LBYM overkill.

[Cattusbabe]

I know food bills are high but come on.........

For frugalists, bargain hunting is a lifestyle - Extreme Consumerism - MSNBC.com

 

[W2R]

I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better. -

Sophie Tucker
US (Russian-born) vaudeville singer (1884 - 1966)

Some basic goals for me are to never have to spend my golden years living under a bridge and eating out of garbage cans.

 

[mickeyd]

And she gets 99 percent of her food from the Dumpster.
“It’s so easy to eat for free,” she says. “The only things I buy are butter and milk.”

Far be it for me to judge the eating habits of others, but this extreme bit of "foraging" is not what most LBYMers have in mind. At least, this is not what this LBYMer has in mind.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I just really like the term "freegan" to describe the lifestyle. To each his own. Sounds like they enjoy it, but DH would die if I fed him from a dumpster, I'm pretty sure.
We call the dump where we take our garbage the "mall" because my dad always goes home with more than he dropped-off, and DH worries that if I take our trash, I'll do some diving while I'm there, so that is one task I never have to do!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Cuckoo for cocoapuffs.

 

[tangomonster]

Ugggh---makes my skin crawl to think about it. I am not extremely germ phobic and definitely prefer not to spend much money on typical consumer goodies, but going through garbage for food or clothes is not something I could do. And this may cost me my membership here or downgrade my status as a LBYMer, but I've never bought second hand clothes or furniture (just cars). I'd rather do without.

This part of the article intrigued me:

Thompson is most meticulous about one thing: paper towels. She’s had the same roll of Costco paper towels since March 2006, and she estimates that there’s still about an inch left. If a houseguest asks for a paper towel, they most likely will be turned down.
Thompson only uses paper towels for “icky” jobs, like getting oil off anchovies. She relies on rags and cloth napkins for most other needs. She does have a little bit of a cheat, though: If she goes to a restaurant and is given a stack of paper napkins, she will take those home and use them.

So maybe we should change the running joke about dryer sheets to paper towels...and have a contest to see who has the longest-lasting roll (mine was started just today, so I've lost!).

 

[ls99]

Gives new meaning to dining out.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am sure they do not do this anymore.... but 30 plus years ago I worked at a grocery store... with high volume etc...

When we were unloading the truck and pricing all the items, it was a shock to see how much we threw out... if one jar in a case broke, the whole case was thrown away... the contents 'contaminated' the others with the jelly or syrup or whatever liquid was in the bottle...

and if cans got crushed for any reason... in the dumpster also...

At the end of the day... another of my jobs was to go to the bakery and clear out all the 'stuff' that did not sell that day... cookies, donuts, bread... everything.. (now I think it is sold the next day as new)... I used to 'hide' some of it so I could have a donut on my next break... the store manager said I could not put anything aside.... so I would throw it all in the bag and then not throw it in the dumpster... when it was time for a break... 'dive' in the bag... open up a box or whatever and take a couple.... since it was already 'thrown away' the manager could not say anything...

But if anything was in there that was not a packaged product... I would not touch it at all...

 

[xynny]

freeganism isn't as dirty as you think. A lot of packaged foods are thrown away by grocery stores just because they don't have space. One time my church collected two coolers full of cheese from a Safeway that was headed for the dumpster. Most of the cheese were packaged and had expiration dates of 3 to 6 months after the date we picked them up. So it's perfectly good food. I don't know why these markets throw them away, but if good food can be salvaged I think it's great. My pastor also made a deal with that Safeway to pick up all the bread that they don't sell and want to throw away. Every week he ends up with shopping carts full of bread and give it out in the church. So yeah, sometimes all you have to do is ask.

 

[calmloki]

Hmm. As a kid we hit major bakeries and would get barrels of older baked goods, mostly in the cellophane, and feed them to our pigs. If something looked and felt good and was in the wrapper i had no problem withholding it from the piggies. (Mom wasn't big on buying donuts or breakfast rolls or other sweets) Ditto produce, unwrapped. I don't shop the dumpsters for food now, but have no problem picking up something i can use from the curb. Don't care for waste. From our apartment dumpsters i've pulled several vacuums (minor repair - like a belt - needed), cook and dishware, microwaves, coffeemakers, rugs, old framed pictures, and clothing and towels and such by the bagful. Our washing machine works just fine, and if i chose not to use it and no one else wants it it goes to Goodwill. Win-win-win - no excess garbage charge for me, tenants have more room to toss more stuff, dump doesn't get filled quite as fast, and i don't spend money when there is no need.
Just Saturday our apartment cleaner needed rags - i pulled 4 big bath towels from a dumpster, handed her 2 to cut up, the other 2 went in the wash and one is on my towel rack now.
Paper towels - Pfft! eat any amount of take out and you get overloaded with napkins....

 

[Khan]

Hmm. As a kid we hit major bakeries and would get barrels of older baked goods, mostly in the cellophane, and feed them to our pigs. If something looked and felt good and was in the wrapper i had no problem withholding it from the piggies. (Mom wasn't big on buying donuts or breakfast rolls or other sweets) Ditto produce, unwrapped. I don't shop the dumpsters for food now, but have no problem picking up something i can use from the curb. Don't care for waste. From our apartment dumpsters i've pulled several vacuums (minor repair - like a belt - needed), cook and dishware, microwaves, coffeemakers, rugs, old framed pictures, and clothing and towels and such by the bagful. Our washing machine works just fine, and if i chose not to use it and no one else wants it it goes to Goodwill. Win-win-win - no excess garbage charge for me, tenants have more room to toss more stuff, dump doesn't get filled quite as fast, and i don't spend money when there is no need.
Just Saturday our apartment cleaner needed rags - i pulled 4 big bath towels from a dumpster, handed her 2 to cut up, the other 2 went in the wash and one is on my towel rack now.
Paper towels - Pfft! eat any amount of take out and you get overloaded with napkins....

I keep plastic garbage bags in the car, and have gathered some clothes and towels from the roadside. Old Halloween pumpkins are good for the compost heap. Mother used to gather stuff from the beach after tourist season (keys, coins, wedding rings...).

I used to rake the neighbor's lawns after they mowed (with permission) for mulch/compost.

 

[Achiever51]

My last office was next door to one of our area's best restaurants, and their dumpster was next to ours in the alley behind our buildings. The area had many homeless people who would dive for dinner at the restaurant's dumpster and then climb into my office's dumpster (which only held paper and lots of cardboard boxes) for the night. Can't tell you how many mornings our office manager would get freaked out after going out the back door to throw out the previous day's newspapers only to find some homeless guy in the dumpster. (We tried to keep it locked, but somehow those locks always got cut off!)

 

[virginia]

Who has time to dumpster dive?

 

[chinaco]

If the food is edible... you would think it would be donated to a food bank or shelter.


America's version of "poor people in Cambodia picking throw a garbage dump".

 

[Nords]

If the food is edible... you would think it would be donated to a food bank or shelter.

Litigation issues. I think the business-church cooperation is the only way to shield the business from their legal concerns.

If you're at all squeamish about dumpster diving then you don't want to hang around the fisherman's wharf after the charter boats have finished cleaning their customer's catch...