Wisdom from Iceland

While I was cleaning up (sort of) in preparation for our trip, I came upon a postcard I picked up in the airport in Iceland. It was free (though food--except for children--was not included in the ticket cost. UGH).

There were a lot of different cards, but I picked the one with the frugal sentiment:

Everything is hay in hard times.


For more wisdom from Iceland, I recommend a wonderful book, which I would never had heard of had I not picked it up for a pittance at a book sale. Interestingly, in the introduction to the book, Brad Leithauser talks about how this is a masterpiece that most people have never heard of.

It IS a masterpiece. It is sometimes slow going, but the very end makes the journey worth it.

What's Goodwill Not Good For?

Any particular thing that you need pretty soon.

--A particular book you want (unless it's by John Grisham)
--Something your kid needs for school
--men's pants (good luck finding the right waist and inseam....plus style)
--jeans (plentiful but there are probably 300 pairs to go through)
--really high quality cookware (yet I've found Le Creuset and even 2 pieces of Allclad)
--outerwear when it's cold (easy in summer)
--Christmas sweaters around Christmas (easy in summer)
--valuable stuff (yet every now and then...I've never found anything valuable)
--travel gear, especially for men
--good shoes that one can wear (lots of high heels donated, however)

ETCETERA

Yet you will find the hard-to-find stuff  (not when you are looking) when you are there at the thrift anyway, looking for the things that are easy to find.

And even if you don't see an AllClad pan, the money you save on potholders will enable you to afford the desired object.

A Recipe to Use Your Cheese Rinds: Minestra di Pasta e Cicoria

That sounds better than pasta and greens, doesn't it? I was leafing (Freud1an slip--oops) through a favorite cookbook that has been languishing unused. There I came upon a recipe that is both simple, frugal, uses both my garden greens and the parmesan rinds I brought back from Chicago.

The book is Verdura, by Viana La Place. It features very simple recipes.  Like this one. I am too lazy to do the recipe exactly, but I'm sure Viana would agree, since this kind of cooking does not require precision.

--Wash and coarsely chop some greens (recipe calls for 1 large head endive or escarole. I call for kale and chard.)
--Saute 3 cloves garlic and pinch red pepper flakes in 3 TBS olive oil. Do this in soup pot.
--Add 4 cups of water and a little salt and bring to boil.
--Add greens. Stir. Cover.
--A bit later, throw in 1 cup tubetti pasta. (I use whatever I have.)
--Add 2 ounces pecorino romano ends, cut into small chunks. (Needless to say, I'm using my parmesan rinds).

Cook till pasta is done. Serve with grated romano.

Thrift Store Gods Send Me A Message

This is a companion piece to my as yet unwritten post: What's Goodwill NOT good for? The answer is anything very specific and/or anything you need right this second.  Also: men's pants.

We are about to go for a trip to Serbia, among other spots. There we will meet our dear daughter whom we haven't seen since September. When we started to pack, I realized once again that Mr FS has awful travel pants. Each year, I say "Let's get you nice pants. From a real store."

Then, Miss Em requested that Frugal Son, who will meet up with her earlier than we will, bring a set of Game of Thrones for the brother of someone who showed her incredible hospitality. Miss Em thinks I have magic powers. She said, "It's ok if they're used." I called all the used bookshops and checked Paperbackswap. Nada. Miss Em finally said to buy them new.

The rule of thrift shopping for needs is to WAIT. Time ran out and last week I ordered Game of Thrones. Poor Frugal Son will be shlepping 5 heavy books to Europe. What a guy.

Finally I--controller of the shopping--broke down and bought Mr FS two pairs of travel pants. Ex Officio from Sierra Trading Post (a good site to know about). They just arrived. Very nice!

Here we are a day before we leave. We have been cooped up for 5 days in heavy rain. I went to Goodwill. What do I find? A pair of Patagonia travel pants in Mr FS's size. Then, I went to the Food Bank thrift. There I find the complete paperback set of Game of Thrones.

The thrift store gods are sending me a message. What is the message?

What else is Goodwill good for? Clothing

With the money you save on the stuff that's easy to find (the things I discussed in my last post on the topic: things that few people want because they have them), you can buy clothing, which in many cases is the easiest to find.


Clothing for babies and children! So easy!

Before I continue with this rumination, I should mention that, while my current Goodwill is just excellent, it was not always so. When I moved here, I would go with hope to the Goodwill downtown and emerge with...nothing.  I couldn't even find anything for my children. Then the population in the next town grew, bringing with it lots of upper-middle class people and strip malls. Before strip-malls-in-next-town, I went (when I could) to "Bloomingdeals," where I could find the all-cotton clothing I craved for my little ones. Post-Katrina, Bloomingdeals (run by Junior League) has become rather pitiful in selection. And my Goodwill has too much good stuff. Moral: thrifters must be flexible.

Back to baby clothes. Easy! Many people give clothing as gifts and much is outgrown before the receipt of the gift. Seriously. I had big babies.

Kids: less easy, especially boys, but it can be done. The key is to anticipate your needs. You WILL find a nice winter jacket in the summer. You will NOT find a nice winter jacket in the fall or winter. Amy D of Tightwad Gazette fame had clothing stored by size in her attic. And she had 6 kids. She was extremely neat. I can't imagine how I would store such bounty.

Adult Clothing: Other than shirts, men's is close to impossible. So I don't try very hard for my two guys.

