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.360 cars often these days too. And if it's simpler, it's 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.960 something that you could conceivably repair yourself with a good 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:55.040 YouTube video. Yeah, yep, Okay, So I think you're right 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.640 on that. And I guess like a lot of people 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.520 opt to replace items that I could easily be fixed. 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.960 But you have described yourself as a serial repairer. And 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:09.680 I remember when we've worked together, Katie back in the day, 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.760 and I learned about this thing called sue grew from you, 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.160 which is like multiple clay and glue which helps repair 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:16.959 all sorts of things. I think you actually sent me 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.280 some in the mail, and I love I love that 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:24.000 like that you yeah, And I love that You're just 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.720 kind of all about like fixing stuff whenever you can, So, like, 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.680 do you have any best DIY tips for fixing things 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.840 that break from time to time in your life? I've 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.600 just said it, but YouTube, there is very rarely something 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:39.600 that you're trying to figure out how to do that 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:43.400 you can't find on YouTube that somebody else has done 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.040 themselves and put together a video about it. You don't 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.920 need to invent the wheel. My husband and I we 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.680 both just you know, if something is wrong, we want 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.120 to know how can we fix this? How can and 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.960 in that way we're able to avoid making new purchases. 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.600 As an example is I was at my son's rental 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.520 house and I noticed that they had a busted up 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:09.440 dining room chair in the corner of the room, and 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:13.679 I asked his roommate, Hey, do you want me to 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.120 fix this? And he was like, what, I'm like, that 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.079 looks reparable. Would you want me to fix this, and 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:24.920 he was like, uh, okay, I guess ladies, just you 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:28.160 know his roommate's mom. So brought it home and it 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.320 just was a matter of gluing and clamping in a 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.559 couple of different stages. And my son took it back 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.960 last night. And it is not a beautiful chair to 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.960 be handed down to your ancestors, but you know what, 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:47.400 it's now a functional piece and it literally saves it 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.320 from the landfill, and yeah, makes it so that they 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:52.360 can have like a you know, proper number of people 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.640 at the dining room table if that ever worked, which 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:56.600 is honestly, that's that's the most important thing, right, the 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.120 ability for folks to gather around that table. I mean 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.960 well with furniture in particular, when you have older furniture 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.679 that isn't just particle board. It's made from real wood. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.160 You can glue it right, like blood glue, like joints 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.000 or whatever where you've used glue. I've learned from personal experience. 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:13.679 It's all. I mean, I think it's stronger than other 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.040 parts of that year. Like it's not going to break 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.760 there again if you have a good bond. But how 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.920 do you know, like when something is beyond repairing, because 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:24.880 it's difficult to know just like is this something that 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.040 I can tackle myself, or like, how do you know 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.000 it's when it truly is time to just toss it 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.920 out and replace it completely. Well, there isn't necessarily like 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:34.959 a single single answer to that, But I'm going to 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.000 go back to the example the refrigerator that my husband 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:43.240 and I just got from Costco. You'll like that Joel 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:47.040 up their products. So that was good. And this fridge 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.679 that we had that we've had since nineteen ninety eight, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.120 so I remember my son was an infant. It was 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.360 not like a great quality item, and so we've done 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:58.320 a lot of little repairs and my husband finally after 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.400 countless repairs through the years, was like, you know what, 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.760 I can't figure this out. I think it's the compressor. 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.719 So we went out. We got a bare bones one, 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:14.240 which by the one got lightly scratched during the delivery process, 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:18.679 and Pascoe gave us like one hundred and fifty two 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:23.880 hundred bucks back. Sweet. Yeah, And the call I wasn't 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:28.680 you know, I'm a Karen, talk to your manager lady. 