Budgeting

I have become a master scrounger. Bargains, freebies and thrifty steals call out to me like a foghorn in a sea of overpriced boutiques and eateries. Living in an exciting city like Portland, with too much time and not enough money, narrowing down activities that are easy on the pocketbook is crucial for survival. Luckily, I inherited frugality from my Dad, and seem to naturally drift toward cheapo fun. For this post, I have broken down thrifty living into these three categories: Food, Fun, and Hygiene.

Food: Anyone who has ever perused the bulk section in the grocery store knows the importance of sampling. Now, imagine, the bulk aisle transforms into an acre of stalls—the white flour bin suddenly becomes barrels of organic apples, the maple granola morphs into dark chocolate-coated cherries , and the trail mix turns into pistachio encrusted chèvre—each stall offering a self-service sampling of the local, gourmet goods. Welcome to the Farmer’s Market. Give yourself an hour, and you can munch your way from starving to bloated (I don’t know why they put the salsa booth next to the fudge…) without spending a dime.

Fun: The words “frugal fun” bring me right back to seventh grade when, without a drivers license or adequate allowance, fun was found in the form of dress up and prank calling. I’d like to think that much has changed since then, but dress up is still one of my favorite activities. One of the best places to find great costume material is “the Bins”, a giant warehouse full of troughs that are piled high with Goodwill rejects. Yes, these items were rejected from Goodwill, and are one grimy truckload away from the landfill. Be prepared to wade through pit-stained tees and soggy sweats to find the gold, and as my friend advises, wear gloves, avoid the needles, and breath through your mouth. Once you’ve made your selection you walk up to the cashier, dump your findings on a scale, and pay by the pound. Last week, I paid $4.75 for a Columbia fleece, blue blazer and black pleather Dominatrix dress. Not bad, eh?

Hygiene: Luckily my penny-pinching hasn’t led to eliminating bathing, and I hope it never does; however, deodorant is ridiculously expensive for being a waxy, glorified cancer stick, so I have developed a better method for smelling nice. The first floor of Nordstrom is stacked with beauty and perfume counters, a breeding ground for sample size freebies. Without committing to a purchase, one can simply act interested in a product and leave with a trial size 0.5 ounce portion. It’s the perfect way to get a wallet-sized spritzer for days when showering  just doesn’t fit into the schedule. Unlike Farmer’s Market, these samples are not given out by the armful, and this generous service should not be abused by greedily collecting from all the counters every day of the week, but tough times call for a little extra help, and if a Jo Malone perfume spray helps me win big in that interview, it was totally worth it. I promise to go buy the real thing with my first paycheck, maybe.

brunch @ screen door

dirty mittens show @ eat mobile festival

a few stragglers @ eat mobile