Women's clothing: an embarrassment of riches. Miss Em and I used to be excited to find Ann Taylor Loft and Banana Republic. No more. Miss Em used to be thrilled to find Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. Now even Anthropologie is rejected at times. Forget Urban O.

Now we hunt for Eileen Fisher. That's been a challenge, but we find about 10 pieces a year. Miss Em and I discovered that  we can wear pretty much any size, which makes things easier. We also like the rich-lady chic of Carlisle. We have good luck with these brands because EF doesn't have much hanger appeal (and we often find items with tags cut out, but which can nonetheless be identified by the tiny RN# inside). Carlisle isn't very well-known (outside of the rich ladies that buy it at home parties held by other rich people), so there's not much competition for it. Oh, and, of course, cashmere. We've become very picky about quality because there's so much.

Is it worth going to thrifts to find 10 pieces of EF a year? No. But you're getting them while you are at the thrift anyway, getting the easy-to-find stuff for you and your loved ones. That's really what Goodwill** is good for.

**By Goodwill, I mean any thrift store. Mine just happens to be Goodwill.

Pic below from past Carlisle Collection. I have a similar jacket. I love it!

Win-Win-Win: Energy Bills

Sometimes it's hard to measure savings because there are so many variables. Frugal Son has provided me with a case where savings can be measured. Remember about a year ago, we were looking to buy a house in New Orleans with the money Mr FS inherited when his father died? We wanted a place Frugal Son could live 9his living circumstances were not great at the time0 and we figured he could find some roommates.

Well, we did buy a house and good thing, because prices have soared and we could not buy the same house now. A near twin next door (25 sf bigger and fixed up a bit more nicely) just sold for more than 20% more than what we paid. And FS is happy with his two roommates and also cool with having the tiniest and least desirable room (and hence the lowest rent).

Frugal Son is also frugal in both practical and philosophical ways. We hit on a way to get the roommates to be mindful of energy consumption. They would pay based on the previous owner's bills and we would reimburse them the difference if it was lower.

Note: the figures below are a bit off because Frugal Son also urged us to install solar. Which we did. Solar adds $45 a month to the utility costs. (Louisiana has very good tax credits for solar. The solar companies sell the tax credits to no doubt horrible companies. We were too nervous to purchase the system ourselves--it's a big investment).

Add about $200 to the lower number. Isn't that amazing? And one roomie just moved out. We returned his deposit with a nice "energy" bonus.

The below numbers reflect both saving through consciousness (TRYING to use less) AND through technology. In New Orleans the big energy usage comes in summer. This past winter, we had horrible cold, so the bills may be even lower next year if we have a more normal winter.

 Email from Frugal Son:

On the Entergy bill from June 2013:  "Current 12 months actual bill: $2,658"

On the Entergy bill from May 2014:  "Current 12 months actual bill: $806"

That means we're PAYING less than a third compared to previous owners and since the cost / kWh actually goes down with higher consumption it means we're probably using about 1/4 as much energy!

What's Goodwill Good For?

Now that I have dispelled the impression that I walk into a thrift store and find expensive status items with a single glance, I would like to consider what Goodwill (or any thrift or secondhand marketplace) is good for.

Assuming the prices are low (not always the case), I would say that the best buys are the most humble, ordinary items. The savings are perhaps low, since the items are not expensive to begin with, but over a lifetime...I was going to say "Do the math," but in this case I'm not sure how one could do the math.

Yard sales are probably the best places to pick up useful items that other people have in overabundance, Such sales are especially good in areas with a transient population, such as university towns. Or affluent towns! I was once at a conference in Clarement CA and--on a walk--passed millions of yard sales with incredibly tempting items--all off limits to a plane traveler, alas. I myself don't go to more than two or three yard sales a year. The best of the best: church sales and similar. Only two that I go to. Thrift stores are my choice, even though they are more expensive than most yard sales.

OK, so over the years I have stocked up on
--cotton and linen dish towels
--pot holders
--utensils (eating)
--cooking utensils (ladles, spatulas, whisks, etc)
--mid level pots and pans
--baking dishes
--plastic storage, preferably Tupperware (but beware, often T-ware is up-priced)
--mediocre linens*** (good linens are preferable, of course, but mediocre ones are fine for students, campers, etc)
--mismatched dishes and cups (I only buy Corelle)
--mismatched glasses (I have acquired a set of my favorite Picardie one at a time)
--"" silverware (when I can find most of a set)
--coffee makers (thanks donors for the great French presses)

Hmmmm. This is a rather pathetic list. Most of these items cost only a few dollars. Some--like the linens--might evoke the squeam factor*** or EWWWW disgusting factor****.

Some require that you relinquish certain conventions, like having matching dinnerware.  (I do have matching Corelle at this point, btw).

If you look at the list, you might say: Oh, all this stuff would only cost a few hundred dollars, max. I guess that's true, but I still think that these little savings add up and compound in ways that my math cannot accommodate.

All I know is that I set up "house" for my children when they went to summer camp (my daughter was embarrassed by her linens--the other girls all had matching themed sets. I found one at the thrift for her next summer). I set up house when they went to college and when they went abroad for studies.

When my son got an apartment in New Orleans, I could set up his kitchen and bath instantaneously. This saved both money and time. When something breaks, I usually have a back up: that saves money and time also.

I am convinced that this saved money compounds somehow. Does anyone know how one could figure that out?? My fave glasses....