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:32.120 They offered it. Oh nice, Okay, Well that's the kind 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:33.760 of company they are. You know, they do stuff like that, 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:35.720 which is they treat their employees well and they pay 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.439 a living wage. So that's who I want to when 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.240 I am buying new stuff. I look for companies like 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.679 that to give my money to. Okay, who you buy 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.679 from is really important, but so I mean, it sounds 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.440 like for y'all with a fridge, it kind of came 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.720 down to the maybe the total cost of the of 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.559 the repair perhaps was going to total the item. And 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:55.640 so maybe that's a decent rule of thumb for folks 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:57.120 to kind of keep in mind. If you're going to 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.760 be sinking more money into this repair and even still 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.200 be subpar, then maybe it's time. It's kind of like 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.240 if you have a car that's old car that's worth 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:06.839 thirty five hundred bucks and you've got it, it's like 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:10.120 transmission replacement time, you're like, Okay, it probably doesn't make 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.959 sense to repair this thing anymore. It's time to yeah, 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:15.079 parcel this from out for parts. Yeah, we're driving a 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.560 very old car right now, and you know we just 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.840 keeping it well and yeah, and it makes sense, right. 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.160 I was I think we talked about on the show. Recently, 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.760 I spent two hundred and eighty eight dollars to replace. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:27.960 I want to say it was a Solennoid or something 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:29.880 like that, and so I had to get it replaced 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.280 just to pass the emissions test or they won't let 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.560 me drive in the state of Georgia. Three hundred bucks. Yeah, totally. 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.720 I was like saying, I was like really excited to 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.480 spend the money on that because it prevents me from 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.360 having a car payment. And yeah, and I think you're right, Like, 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:47.280 the more we think about what we're using and how 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.400 much we're consuming on the front end, it kind of 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:52.960 helps us to create less waste and to create less 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.400 consumption and to spend less money. I'm curious too, because 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:58.680 we're getting into spring right now and a lot of 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.800 people are probably starting to think about spring cleaning. I 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.200 know we are at our house. We're starting to think 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.960 about decluttering a little bit more. And one of the 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.240 things that you mentioned on your blog is that we 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.520 can often get a tax break for donating these items 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.880 to goodwill. But it's something that most people don't do properly, 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:16.040 and the deductions can actually be significant. They can add 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.320 up over time depending on what you're giving away, right, 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:22.160 Can you talk about that? Yes, when I donate to 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.360 Goodwill and they give you the little receipt. I actually 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.640 in that moment, like I drive around the corner and 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:32.600 park the car, I write two pairs men's pants, you know, 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:37.400 one youth winter coat. Because when the time comes to 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.960 do your taxes, whether you're doing like a turbo tax 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.280 or maybe one of the like free versions, which I 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.640 recommend that you can put all of that in. You 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.440 can't just say I donated thirty five dollars of stuff. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.840 You can get so much more. They'll give you like 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:58.600 a ten dollars credit for a single pair of men's pants. 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.120 That's not a I don't specifically no right now, but 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.040 it can be significant. My husband and I do our 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.440 taxes ourselves, and we do them together, and he always 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:09.560 hands the computer over and he's like, all right, put 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:14.840 in the goodwill stuff, and it'll make difference of like 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.880 hundreds of dollars of how much we're getting back. I 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.080 will say, I'm worried that Dale's gonna wake up tomorrow 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:21.880 with no pants because you're gonna go donate them all 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:26.960 just for the tax rite offs? Who told you? Sorry? Dale? Okay, 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:31.200 So practically speaking, so do you immediately enter those into 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.520 whatever software or app you're using, or do you just 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:35.840 kind of keep a note on your phone. They hand 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.240 you a paper slip and then it has lines for 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.480 what you donated and I write it on those lines. 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.680 It's very and then you just keep just hang onto 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.560 the paper until the until come tax season. I love it. 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:49.800 I think that's really important, Yeah, because otherwise if you don't, 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:51.120 if you don't do it like right then and there, 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.040 I think there's a good chance you'll either forget yeah, 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.880 or you might even just say forget about it. You know, 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.880 you may not even take the time. Yeah, yeah, So yeah, 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.000 getting that tax break, that is certainly one thing you 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.359 can do with some of the additional items that you 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:08.720 have on hand. But you can also take some of 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.200 those things and sell them. We actually are going to 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:13.480 talk a good bit about how you can make some 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.400 additional income with some of your excess goods. We'll get 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:28.080 to that, plus plenty more right after this are we 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.640 are back from the break, We're still talking about using 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.359 things up, wearing them out, making it do, doing without, 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.119 and just kind of like buying less and being some 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.200 harder with our consumption habits. We're talking with Katie walk 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.760 Stanley here on the show today, and Katie, you wrote 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:46.480 an article about how to practice extreme frugality, So I 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.200 am curious. Matt and I we give the distinction between 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.919 things being frugal and cheap on the show, we have 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.600 a recurring segment sometimes the world debate the merits of 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.439 a decision and say was that frugal or cheap? But 0:17:57.520 --> 0:17:59.280 you kind of say there's a third way. I don't know. 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:02.679 I'm curious to here your your belief and how you 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.720 think about being frugal or being cheap. I feel like 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:10.840 the cheap versus frugal debate is like a false dichotomy. 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.439 It's not a either one or the other black or 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:16.920 white issue. I feel like, do you like a good 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.920 then diagram? I do. I feel like you've got cheap 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.960 one circle, you've got frugal the other, and then they 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:27.280 meet in the center and you've gotten on consumerism there. Okay, 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.520 so right in the middle like that, that's that's where 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:32.360 we like to live. Katie. Yeah, I am a how 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.760 Too money listener, and I have heard you guys talk 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:38.960 about something being cheaper for who goal, and I'm I 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.680 want in on the conversation. I'm like, no, there's a 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:45.840 third choice. But I feel that like trying to think 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.840 of what, like a good example would be like buying 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:52.159 a low quality item versus buying a very expensive but 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:55.360 higher quality item. You're like, oh, what do I do? 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:57.159 Do I spend a thousand on this? Or do I 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.640 spend four hundred on that? And I feel like there's 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:03.120 that third choice, which is by the expensive, higher quality 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:08.600 item but find it used. Yeah, Or like I am 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.280 here in Portland, Oregon, we have like amazing restaurants and 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.840 a lot of really inexpensive options to food carts and such. 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.439 We have an amazing like Mexican food cart just a 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.760 couple of blocks away from the house, and I'll go 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.919 there and it is cheap. But what I do is 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.760 I will choose like the cheap option, but then I 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.399 end up tipping really well, Okay, And like, for that 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:33.080 same amount of money, I could have gone to like 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:37.280 a very dull middle road restaurant, but instead I get 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:39.720 to go and get something amazing that I make sure 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.879 that I'm tipping well. Even though in Oregon nobody is 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:45.119 allowed to get less than minimum wage, so even your 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:47.600 waiters are getting the minimum wage. Oh that's cool, They're 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:49.520 definitely getting taken care of it. I think so much 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.440 of it does come down to the heart of why 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.879 you do something right, and so if you are because 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:58.200 I think so much of cheap being cheap is it's 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.719 like an attitude, and think what one person's cheap can 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.639 be somebody else's frugal. And it kind of depends on 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:07.280 how you approach it. But do you have any any 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.080 other examples of some ways that maybe folks have either 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.040 made fun of you or that in your own opinion, 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:15.520 that I would be considered what are the worst things? 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:21.080 But just like I guess more extreme examples of frugality. 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:23.119 Obviously you're you're looking at things on the side of 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:25.280 the road. I love that. But yeah, I'm curious if 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.119 you have any other examples. Um I I love a 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.800 good roadside find. We're not talking road kill for dinner 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.520 or anything like that, right, probably? Not? Okay? Not? No. 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:38.879 I can make that five dollar Costco chicken stretch for 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.480 many meals. I don't need to be going for possum. No. 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:47.760 Um I some I recently found a Filson brand like 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.440 nit wool knit cap like in the streets, soggy embedded 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:55.879 with like oil and leaves and stuff. It was not 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:58.919 recently dropped so I brought it home, I washed it, 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:00.560 I sweat or shaved it. I put it up on 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:04.239 eBay and I sold it for forty bucks. So I 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:08.200 mean there's stuff. But back to cheap. I actually want 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:12.679